Knowsley Council consults on dog controls

Knowsley Council is seeking residents’ views on strengthening dog controls in the borough.

The council is seeking to enhance the current Public Space Protection Order (PSPO), which was introduced in 2014.

The updated PSPO would:

• Extend the order to restrict the number of dogs that can be walked by one person at any one time, whether on behalf of a business or themselves.
• Continue the borough wide exclusion of dogs from certain enclosed children’s play areas, games areas, or areas used for sport and leisure and extend the order to exclude dogs from any children’s playground whether it is enclosed or not.
• Continue the requirement for dogs to be placed on a lead if requested by an authorised officer.
• Continue the requirement for dogs to always be on a lead in council-owned cemeteries, golf courses and allotments and for the order to be extended to include a requirement for dogs to be on a lead in all wooded areas.
• Extend the order so a person responsible for a dog must keep their dog on a lead at all times on a carriageway, including adjoining footpaths, cycle tracks and verges.
• Continue the requirement for any person in control of a dog in a public place to carry with them an appropriate means of collecting dog foul. Evidence of the means to collect would need to be provided to an authorised officer on request.
• Continue with the requirement that a person responsible for a dog should remove its dog foul immediately.

Councillor Shelley Powell, Cabinet Member for Communities and Neighbourhoods, said: “The council already works closely with Merseyside Police and other key partners, including Dogs Trust, to promote responsible dog ownership and to take action against illegal dog breeders or owners whose activities are having a detrimental impact on the local community.

“The proposed strengthening of the current PSPO would firmly place the emphasis on responsible dog ownership in Knowsley and will help make the borough a safer place to live and work.”

The consultation, which can be completed here, closes on Sunday 18 August 2024.