Bags of dog poop are hanging from the trees in Letterkenny, claims councillors

Bags of dog poop was being thrown on trees and hedges around Letterkenny ...and the bags were being supplied by Donegal County Council.

That was the claim from local councillor, Kevin Bradley at Tuesday's meeting of the Letterkenny-Milford Municipal District when he tabled a motion that called on the council to erect more dog fouling bins as a matter of urgency.

In its formal response, the council said it will continue to highlight the area of dog fouling and the responsibility of dog owners to clean up after their dogs.

"Over the past number of years, Donegal County Council has distributed Poop scoop bags free of charge to the public with approximately 150,000 being distributed so far this year.

"The council has also been promoting the Any Bag, Any Bin campaign encouraging dog owners to use any bag and that dog waste can be disposed of in any of the large networks of litter bins provided.

"Dog walkers are not confined to just using dog waste disposal bins, they are encouraged to use any of the litter bins provided. This campaign has been highlighted through a number of means, including eye-catching stencilling on paths and pavements."

It also added that other work raising awareness of the dog fouling issue has been the development of different styles of signage for use on road verges, poles and other public areas such as beaches.

"Our Litter Warden team regularly patrol areas and use it as an opportunity to both remind dog walkers of their responsibilities and also distribute bags and information to them.

"In addition to all the proactive awareness work carried out, these patrols can also detect offences. The detection of an offence, where the owner of the dog can be identified, can result in an on-the-spot litter fine of €150."

Cllr Bradley said the council's efforts were commendable with 150,000 poop[ bags being distributed this year already but the problem was there were not enough bins to put these bags in, he said.

"It may say Any Bag, Any Bin but there's not near enough bins to cope. What's happening these bags are being thrown into people's ditches. The council say there is a €150 fine if caught but how many people have been caught or fined? We need more bins as a matter of urgency," he said.

Seconding the motion Cllr Gerry McMonagle said the reduction in the number of bins around the town and the introduction of encouraging people to use any bin was great in theory but not working.

"You see the [poop] bags hanging off branches of trees and bushes and laying all over the places because of no bins."

He added suggestions the council had made at workshops that they take away litter bins on the greenways when developed was also a "crazy strategy".

Cllr Bradley said he knew this issue was not just down to the council as dog owners had to take responsibility too but more bins had to be provided to prevent these bags from being thrown on hedges

"It's a disgrace ...and we're supplying the bags for them. The least they could do is put it in a bin," he said.