A seaside town has launched a dog poo tracking website – to get pet owners to clean up their act.
The website was launched by fed-up resident Alex Sharifi, 28, after the seaside town ofPenarth was hit by a spate of dog fouling.
Poonarth.com pinpoints dog poo hotspots across the town, and also tracks how many fail to be cleared up by careless owners.
Mr Sharifi, who has lived in the Vale of Glamorgan town for five years, said he had never seen a problem on the same scale in any other place he has lived.
He said: “The idea came about because I noticed a lot of dog mess around the town and I was a bit frustrated by it.
“It seems a shame because it is such a lovely town. I want to know if other people share this concern with me.
“This is one of the most picturesque towns I’ve lived in and I feel it has been tainted by this issue.”
Locals are being encouraged to tag areas on an online map where they come across dog mess, and can even note how fresh the poos are and if they have been trodden in.
The site tracks how many poos have been spotted, when and where they were spotted, and also calculates the revenue that could be made from fines.
The Vale of Glamorgan council welcomed the creation of the new website.
Gwyn John, cabinet member for visible services and leisure, said: “Education and enforcement are the most effective tools currently available to the Council to address this environmental crime and we welcome the assistance of this concerned resident who by establishing this website is helping us in our work to raise awareness of the problem and change the behaviour of irresponsible dog owners.
“If residents or visitors to the Vale witness instances of dog fouling I would urge them to report it to us directly via our website or contact centre so we can take enforcement action.”
Hightlighting the fact that offending owners can receive on-the-spot fines of £75, rising to a possible £1,000 fine if the matter goes to court, he added: “While the latest Keep Wales Tidy surveys show that dog fouling within the Vale of Glamorgan is only of a ‘small presence’ compared to that of many other areas, it is still an issue that can blight public spaces and is a potential danger to public health.
“The Vale of Glamorgan Council works hard to educate dog owners about their responsibility to the wider community.
“Unfortunately a minority of irresponsible owners and still allow their dogs to foul our pavements and parks.”
see-http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/new-website-maps-dog-poo-10670012
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