Westmeath in doghouse over dog poop record

Westmeath is in one of 18 counties in the doghouse over their record in dealing with the owners of dogs who fail to clean up when their pets make a mess.

Data gathered by the National Council for the Blind in Ireland (NCBI) as part of its Clear Our Paths campaign shows that just 82 dog fouling fines were handed out by local councils in 2022.

Westmeath was one of the 18 counties in which no fines were issued.

"Dog fouling is a huge issue for people who are blind or vision impaired who use our footpaths daily," said an NCBI spokesperson, stating that in a recent survey they conducted, dog poop emerged as the third most frequent unexpected obstacle encountered by respondents.

"Not only can dog fouling cause a slip hazard, but it can also be distressing for white cane users whose canes are often dirtied by faeces," the spokesperson said.

Cars

Cars parked on footpaths emerged as the number one obstacle faced by respondents in the survey.

In the Municipal District of Mullingar Kinnegad, 397 parking fines were imposed, and nationally some 19,000 fines were handed out in 2022 for street and inappropriate parking.

Three councils reported that they had not handed out any fines, while Mayo County Council said there were no fines handed out in the Claremorris/Swinford area. Roscommon County Council said there are no traffic wardens in the county.

"Parking inappropriately, especially on footpaths, causes a serious hazard for people who are blind or vision impaired," the NCBI spokesperson said.

"If a footpath is blocked, people with sight loss may be injured by walking into traffic to get around a vehicle, injured walking into the vehicle, or injured by stepping off kerbs in unfamiliar locations."

Aaron Mullaniff, chief services officer with NCBI said: "The dog fouling data shows that councils can't be expected to police the issue alone. It's impractical to think that wardens could observe every single dog owner who doesn't clean up after their dog and then issue them with fines.

"There needs to be significant effort from the public to clean up after their pets in the first instance. It's imperative that we all work to make our footpaths usable for all members in our communities.

"Secondly, if councils have noted over 19,000 incidents of inappropriate parking by way of a fine, can you imagine how many undetected instances there are that will pose a real risk to those living with sight loss?

"We ask everyone in Ireland to put yourself in a blind or vision impaired person's shoes when you're walking your pets, parking your car, putting out your bins or whatever it might be, and to act in a way that's considerate to those people's needs."