THREE Pendle people will have to pay out over £500 between them after been taken to court by Pendle Council and fined for allowing dog fouling.
Two women and one man - from Laneshaw Bridge, Colne and Nelson - failed to appear in Reedley Magistrates’ Court on Thursday last week and the cases were proved in their absence.
Claire Barker, of Laneshaw Bridge, was fined £100 and ordered to pay £70 costs and £15 victim surcharge. Her dog was seen to be fouling on the village green at Laneshaw Bridge last December. When a witness reported the fouling to the council, a dog warden wrote to Ms Barker.
The dog warden had also previously received complaints from local residents about the dog persistently being let out on its own. When it is out on its own, the dog is still the responsibility of the owner. Ms Barker did not respond to the council’s letter and was later summoned to court.
However she didn’t turn up to court and was found guilty in her absence.
Pat Robson, who gave an address in Colne but has no fixed address, was also fined £100 and ordered to pay £70 costs and £15 victim surcharge. Ms Robson (55) was in charge of a dog, which was not her own, in January. The dog wardens saw the dog foul in Cleveland Street, Colne and Ms Robson fail to pick it up.
They approached her and took her details to later issue her with a fixed penalty notice, which she failed to pay. She was summoned to court, although failed to appear and the case was proved in her absence.
Steven Webster, of Chapelhouse Road, Nelson, was fined £50 and ordered to pay £70 costs and £15 victim surcharge.
Mr Webster (24) was walking his dog in Brunswick Street when he allowed it to foul a grassed area in Walverden Park, close to the Multi-use Games Area.
A council park-keeper saw Mr Webster not clearing up the fouling and approached him. She took his details, then gave him a dog bag and asked him to clear up his pet’s mess. He did so, but a fixed penalty notice was still issued, as the law allows.
Mr Webster did not pay the fixed penalty fine and was taken to court. However, he too failed to attend and the case was proved in his absence. The magistrate gave him a lighter sentence than the two women in recognition of the fact that he did clear up the fouling when the park-keeper asked him.
Mr David Alexander, senior environmental crime officer, said: “These three prosecutions are a good result for us. They will hopefully serve as a warning to other people that they must clear up their dogs’ waste.
“My team, together with the council’s park-keepers, are the eyes and ears out on the street. We do witness dog fouling incidents and challenge those dog owners responsible. I also want to thank the witness in the Barker case, who proved to be another valuable set of eyes and ears. Without his evidence in court, we would not have been able to bring about this prosecution.”
To report dog fouling in Pendle, you can call the council’s contact centre on 661743 or fill in an online form at www.pendle.gov.uk/forms
Free dog poo bags are available to dog owners and dog walkers from all council contact points, council shops and town halls.