Bolton Council consults on extending dog controls

Bolton Council is consulting on its dog controls, which are due to expire this autumn.

As it stands, the council has four Dog Control Public Space Protection Orders in place covering dog exclusion areas, dogs on leads, dogs on leads by direction and the fouling on lands by dogs PSPOs.

The four orders currently in place give police and authorised Bolton Council officers extra powers to prevent nuisances caused by irresponsible dog owners or dog walkers.

Anyone who fails to obey an officer or authorised person’s request could be given a fixed penalty notice fine of £100 or fine of up to £1,000 if they are taken to court.

The council is now asking the public if these powers, which first came into force in 2007, should be kept in place instead of being allowed to expire in October this year.

A spokesperson told Bolton News: “We have to balance the needs of dog owners with those of the rest of the community. The fact that our dog PSPOs have been in place for many years with very high levels of support indicates that we are getting that balance right.

“We encourage everyone to have their say so that we can make a decision about whether to extend these measures with confidence.”

If extended, the controls will stay in place for another three years before they are consulted on again.

The consultation, which will run until 13 July this year, can be found here.