Dog control offences may relate to someone not picking up poo, not carrying a plastic bag with which to pick up poo, having a dog out of control, allowing a dog to enter land from which they are excluded, not putting a dog on a lead when ordered to by an authorised officer. By far the majority of fines since the PSPO began relate to dogs crossing white lines that mark out sports pitches. Each fine is £100.
The first PUBLIC SPACES PROTECTION ORDER (PSPO) began in October 2020. The second began in October 2023. You can see there was little enforcement prior to the PSPO. 2021 shows a lull for Covid. Late 2022 shows an upsurge.
February 2023 is when the wardens hit the local and then national headlines by following two seniors (myself and a fellow dog owner) and putting us under duress for two hours. That ended with a need for medical attention for us. Other dog walkers had been followed and intimidated in the months prior to that.
After that, we see that the council cooled off for a while. Why might that be?
Should you be told by a warden that they will call in the police if you do not give your name or pay a fine, bear in mind that the council’s website provides the following information:
What the Police deal with:
Dogs acting in a dangerous or aggressive manner (giving people reasonable fear of attack)
Dogs worrying livestock on agricultural land
Road traffic collisions involving dogs
Control of guard dogs
Dogs being used for illegal purposes (i.e. poaching)
Dogs in cars on hot days
Banned dogs under the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991
Further, last year the wardens threatened us - for two hours - saying that they would summon the police as we did not give our names and details. In fact, their behaviour towards us was so atrocious that we needed medical attention due to their prolonged harassment and then when the police were called in by the local GP surgery, the wardens were summarily dismissed. The police told us that they do not get involved in matters between the council and local residents.
We have subsequently filed a complaint to the police against the wardens but we had left it too late and the time lapsed invalidated the claim.