Cllr Pugh calls for better control of dog fining

A Southport councillor wants a review of the
borough’s dog enforcement scheme.

John Pugh, recently re-elected for the Dukes Ward in Southport, wants the authority to ‘sort out’ how by-laws are enforced in parks following claims of increasing tension between dog owners and NSL enforcement officers.

NSL is contracted by the authority to enforce local by-laws but, according to some observers, park signs warning of the rules are either‘vandalisrd, removed or lack clarity’.

In October, a dog walker in Southport revealed she was fined £75 after she let her 12-year-old Jack Russell off the lead on a small patch of grass – known as St George’s Gardens – opposite Sainsburys on Lord Street. The surprised pet owner claimed that due to a lack of signs in the area, she was unaware of the rules.

In January, council chiefs withdrew a £50 fine handed out to a Bootle pensioner, Maureen Sanders, who was walking her dog, Sorenon, on a lead deemed to be ‘too long’.