People who let their dogs foul on the pavement should be banned from Pet ownership.

[HepLaurenceLB]

Another day of having to scrub dog shit off my kids shoes and my pram wheels. I am so angry with dog owners who leave dog shit everywhere. The pavements and parks near are a disgusting obstacle course, that my kids are bad at navigating.
The current penalty is £50. I don’t know if it is ever enforced.

AIBU that all dogs should be licenced to their owner with their DNA sample on record. Dog Wardens should trace poo samples to the owners. Owners get a 5k fine and are banned from dog owning.

No doubt someone will explain why the logistics make it problematic but me and my poor shoes vote you are definitely not being unreasonable.

Absolutely not unreasonable. Punishment should also include removal of the dog. It’s something I feel very strongly about as it’s a public health nuisance and not taken seriously by councils.

Entirely agree with the sentiment OP not sure it's workable one but something needs to be done - the £50 fine does not work.

All punishment for all crime should fit the principle of proportionality.

Ds was watching his home cameras the other night.. Man with 3 x huge ddogs - ds watched him let them shit on his actual drive. So he had to reverse through it next day.. And he is using my bloody car!

I am a dog owner who always picks up and I am disgusted by the amount of poo not picked up. It always seems to be worse in the winter when they can get away with not picking up in the dark.
Can I also complain about the cat who shits on my front lawn ? I’ll have the little fucker one day 😡

Oops I hit YABU by mistake. My bad. Having said that I can tolerate 'chocolate kisses' where the dog owner clearly has removed the vast majority of the faeces via a scooper.

Still remember the 80's when some dog owners took offence at not being able to let their animals defecate on school playing fields - I would have an even bigger fine for that.

People who do not clear up after the dog ought to be fined. Similarly, people who have very long leads and let the dog wander far in front of them because the dog is not under control and can cause accidents on the road and pavements.

The culture we seem to have is to let the dog do as it wants and not train at all. My dogs were well trained from puppies and did not cause a nuisance. Too many people who have no idea how to train a well mannered dog are becoming dog owners.

@Santaisironingwrappingpaper

Ds was watching his home cameras the other night.. Man with 3 x huge ddogs - ds watched him let them shit on his actual drive. So he had to reverse through it next day.. And he is using my bloody car!

Dog owners like that should be locked up.

The £50 doesn't work because hardly anyone gets caught. You could just have DNA tracing, linked to a £50 fine (or whatever would be required for the scheme to be initially self-funding) and get the result you need.

No need for all the rest of it, including adding to homeless dogs in shelters because they have been seized.

Of course, if you did implement this then dog mess would go right down. Which would lead to any scheme looking unfundable on paper and being vulnerbale to council cuts. Thus it would be sclaed back or removed, and mess rates would go up again...

So the person who thinks you're unreasonable is obviously wrong. I once identified someone who let their dog mess on the pavement, I followed him home and left it on his doormat. Unfortunately he saw me and an argument ensued. He really didn't understand my argument of 'just pick up after your dog then it wouldn't happen'.

He said I was disgusting, oh the irony.

Here in NI it’s £80 but they have suspended the dog fouling reporting/fining service during the covid pandemic! so you can merrily let your dog shit wherever he likes and no one can even report you!

I am a dog owner and I completely agree with you. I never ever leave mess behind and DC have been taught in the strictest sense you always clear up after the dog. Always. I am always amazed at the entitlement when I see faeces or even more amazing left bags of them. I mean if you are going to pick it up and put it in a bag why the hell do you not throw it away. There is no shortage of both bins and specific dog waste bins in my area.

I do not understand peoples mindset to leave it on the floor.

@Somanysocks

So the person who thinks you're unreasonable is obviously wrong. I once identified someone who let their dog mess on the pavement, I followed him home and left it on his doormat. Unfortunately he saw me and an argument ensued. He really didn't understand my argument of 'just pick up after your dog then it wouldn't happen'.

He said I was disgusting, oh the irony.

What possible justification did he have for leaving dog shit on a pavement?

I always have spare bags when I take my dog out. I wouldn't dream of not picking up.

But I'm sick of dog shit outside our house. Dirty lazy owners use our road as a cut through to the park. They should be fined massively.
Put it this way I'd rather stand on a cigarette butt than a big steaming turd.
The fine should fit the crime.

Round here we also get the people who clear up and then hang the bag on the nearest shrub or tree.

I'm genuinely a liberal
But think hanging is too soft when I'm scubbing shite off pram wheels -AGAIN!!!!

There’s a notice on a bin thing near me that says fouling the pavement carries a £50 fine. Please bag if and dispose of it responsibly.

bit dramatic to say they should be locked up

@Pyewhacket

There’s a notice on a bin thing near me that says fouling the pavement carries a £50 fine. Please bag if and dispose of it responsibly.

But the £50 fine doesn’t work. If it did, the pavement wouldn’t be covered in crap.

@Hippopotas

Round here we also get the people who clear up and then hang the bag on the nearest shrub or tree.

Why DO people do this? It’s bizarre. What do they think will happen to it?

I get that some people might do it so they remember to pick it up on the way back... but they never ever do, apparently.

It’s worst in the woods by us. Letting your dog shit in the woods/flicking it off the path into the undergrowth is 100% less disgusting or littering than leaving plastic bags of shit on trees.

I’d love someone to be brave enough to post and explain why they do this, I genuinely don’t understand how anyone can do it. A while back I called a council line to complain about it and they said they have 2 wardens covering the whole area (maybe 10000 people) and they need to catch people in the act!! Pointless. Love the dna idea mentioned above, would wardens have to go round taking samples of the shit to send off? I’d pay extra taxes in a heartbeat for someone to be highly paid to do that.

I agree, this should also apply to people who throw litter out of car windows, fly tip, dum rubbish, let their recycling blow all over the road, spit on pavements, etc.
I think banning them from owning a pet is going a bit far, so I voted YABU.

@GhostPepperTears

All punishment for all crime should fit the principle of proportionality.

I agree, I should be allowed to shit on the offending do owner's shoes.

@Merename because they are too lazy to pick it up and don’t want to carry it around.