24th March 2014, Monday
By Bryan T. Smyth
bryan@TheCork.ie
A Cork City Councillor has suggested the establishment of a DN- database
for dogs!
It’s to try and trace the owners of pets which are fouling pavements, and
green areas.
Under the Litter Pollution Act 1997 it is an offence to allow a dog under
your control to foul a public place. Meaning, in practice, that an owner is
supposed to clean up after their animal.
But…. no-one was prosecuted for the offence in Cork City last year,
because it can be too hard to prove in Court.
The problem’s been discussed in City Hall on many occasions, Fine Gael Cllr
Emmet O’Halloran is proposing a “DNA database” as the solution
He says it’s already working in Germany, and there there’s already a
precedent for trying to link other forms litter to offenders such as seeing
an address in a flytipped blackbag.
Speaking to TheCork.ie Cllr O’Halloran – a former Deputy Lord Mayor – said
the idea is “not a joke”
0324-DOG-FOULING-03-emmet-ohalloran-THIRD-CLIPS-he-says-scheme-is-not-a-joke.mp3