Mike Sutton started the petition because he was not impressed with some dog owners at Back Beach.

A war of petitions has begun about whether or not dogs should be banned on a Taranaki beach after a man claimed he saw children there playing in poo.

Mike Sutton is collecting signatures for a petition appealing to the New Plymouth District Council (NPDC) to prohibit dogs from Back Beach in an effort to maintain a "safe and healthy" environment for its users.

Fighting back, Shelley Henry has started a counter-petition asking that dogs continue to enjoy the freedom the beach currently provides.

supplied Mike Sutton is collecting signatures for a petition appealing to the New Plymouth District Council to prohibit dogs from Back Beach in an effort to maintain a "safe and healthy" environment for its users.

A frequent visitor to the popular surf spot, Sutton said the area is overrun with hundreds of dogs every week and as a result is littered with faeces.

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He said many people were also "terrified" of the canines, which were not required to be on a leash while at the beach.

GRANT MATTHEW/STUFF Shelley Henry (right), with her dog Precious, is fighting against a petition to ban dogs at at Back Beach in New Plymouth. Judy Eva (left) is one of the 545 people to, thus far, sign the online appeal.

The final straw for Sutton was when he recently witnessed a group of youngsters who ended up with dog faeces on their faces while playing in the sand.

He phoned the NPDC with his concerns and was advised to start a petition, he said.

Last month, he launched petition Dog Ban on Te Ara Puaawai o Herekawe (Back Beach) on website change.org.

He has since garnered 41 signatures in support and hoped to collect at least 1000 before he presented it to the council.

By comparison, Henry, who this week started Save Back Beach from Potential Dog Ban, has 545 signatures in support.

Henry said there were few places in the district people could unleash their tail-waggers and was passionate about the beach remaining one of them.

GRANT MATTHEW/STUFF Shelley Henry wants owners to remember to clean up after their dogs.

"It's been a dog beach for years," she said.

"My dogs are high-energy dogs, they love the beach. They have to have exercise and be able to socialise."

The New Plymouth woman agreed faeces on the beach was a problem at times but believed there could be another solution.

"There's no doggie-doo bin down here.

"I've lodged a request with the council to have one put down here and they're looking at that."

Sutton, a former dog owner, agreed there could be other solutions.

At the very least, he believed dogs should be on a leash, or the prohibition of dogs at other beaches should be lifted.

"If other beaches were available to dogs it would spread out the volume," he said.

"Something needs to be done."

NPDC customer and regulatory solutions manager Katrina Brunton said rather than banning dogs from more beaches, the council would prefer owners took responsibility for keeping beaches safe and healthy for everyone.

"We get complaints of fouling on Back Beach, when dog owners haven't cleaned up after their pets," she said.

She said it was a "small number" of dog owners who don't control or clean up after their dogs.

The only beach where dogs were banned year-round was Ngāmotu Beach, she said.

"We have bans during daylight savings and the bird nesting period of August to April on some parts of our beaches, but otherwise dogs are allowed as long as they're under the control of their owners – whether by leash or voice command."