Dog foul fines top £50k in Northern Ireland as DNA database explored

Dog owners in Northern Ireland have paid more than £50,000 in fines over the last five years for not cleaning up their pet’s mess.

Figures obtained by BBC News NI show Northern Ireland’s eleven councils recorded almost 1,000 dog fouling related incidents between 2020 and 2024.

Twenty people were taken to court – and fined a total of £2,715 – for not paying fines handed out by councils in those years.

During the same five-year period, councils in Northern Ireland received more than 14,000 complaints about dog fouling from members of the public.

The figures come as one local authority – Mid Ulster District Council – is exploring how a DNA database could be used to trace incidences of dog fouling back to an individual dog and its owners.

Meanwhile a councillor from the Mid Ulster area has spoken out after he repeatedly found dog poo on his father’s grave in Cookstown.

“It was, to be honest, disgusting, it was disappointing,” Ulster Unionist councillor Trevor Wilson told BBC News NI.

“Luckily there was the guys who do the graves and tidy up in the cemetery they were about and they came along and lifted it for me.”

Dog fouling, he added, was “an ongoing problem here and not only in this cemetery but anywhere where there are people”.

“It’s a very small number of people that give the rest of dog walkers a bad name,” he said, adding that wardens do a difficult job and can not operate “24/7”.

He added: “I would just appeal to dog owners just to think about other people and to be responsible for their own dogs.”

In April, Mid Ulster Council’s development committee passed a motion to explore introducing a DNA database for all registered dogs in the district, which would use a DNA sample taken from dogs when they are microchipped.

Such a move, Mr Wilson said, could be both difficult and overly bureaucratic to implement.

But Sinn Féin councillor Dominic Molloy, who brought the idea before council, wants to see Mid Ulster work with other local authorities to explore how such a move could be cost effective and rolled out across Northern Ireland.

“It is worth a try,” Molloy told BBC News NI.

“Take the cost of what could be a child’s health… we know all the risks that are involved with dog foul,” he said.

Humans can catch toxocariasis from dog faeces.

It is a potentially lethal disease which can also cause blindness.

A Mid Ulster Council spokeswoman said dog owners needed to be aware of the risks of not cleaning up after their pet.

“It is important that we develop and promote a culture of responsible dog ownership and we are asking all dog owners to help us keep the cemeteries, parks, and open spaces in the Mid Ulster area clean and welcoming for all users,” she said.

Eric Randall, chief executive of environmental charity Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful, said dog fouling was a “serious problem”.

The figures, he said, were “an indication that councils are clearly interested in trying to tackle the problem”.

He said enforcement was one of two key areas in addressing the issue. The other area, he said, was education.

“I think if people associated that every time they let their dog foul and leave it there that could result in a child becoming blind,” he said.

The latest figures show councils pursued a total of 971 dog fouling cases between 2020 and 2024.

Ards and North Down Borough Council recorded the highest number and said it was “working hard to promote responsible dog ownership and encourage people to clean up after their pets”.

A Derry and Strabane council spokeswoman said enforcement was only one part of the council’s wider approach to fouling.

She said fixed penalty notices (FPN) were only issued when council officers have sufficient evidence.

In Northern Ireland, the fines that can be imposed on dog owners varies.

The standard fine is £80, but that has increased in recent years in a number of council areas, including in Causeway Coast and Glens and Ards and North Down where fines of £200 can be handed out.

Dog owner Mandy Cavlin, from County Tyrone, said people needed to accept the responsibility that comes with pet ownership.

“A responsible dog owner will pick up their own dog’s poo,” she said, adding it takes just “seconds to pick up after your dog”.

Often, she said, she would not only pick up after her dog but also other dogs’ mess when out walking.

If it proves to be cost effective, she added, the introduction of a dog DNA database in the area sounded like a “great idea”.