SOCIAL Democrats councillor Shane Hickey-O’Mara has called on Limerick City and County Council to run a citywide public health campaign on dog fouling.
The City North representative also proposed at the April Metropolitan District meeting that standardised signage be posted across the city with information on fines for dog fouling and contact details to report it.
Cllr Hickey-O’Mara told Council members that at the recent Team Limerick Clean-Up the most common thing he picked up were dog waste bags.
“I got eight bags in the section of Greystones Park that borders the Gaelic Grounds, a location overlooked by a large dog-fouling sign urging people to ‘protect public health’ and ‘scoop the poop’ or receive a maximum fine of €4,000. There’s also a phone number that brings you to Limerick Council’s Litter Line,” he explained.
The issue that has been raised with Cllr Hickey-O’Mara most often on the doors over the past few months is dog fouling.
“I’ve also received numerous contacts about it over the phone from all over Limerick City North, I imagine all councillors are in the same boat,” he said.
“In Ashbrook, for example, residents have contacted me asking about reporting dog fouling and requesting more signage.
“They recently received increased signage from the Council— the ‘Bag it, Bin it’ variation. This new signage has minuscule writing but if you get up really close you can just about read the contact details for Limerick Council’s customer service team.
“Alongside these new signs there are little ‘protect public health/ scoop the poop’ signs that don’t have any contact details and are sprinkled throughout the Northside from Greystones to Caherdavin Park, etc.,” he commented.
The Social Democrat councillor’s motion calls for dog fouling signage to be standardised with the same contact information for reporting fouling on each sign.
He also believes that clarity is needed around fines, “with one poster saying there’s an on the spot fine of €150 whilst another says €4,000”.
“What we need in Limerick are creative solutions akin to Galway Council’s ‘Clean it up you dirty pup’ campaign, which led to a 60 per cent reduction in dog-fouling,” he suggested.
“We need a public health campaign that informs people about the public health risks of fouling and how it negatively affects those with decreased mobility and visual impairments as well as people pushing buggies/prams. We also know that dog waste can lead to disease such as toxocariasis, caused by eggs of the roundworm toxocara found in dog faeces, but we need to communicate this with residents.”
“If signage confuses people, has differing information, or is unreadable, then it’s not fit for purpose and is, in a way, litter itself,” he concluded.
In response, the Council said that a new dog fouling image and signage with standardised information has been procured and is being erected in communities as requests are submitted.
