Zero fines for dog fouling issued in Mayo in 2022

Zero fines were issued by Mayo County Council for dog fouling over the course of 2022 according to a national survey commissioned by the National Council for the Blind of Ireland (NCBI).

Mayo County Council was one of 18 local authorities in Ireland which issued zero dog fouling fines throughout 2022 with just 82 dog fouling fines handed out throughout the country over the course of the year.

The data was gathered by the NCBI as part of its Clear Our Paths campaign to highlight that dog fouling is a huge issue for people who are blind or vision impaired who use footpaths on a daily basis. A recent NCBI survey showed that it was the third most frequent unexpected obstacle encountered by respondents and not only can dog fouling cause a slip hazard, but it can also be distressing for white cane users whose canes are often dirtied by faeces.

While zero fines were issued by Mayo County Council for dog fouling, Kerry County Council had the highest number of fines with 27 and the council reported that there were two convictions related to those fines.

As well as highlighting the problems of dog fouling, the NCBI also highlighted that parked on footpaths emerged as the number one obstacle faced by respondents to its survey. NCBI recently learned that over 19,000 fines were handed out in 2022 for issues around street and inappropriate parking.

Three councils reported that they had not handed out any fines, with Mayo County Council stating that said there were no fines handed out in the Claremorris/Swinford Municipal District. However, 150 fines for inappropriately parked cars were issued in Castlebar and 25 were issued in Westport.

NCBI’s #ClearOurPaths campaign will run across social media from August 21 to 25, highlighting the different obstacles each day. Aaron Mullaniff, Chief Services Officer with NCBI said: “This new data we have gathered is a means to explain to the public the dangers of dog fouling on footpaths and the dangers of cars parked on footpaths. Firstly, the dog fouling data shows that councils can’t be expected to police the issue alone. It’s impractical to think that wardens could observe every single dog owner who doesn’t clean up after their dog and then issue them with a fine. There needs to be significant effort from the public to clean up after their pets in the first instance. It’s imperative that we all work to make our footpaths usable for all members in our communities.

“Secondly, if councils have noted over 19,000 incidents of inappropriate parking by way of a fine, can you imagine how many undetected instances there are that will pose a real risk to those living with sight loss? We’re asking everyone in Ireland to put yourself in a blind or vision impaired person’s shoes when you’re walking your pets, parking your car, putting out your bins or whatever it might be, and to act in a way that’s considerate to those people’s needs,” he said.

As part of the Clear Our Paths campaign, NCBI has created a webpage aimed at supporting members of the public to have conversations with family members and friends about the importance of their own behaviour.

NCBI is asking people to start a positive conversation to encourage others to make sure our footpaths are clear and safe for everyone in our community.