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New dog fouling enforcement powers being rolled out across Bridgend county will apply to all public open spaces regardless of whether they are owned by the local authority or not.

Bridgend County Borough Council is creating a public space protection order (PSPO) which places a number of conditions on dog walkers and makes it a criminal offence if they ignore them.

It involves having to carry dog poo bags when outside, picking up dog faeces and taking it home – or putting in a litter/dog poo bin – and placing a dog on a lead when requested to do so by an officer.

Dog walkers could be fined £100 if they don’t comply or be taken to court and given a fine on conviction of up to £1,000.

Councillors voted through the changes at a cabinet meeting on June 18.

Cabinet member for communities Richard Young said the order aimed to crack down on dog fouling either when left uncollected or placed in a bag and thrown over the nearest hedge or tied to a tree branch.

He said: “Wherever the public have access, our enforcement officers are allowed to follow up on the order.”

Head of operations for community services Zak Shell said the order means officers will be able to take action on public open spaces, local authority owned spaces and large areas owned by Valleys to Coast Housing.

He said: “We are not going to spring up in anyone’s back garden or in the middle of a farmer’s field or on any privately-owned land.

“If it’s public open space and an amenity open to the public then officers will have the authority to take action.”

Officers said the restrictions do not in any way prevent dog walkers from using public land for exercising dogs.

A recent public consultation showed strong support for the plans with 93% of people agreeing dog walkers should be fined if they don’t remove faeces from a public open space, 83% saying a dog walker should have poo bags or another suitable means of picking up faeces, and 77% agreeing that a dog walker should place their dog on a lead when directed to do so.

Half of the 1,078 people responding to the survey were dog walkers.

However Mr Shell said the Kennel Club had raised concerns that in some cases the the order could have the opposite effect to what the council wanted when it came to poo bags.

He said: “The Kennel Club has suggested that if your dog has just defecated and you only have one bag with you then if nobody saw it you might just walk away and leave it there because you didn’t want to use up your last bag.

“My personal opinion is that a responsible dog owner will make a point of taking out plenty of bags, they don’t cost very much and they don’t take up much room.

“You don’t take out just enough, you take out an adequate supply.”

He added: “Throughout the borough we have a good supply of litter bins and all our litter bins are dual use so you can put dog fouling into a litter bin.

“This is about public behaviour rather than accessibility to bins themselves.

“I have come across numerous dog fouling incidents when I have been walking my dog and it has numerous litter bins on the route – there isn’t an excuse for a lot of people who do leave it behind.

“Hopefully these measures, together with enforcement, will change that behaviour.”

Council leader Huw David said the council had recently installed 17 dog waste bag stations across the county where people could take free dog poo bags.

He said: “We have also installed over 100 additional litter bins in the last couple of years across the county, particularly in Porthcawl, so there is no excuse for dog walkers if their dogs commit the act.

“Dog walkers have got to take responsibility for their own dogs.

“There is a consultation taking place around enforcement powers that will be available to our new enforcement service so they can enforce this.”

Cllr David also warned residents to look out for people that have been impersonating enforcement officers.

He said: “We need to be clear with the public that enforcement officers have ID badges and they won’t ask for money from them up front.”

The council has appointed 3GS on an initial 12-month period to act as its enforcement partner and patrol problem spots across the county.