Pet owners in the Lisburn and Castlereagh area could soon be under the watchful eye of a private enforcement company as a result of a council failure to tackle dog fouling.
Concerns have been raised as Freedom of Information (FoI) requests show zero prosecutions for litter in the last four years in the council area and over 20 times more dog fouling fines during Covid compared to the last two years in a row.
Councillors have now urged the council to “get something done about it”.
It is understood there are more than 18,000 dogs in the district, but only two dog wardens.
DUP Alderman Allan Ewart said a Freedom of Information (FoI) request by a constituent found no litter cases were taken by the council in the past four years
“Three years ago when ABC (Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon) introduced a private company I asked this council to look at it. Officers came back and said they had a ‘better way’ and if I would drop that proposal. So, I did that,” he said.
“But, the better way has brought nothing.
“So, I will make a proposal tonight that the officers go away and look at this or any other private company that would be able to look after litter and dog fouling.”
Another FoI request found that there was only one fixed penalty notice issued by Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council in 2024, compared to 24 in 2020.
One one was issued in 2023, six in 2022 and 17 in 2021.
Other years on the FoI show fixed penalty notices for dog fouling include, 17 in 2021, six in 2022 and one in 2023.
There was an average of around 350 complaints of dog fouling made to the council each year in that period, the FOI response shows.
A debate on the issue will now take place at the next full meeting of the council.