hounds and faeces
Many of us have seen hounds defecating in public places. Few of us have seen members of the hunt picking it up. This is because they believe they don’t have to, but is that true?
No, it isn’t. Many local authority areas have Public Space Protection Orders in place and many of them relate to dogs. PSPOs make it an offence to fail to pick up after your dog if the dog has defecated in a public area (eg grass verge on a lane). In many areas there is NO EXEMPTION FOR HUNTING HOUNDS.
In some councils (eg Somerset West and Taunton) dog fouling is still an offence and hounds are not exempt, but there is no actual PSPO.
So to be clear – hunts must pick up their dogs’ faeces in public places, along with the rest of us, if there is an order in place with the local authority from which hounds are not exempt.
What is a PSPO?
Public Space Protection Orders (PSPOs) are orders under the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 which ban specific acts in a designated geographical area in England and Wales as set out in the act. They replace the earlier designated public place orders, gating orders and dog control orders. They are put in place and enforced by the Local Authority. If a person breaches the order, they receive a “Fixed Penalty Notice”. The amount of the fine varies in different areas. If that person is caught doing it again, the matter goes straight to court, with a likely fine plus costs being around £1000.
Have a look at this link – it is Cornwall Council’s PSPO for dog fouling:
https://www.cornwall.gov.uk/media/esadwlqa/pspo-for-dog-fouling.pdf
This is the one for Mendip Council
https://www.mendip.gov.uk/media/28478/PSPO-No-1-of-2021-dog-fouling-dog-control-and-street-drinking-district-wide/pdf/PSPO_No1_of_2021.PDF?m=637624707857470000
This is what Somerset West and Taunton Deane council say about it:
https://www.somersetwestandtaunton.gov.uk/dog-control/dog-fouling/
We know that hunting hounds are not exempt from this legislation in these three areas because we have emailed to ask them.
What can we do about it?
We can catch them at it, collect evidence and report it. This guidance covers:
- Background
- What to look for
- What evidence to collect
- Who to report it to
- How to report it
- FAQs [coming soon]
Our ultimate aim is to force the hunts to respect all laws, including PSPOs. Stopping to pick up after 30 hounds might be quite difficult.
background
Aware of the local PSPO, a Cornish sab group collected this evidence:
- A hound defecating with the huntsman in view
- The hound close up
- The hunt riding off
- The faeces still there – note the time stamp, showing the hunt hadn’t returned to clean it up.
The sab group reported it. A few weeks later, a member of the hunt was filmed getting off her horse and cleaning up after a hound. Then, on Social Media, the hunt admitted they’d been caught and fined.
We have been looking at other local authorities to find out if they also have relevant PSPOs – and many of them do.
Checking out your local area
Have a look at this list of Local Authorities with PSPOs. Find your own authority and click on the link. You should be able to report the dog fouling incident there. As far as we know, none of these authorities has an exemption for hunting hounds, but we are contacting them individually just to confirm.
Search for: “PSPO – dog fouling + [your area]” and see what comes up.
Then drop the council an email to confirm that hunting hounds are not exempt. Let us know what you find. info@actionagainststaghunting-org.stackstaging.com
Collecting the evidence
The best evidence is a sequence of photos (see above). Video evidence is also useful. However, a person can be fined for not picking up their dog’s faeces even if they were not there themselves. This means that if a hound is loose, or some of the hounds are running around away from the huntsman and you collect evidence of defecation, you can still report the incident to the council.
Make sure your photographs and video are time and date stamped. Also be very clear about the exact location of the incident – what3words is very useful here.
Reporting the offence
As the councils are the enforcement authority, you need to report the offence to them. How to report it will vary from council to council, so you’ll need to search for “Reporting Dog Fouling + [your local area]”
If you need any more help or advice, please contact us on info@actionagainststaghunting-org.stackstaging.com
LETTING US KNOW
Please also let us know that you have reported the incident – use this form (takes about 20 seconds to fill in)
Thank you for your help with this – together we WILL make a difference!