News New dog control measures
Maidstone Borough Council has introduced new measures to encourage more dog owners to be responsible following a ‘Public Space Protection Order’ to make people keep their dogs under control.
The Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 brought in a wide range of powers, including replacing Dog Control Orders. The Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) for dog control allows the council to extend its powers and encourage responsible dog ownership.
The Council undertook a survey on introducing these new powers earlier in the year and as a result, a range of measures are now in place to help keep the borough clean and safe.
The following measures are included:
- A fixed penalty fine for dog fouling
- Exclusion of dogs from all children’s play areas and tennis courts, whether or not they are fenced.
- A requirement that dogs are kept on leads whilst in the grounds of Maidstone Cemetery, Sutton Road.
- A legal requirement for a person in charge of a dog to comply with a request from an authorised officer to put a dog on a lead when the dog is causing danger or concern.
- Keep dogs under proper control
A PSPO imposes conditions or restrictions on people using a certain area and can be used to control certain activities in a specified area if the following two conditions are met:
- that the activities have had, or are likely to have, a detrimental effect to the local community's quality of life
- that the effect is, or is likely to be, persistent and continuing nature and is or is likely to be such as to make those activities unreasonable and that restrictions are justified.
Martyn Jeynes, Community Protection Manager at Maidstone Borough Council said:
“For an irresponsible dog owner failure to comply with these orders could result in Fixed Penalty Notices up to £100, or a Prosecution. However, we are not looking to penalise the majority of our dog owners, Maidstone is home to thousands of responsible dog owners who exercise their pets across the borough. These measures do allow us more power to intervene when someone is not sticking to the rules. Ultimately we will want Maidstone to be an even cleaner, greener, healthier and safer place to play, live, work or visit.”
For more information on the dog control measures: https://maidstone.gov.uk/home/other-services/community-protection/tier-2-primary-areas/animals-and-pests/tier-3-primary-areas/dog-control-pspo