Links

Northumberland County Council

It’s an offence not to clean up after your dog. Dog mess is a problem affecting footpaths, playing fields, parks and other public places. Find out more and report dog fouling here. 

Report a dog fouling incident 

Reporting dog mess

How do we deal with dog fouling?

We don’t tolerate dog fouling in Northumberland. If you own a dog and it makes a mess, you clean it up. Failing to pick up after your pet is antisocial, dirty and spreads diseases like toxicariasis, which is of risk to children and can cause blindness. Yet it continues to be a problem, and one we take very seriously.

If you’re found to have not cleaned up your dog’s mess, you will be issued with a fixed penalty notice of £100.

If payment is not received within 14 days you will be prosecuted. Offenders face a court appearance, with a maximum penalty of £1,000. Claiming ignorance of the dog's actions is not a valid defence. Registered blind dog owners are exempt from any fines.

• View the fouling of land by dogs order of 2017 for more information.

We target hotspot areas identified by the public and carry out early morning, evening and weekend patrols if necessary. We’ve also trained more officers to enforce dog control orders and issue fines.

We work hard to make sure the bins provided for dog mess are well maintained and emptied regularly.