Dog fouling reports triple in Ipswich following Star campaign launch

The number of people reporting irresponsible dog owners in Ipswich has more than tripled following a Star campaign.

In April this year, Ipswich Borough Council received 37 dog fouling complaints, 26 more than the same month in 2014.

A borough spokesman said: “We are very encouraged by these figures and are totally behind the Star’s campaign and want to keep on urging residents to report owners who fail to pick up after their pets.”

However, despite an increase in reports, no fixed penalty notices have been handed out to offenders.

At the start of last month, the Star reported that the number of complaints of dog fouling in the town’s streets had increased significantly since 2010.

But out of the 516 complaints of mess lodged over the past five years, only five fixed penalty notices had been handed out to culprits, four in 2014 and one this year.

As a result, the Star launched the ‘Drop them in it’ drive – encouraging readers to report lazy owners who choose not to pick up their dog’s mess.

Council bosses have reiterated their message that residents should report incidents online or over the phone with as much information as possible, including the name and address (if known) of the person in charge of the dog, a description of the dog and details of the date, time and place of the offence.

To report an incident visit www.ipswich.gov.uk/dogfouling or call 01473 433115.