Jersey’s St Clement’s parish issues dog poo warning

A Jersey parish has warned it could take legal steps to crack down on people who do not pick up their dog’s poo in St Clement.

Parish officials wrote in the St Clement local magazine that they were “ashamed of the mess in some areas” and warned they would fine people “heavily” if caught.

Constable Marcus Troy said dog mess left on the ground was “significant” and dangerous for children and cattle”.

He said he was working with residents to catch people in the act and warned parish officials have the power to fine people up to £1,000.

Mr Troy said there were challenges to fine people as there needed to be proof.

“They have to be reported in, or one of our Centeniers can catch them in the act,” he said.

“With a lack of CCTV cameras in some of the estates it’s very difficult”.

A Freedom Of Information request to the government of Jersey revealed only one person in five years had been fined for not clearing up after their dog.

The Constable said there were a number of problem areas in St Clement.

“One is Le Clos Mourant the new Andium development, and people are coming in from other parts of St Clement and St Saviour and exercising their dogs and not picking up after them,” he said.

“There’s also Samares Lane, Le Bourg on the beach, and Le Hocq Lane. Those are the four hot spots”

He added: “We have the power to fine people, anything from £5 to £1,000 and we will”.

St Clement resident and dog owner Karen Quinn said she had taken it upon herself to pick up other people’s dog mess.

“There’s no need for it,” she said.

“There are certain things that you need to abide by if you have a dog and one of them is that you’ve got to pick up after your dog.

“I don’t know why people are so lazy”.

Mrs Quinn said she collected five or six extra bags of dog poo each time she took her pets out for a walk.

She said that despite “no fouling” signs and free dog poo bags being supplied by the parish, the problem seemed to be “getting worse”.

“People let their dogs go straight underneath the signs,” she said.