Dog Foul imposed a top £ 50k fine in Northern Ireland as detected the DNA database

Dog owners in Northern Ireland have paid more than £ 50,000 in the last five years for not cleaning their pet’s dirt.

The data obtained by BBC News NI records about 1,000 dog fauting related events between 2020 and 2024 to the eleven councils of Northern Ireland.

Twenty people were taken to court – and in those years, a total fine of £ 2,715 was imposed for not paying the fine assigned by the councils.

During the same five -year period, the councils in Northern Ireland received more than 14,000 complaints about dog fauting from public members.

Statistics come as a local authority – Mid Ulster District Council – finding out how a DNA database can be used to detect dog events that fauting back to a individual dog and its owners.

Meanwhile, a councilor from the mid -urinary region found the dog poo repeatedly on his father’s grave in Cookstown.

Ulster Unionist Councilor Consumer Wilson told BBC News NI, “It was to be honest, disgusting, it was disappointing.”

“Fortunately there were people who do graves and streamline the cemetery, they were about it and they came together and lifted it for me.”

Dog Fouling, he said, “There was an ongoing problem here and not only in this cemetery but where there are people”.

He said, “This is the number of very few people who give a bad name to the rest of the dog walkers,” he said that the warden works a difficult work and cannot operate “24/7”.

He said: “I will just appeal to dog owners to think only about other people and be responsible for my own dogs.”

In April, the Development Committee of the Mid UlSter Council passed a resolution to launch a DNA database for all registered dogs in the district, which would use DNA samples taken from dogs when microchyped.

Such a step, Mr. Wilson said, can be both difficult and excessive bureaucracy to apply.

But Sin Fen Counselor Dominic Moloy, who used to bring views before the council, wanted to see the work of mid -urinary with other local authorities, to find out how such a step can be effective and rolled out in Northern Ireland.

“It is worth an attempt,” Moloy told BBC News Ni.

He said, “Take the cost of what the child’s health can be … We know all the risks that are involved with the dog’s foul,” he said.

Humans can catch toxocariasis from dog stool.

It is a possible fatal disease that can also cause blindness.

A spokesman for the Mid UlSter Council said that dog owners should be aware of the risks of not cleaning after their pets.

“It is important that we develop and promote a culture of responsible dog ownership and we are asking all the dog owners to help keep the cemeteries, parks and open places in the middle ulcer region and clean and welcome all users,” he said.

Eric Randel, Chief Executive Officer of Environmental Charity, kept northern Ireland beautiful, stating that Dog Fouling was a “serious problem”.

Statistics, he said, “An indication was that the councils are clearly interested in trying to deal with the problem”.

He said that enforcement in addressing the issue was one of the two major areas. Other areas, he said, there was education.

“I think if people join that every time they dishonest their dogs and leave it there, resulting in a child blind,” he said.

The latest data shows that the councils pursued a total of 971 dog fauting cases between 2020 and 2024.

ARDS and North Down Boro Council recorded the highest number and stated that it was “working hard to promote the responsible dog ownership and encourage people to clean up people after their pets”.

A spokesperson of a dairy and Straibane Council said that the enforcement was only a part of the comprehensive approach of the council for flying.

He said that fixed penalty notice (FPN) was issued only when the council officials have enough evidence.

In northern Ireland, penalty on dog owners vary.

The standard fine is £ 80, but has increased in many council areas in recent years, including Causeway Coast and Glans and ARDS and North Down where a fine of £ 200 can be assigned.

Mandy Kavelin, owner of County Tyrone Dog, said that people need to accept the responsibility coming with pet ownership.

“The owner of a responsible dog will pick up his own dog’s worship,” he said, adding it “second to take seconds after your dog”.

Often, she said, she used to rise not only after her dog, but even after the disturbances of other dogs.

If it proves to be cost effective, he said, the introduction of a dog’s DNA database in the area looked like a “great idea”.