Although Kay has been very helpful, Kay's main role is a statutory one in dealing with stray dogs, and we request that people shouldn't call her mobile number regarding this issue as it is needed in the main for her to perform her role in collecting stray and sometimes dangerous dogs, where she may need to contact the Police for assistance.

The Council has a call centre, which is contactable on 020 8314 7171, who can then direct the issue of dog fouling to the appropriate department.

You can contact the call centre to:

- Report instances of dog fouling (alternatively log on to http://www.lovecleanstreets.org to report via your phone)
- Get involved in any of our action days or have ideas of your own that we could explore to address the problem of dog fouling
- Inform us of anyone who acts irresponsibly (you may be required to provide a witness statement which could then lead to action being taken against the irresponsible dog owner).

In November 2009 the Council introduced a borough wide dog control order, which made not clearing up after your dog one of five offences. Anyone who commits an offence under any of the provisions of the Dog Control Order may be liable on conviction in the Magistrates Court to a fine of up to £1,000.

The Council and some of its partners can issue £75 Fixed Penalty Notices for Dog Control offences and anyone who fails to pay a Fixed Penalty Notice may be prosecuted. In order to enforce the Dog Control Orders a partnership approach has been adopted, which enables the limited resources of the partner organisations to come together and tackle the issue and this is now co-ordinated through the BARK (Borough Action for Responsible K9's) initiative.

Authorised officers include the Council's Enforcement Team, Wardens, Animal Welfare Officers, some Glendales Park Rangers, some Housing Officers and the Safer Neighbourhood Teams, all of which have their own Fixed Penalty Notice book. One of the issues that we have found is that people tend to act responsibly when they come across an authorised officer.

However, in response to the rise in dog fouling officers in the Council have undertaken a number of Responsible Animal Ownership Days to educate and advise the borough’s residents and visitors of their responsibilities as dog owners. This has included a poster competition for local school children, putting the ‘Bag It & Bin It’ stencils on pavements, letter drops, posters in shop windows and patrols in local parks.

Further work will be undertaken to raise the profile of this issue in September by 'piggy backing' on to Keep Britain Tidy's national dog fouling campaign, where we will be running events in various locations around the borough. Please look out for further details on the Council's website.
http://www.lewisham.gov.uk