CCTV cameras plan to clean up Derry’s dog dirt problem

Officials from Derry City and Strabane Council are to visit areas which are using mobile CCTV cameras to crack down on dog fouling ahead of a similar move planned for the city.

The move was revealed at a meeting of the Council’s Health and Community Committee.

Seamus Donaghy, Head of Health and Community Wellbeing with the local council, revealed it would now be visiting other councils in England and Wales to determine whether the CCTV cameras were ‘a cost effective measure’ in dealing with dog fouling.

He added the council would then be looking at ‘whether it was a cost effective measure’.

The scheme would work with council placing the cameras at “dog fouling hot spots” and has already been rolled out successfully by councils throughout Britain.

Mr Donaghy was speaking after the independent councillor Paul Gallagher asked for an update on his proposal at last month’s meeting that DNA testing of dog faeces should be used to identify owners who allow their dogs to foul in public.

The method would work by cross referencing the DNA with the microchip information the council has on stored dogs, which has to be provided when the owner applies for a licence for their pet.

Responding, Mr Donaghy said that it would cost £7 to submit each sample for testing, adding that it would be ‘very expensive method of dealing with dog fouling.’

He added further problems had been encountered in England and Wales with the DNA method because dog owners did not have to possess a licence.

Mr Donaghy said dog licensing remained the best way to identify ‘irresponsible’ dog owners, not only in regards to dog fouling but also attacks on livestock.

“It’s not an offence to not have a dog microchipped, but it is an offence to not have a licence,” he added.

Cllr Gallagher responded: “If this scourge is constant and we have no detection, then we need a new method.”

Sinn Fein councillor Karina Carlin added council should look at the methods used by its ‘neighbours in Donegal’ where poop-a-scoop bags were dispensed from lamp posts.

“It’s a convenient way of dispensing readily available poop-a-scoop bags,” she said.