DNA testing of dog excrement to deter irresponsible owners who do not pick up after their pets is being considered by Constables, after the JEP repeatedly highlighted the issue of dog fouling.
And discussions are taking place with law officers to see how more cases can be prosecuted after this newspaper revealed this week that only one dog fouling fine had been issued in Jersey in the last five years.
Speaking to the JEP, Constables’ Committee chairman Mike Jackson said: “We’re conscious of the DNA angle, and we’re trying to pursue that, and we’ve had some suggestions come forward which were quite keen on. But we need to understand every detail of the process.”
In May last year, Islander Marlena Bartus lodged a petition calling for a dog DNA database to be created, so that thoughtless owners could be tracked down and punished if they failed to collect their pet’s waste. In her petition, she highlighted that this had already been introduced in Bolzano, Italy, while a scheme was being trialled in Béziers, France.
Mr Jackson added that some of the options they were discussing included incorporating DNA samples into the dog licence process, although decisions had not yet been made.
Mr Jackson said the single fouling fine in the last five years proved that the legislation “isn’t fit for purpose”.
On the lack of fines, he said that “tweaks” to legislation would “have to be made” to boost the number of court-admissible cases.
He added: “We’re in discussion with the law officers to see how that can be done. So we’re not doing nothing, but it’s just getting the i’s dotted and t’s crossed before we can take the next stage. It’s impossible to bring prosecution against a dog unless you’ve got positive evidence.
“An individual just saying ‘I’ve seen some dog poo’ is not going to bring a prosecution.”
He added that it was “unreasonable” to expect his honorary police officers – who can enforce the dog fouling legislation – to pick up dog poo as part of their role.
Mr Jackson said: “[The excrement] has to be picked up by somebody. There’s an expectation the honorary police will pick it up – well, they won’t. I can’t expect my honorary police to go picking up dog poo, to be honest. That’s just unreasonable, so we have to identify who might do that.”
The JEP recently reported that over 114 pieces of excrement had been picked up by dog sitter and walker Lou Wagstaffe on a stretch of the north coast in the space of a day. Ms Wagstaffe is a member of the “Wild Poo Project”, which was launched by dog walking company Spotted Wellies in a bid to clean up the countryside.
The group said one of their members was called “unpleasant names” when they confronted an owner who let their dog foul.
The individual, who would prefer not to be named, was left “quite upset” after a disagreement with a woman who did not want to pick up after her dog while on the sand dunes last year.
The group wanted to emphasise that they “do not enjoy” picking up after others and instead want to make people aware of how “irresponsible and inconsiderate” it is to leave dog excrement around the Island’s beauty spots.
They added: “The lack of regard shown by far too many people for our beautiful wild spaces, and for other people’s shoes, bike, buggy or pram wheels and picnic blankets is horrifying.”
