Hi all
Thanks to our many signers, sharers and donators - your support means a lot to us and others worried about the other petition and potential rule changes.
We'd also like to thank those who support us on nextdoor - we're not sure if everyone makes it here but their support on that platform is invaluable rehardless of whether they sign.
One reader on reddit stated people are obsessed with dogs' pees and poos - we apologise as this post is all about dog poo.
It's cited by both petitions and various commenters on social media as an issue, indeed this is part of the reason the other petition was set up, so we thought we'd look at the stats we have and some new ones.
Please bear with us, it's a long one but we have a few different sources we'd like to share on the matter.
Possible Number of Dogs and Dog "owners" in Edinburgh
In a 2023 article by the BBC the "Edinburgh Dog and Cat Home suggests approximately 24% of the population own dogs with the number living in Edinburgh estimated at around 13,000 dogs."
So, there's a possible 13, 000 dogs able to poo on our streets and in our parks and cemetries - please keep this in mind when reading the below information. Please also bear in mind dogs often poo more than once a day.
Let's say as an example a dog pooed twice a day (some will poo more often but some will poo once) that's 26, 000 poos - a day an it'sprobably an under estimate.
13, 000 dogs pooing more than once a day - if the majority of dog owners did not clean up we're pretty sure we'd be swimming in the stuff.
BBC Article:
Council Cemetery Review Stats
We have previously reported on the council review of the current rules just over 3 months ago (a time frame we feel is reasonable to still give credit to, in academic circles sources are usually allowed for the last 10 years). They stated they had recieved 10 complaints from 5 individuals in 4 of Edinburgh council's 43 cemetries. The behaviour noted is all related to off lead dogs and there are no mentions of other behaviours such as dog fouling. So 0 dog fouling out of a possible 13, 000 dogs (who can poo several times a day).
You can access the council review at:
https://democracy.edinburgh.gov.uk/documents/s64669/Item%207.5%20-%20Cemeteries%20Update.pdf
Dog fouling fines stats - streets
The other petition carried out a freedom of information request which showed dog fouling fines issued by all of Scotland's Councils in the year 2016 - Edinburgh 53. 53 is one a bit dogs a week out of a possible 13, 000 dogs (who can poo several times a day).
You can find there post relating to this information at:
Both sources have been previously shared, below are some new sources.
Street Cleansing Request Stats
A new source we have found is an article by Edinburgh Live. They carried out a freedom of information request to the council re how many cleansing requests has been made over the last 5 years.
88 street cleansing requests were made in one street in 5 years, so on average 17.6 cleansing requests a year in one street. That's 1.5 dogs (let's say 2, rounding up) a month out of a possible 13, 000 dogs (who can poo several times a day).
Unfortunately, they do not give overall cleansing requests over the 5 years but this is interesting as it looks at cleansing requests rather than reported fouling.
In the same article Barry Fisher, Chief Executive of Keep Scotland Beautiful, said: “Scotland has a problem with dog fouling – with our national surveys recording it on six per cent of streets, and our recent public perception polling highlighting that 61% of people see it in their local area very or somewhat often...ultimately, standards are falling because of the behaviour of those who repeatedly fail to pick up after their pet."
In the same article the council stated that much like cemetries they carry out targeted education and interventions "The Street Enforcement Team uses publicity materials in hot spot areas and has increased patrols in them, in an attempt to catch or deter those responsible for failing to pick up after their dog."
You can view the Edinburgh Live article at:
Street Cleansing Requests
Whilst the article above did not give overall street cleansing statistics the BBC article from 2023 mentioned above does. It states:
"In the three years to December 2022, there were on average 1,288 street cleansing requests a year relating to dog fouling in the city.
The council already has the powers to issue fixed penalty notices of £80 to offenders but only four were handed by the authority in 2021."
1,288 street cleansing requests in 1 year and 4 fines in one year out of a possible 13, 000 dogs (who can poo several times a day).
That's an average of 25 requests a week - out of a possible 13, 000 dogs (who can poo several times a day). 1,288 is also 322 times the number of fines noted in 2021.
That's an average of 3.5 dogs (let's say 4 as rounding up) a day across the city out of a possible 13, 000 dogs (who can poo several times a day).
Interestingly Councillor Scott Arthur, Transport and Environment Convener, who has shared the other petition (and would therefore appear to support it) stated:
"Tackling the issue of dog fouling is a priority for us - it's unacceptable that a small minority of owners should leave dog's dirt anywhere in the capital."
So one of the City of Edinburgh's own councillors thinks it's a small minority of dog owners who commimt dog fouling offences.
BBC article:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-67450700
BBC article on dog fouling in various Scottish Cities
Edinburgh council is not mentioned in this article - being Scotland's capital and the council area with the 2nd highest population we find this curious could it be they didnt want to mention us as we're not as problematic as other council areas?
Here are some quotes from the article which you read in full at the link provided after the comments.
Aberdeenshire- "Ultimately it is responsibility of dog owners to pick up after their pets and we are encouraged by the fact that the vast majority of dog owners do this."
East Dunbartonshire Council "stressed that it would be unfair to concentrate solely on numbers of FPNs issued as a measure of community wardens' efforts...this is only one tool and their remit is much wider than enforcement work and issuing fines."
"Zazi Todd, author of book Wag: The Science of Making Your Dog Happy, said research had highlighted differing attitudes to dog fouling.
"In a more urban environment, like a park, everyone agreed that you should pick up," she said."
What is being done across Scotland to tackle the issue:
The article cites many different innovative ways in which councils are trying to adress issues of dog fouling, including, spray painting dog poo and giving out dog poo bags.
Final point from the article on this "The Scottish government works with Police Scotland, local authorities, the SSPCA and other partners to encourage responsible dog ownership and keep communities safe."
You can find the BBC article at:
Summary
Clearly there are different ways to define information relating to dog fouling which will provide different statistics.
Apart from the council review which cited no dog fouling complaints in cemeteries the other statistics on dog fouling come from streets - we don't have statistics on this but would suspect cemetery dog fouling is less than street fouling as we think less people will go to cemetries than the street with their dogs - indeed many dog walkers on the other petition state they would not go to cemetries.
Whilst we personally find any dog fouling disgusting, unpleasant and a potential health risk for which there is no excuse these are official statistics which do appear to show dog fouling numbers to be fairly low in our streets and non existent in cemeteries - this is compared to how many potential offenders there may be.
Further, Keep Scotland Beautiful stated those that do not clean up after their dogs are repeat offenders so some of the numbers reported will possibly be the same owner and dog.
Obviously statistics may not be fully accurate as they depend on people reporting, dogs being caught in the act of fouling, having enough council staff to monitor and enforce etc but we cannot make up statistic based on thoughts and it certainly seems like 13, 000 dogs are not fouling the streets.
We ask is it reasonable that the other side are asking for legislation to be changed based on a minority (in relation to one of the issues cited)?
Should councillors be changing rules for a minority when the majority appear to follow rules re dog fouling? Indeed, one Councellor has even stated it's a minority of dog owners that do this.
We belive that mourners and other people with dogs can gain great physical and mental health benefits of visiting cemetries with their dogs and should not be excluded if they are respectful, responsible and follow current rules.
We believe that education is the key and indeed the council are attempting this - perhaps we could try some of the other methods adopted by other councils in Scotland as well.
We are continuing to research this and other issues.
If you have information you'd like to share please feel free to email us at:
cemeteries4all@yahoo.com