Nobody likes the sight or smell of dog mess on their road – but just how bad is the issue?

Barking and Dagenham Post: Kayleigh Tumber and her familyKayleigh Tumber and her family (Image: Archant)

Over the past five and a half years Barking and Dagenham Council has received 495 complaints relating to dog fouling – an average of almost two a week.

Twenty-eight of those related to Fitzstephens Road, Dagenham, almost three times more than any other street in the borough.

But often the problem can go unreported.

Midwifery student and mum-of-four Kayleigh Tumber, 28, of Rowlands Road, Becontree, said she often saw dog mess on her road, although no complaints were registered in the data received by the Post.

“It’s disgusting,” she said. “There are hardly any bins around, either.

“We go to the park quite a lot as a family so I’ve always got to remind the children to watch where they step – it’s horrible. “It shouldn’t be up to people to make a complaint. These things should be cleaned up anyway.”

Responding to the Post’s FOI, the council said no one had been fined for dog fouling during the period anywhere in the borough – but news releases on the council’s own website contradict this.

They say a pair of dog walkers were told to pay £75 each for not clearing up after their pets in March 2013, in Old Dagenham and Valence parks respectively, and a member of the council’s FOI team admitted some information had been incorrectly filed.

People have been having their say on social media about the issue on their roads.

Mum-of-two Lesley Wright, of Hunters Hall Road, Dagenham, wrote on Facebook: “Our road is very bad. It’s hard to walk without dodging the poo – very horrible.

“We visit the local parks most days and they are bad too, especially Pondfield and Parsloes. More wardens should be out on patrol and fine these selfish dog owners.”

But dog owner Dawn Stiles believes those who let their dogs foul are in the minority.

She posted: “All the irresponsible dog owners give us responsible owners a bad name.

“Please don’t tar us all with the same brush – there are owners out there who do pick up after their dogs.”

A council spokesman said: “Dog fouling is a London-wide anti-social behaviour issue and Barking and Dagenham Council issue Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) to any person in charge of a dog who is caught allowing their dog to foul the public footway without making any attempt to clean up after their dog.

“Joint patrols with Safer Neighbourhood Police Teams and Street Enforcement Officers have been carried out where the council has received dog fouling complaints.”

Read more:

Dog fouling must stop outside Dagenham primary school, claims headteacher