€32k dog fouling campaign ‘not a waste of money’

The chief executive of Cork City Council has defended a €32,000 spend on its dog fouling awareness campaign after figures showed just one fine has been issued for the offence in seven years.

As City Hall launched its second dog fouling awareness campaign in association with Maxi Zoo yesterday, Ann Doherty said it was a decision of councillors to allocate the budget for the campaign which was part of an effort to change the behaviour of dog owners.

Fianna Fáil councillor Ken O’Flynn questioned the spend after figures released last week showed that only one fine has been issued in the city in respect of dog fouling since 2010 — the €150 fine was issued on March 8, 2017.