DNA testing to curb dog poo scourge ‘too expensive’

BY EMMET McELHATTON

A COMPREHENSIVE DNA testing system to track down the culprits responsible for persistent dog fouling in the Omagh district may be too expensive to implement, the local council has been told.

An exponential increase in dog fouling complaints between 2018 and 2021 was discussed at a recent meeting of Fermanagh and Omagh District Council.

A report from the Environmental Services Committee (ESC) recorded that, “Complaints increased from 69 in 2018/19 to 280 in 2019/2020 and to 356 in 2020/2021 (a fivefold increase from that experienced in 2018/19). It is clear from the statistics that the dog fouling problem is primarily due to dog owners not picking up after their dogs rather than dogs straying on their own.”

A DNA tracking system would mean every dog in the district is swabbed for saliva, then the DNA collected would be registered in a district-wide database.

“When fouling occurs, a sample is collected using a waste collection kit and sent for analysis and matching,” stated the report.

The sample of waste collected would then be ran against the database, thus identifying the dog and owner responsible for failing to dispose of the waste.

However, the system is extremely expensive, the costs beginning with the initial saliva sample and subsequent analysis at £44 per dog.

It would then cost £13 for the waste collection kit and its transport to an analysis facility.

The final £57 would be incurred for cross-analysis between the waste and the database.

Furthermore, DNA testing is not provided for in current legislation, namely the Welfare of Animals Act (Northern Ireland) 2011.

In the absence of a statutory power to legally demand dog owners provide salvia samples from their dogs, the programme could only work on a voluntary basis.

Acknowledging this, the committee said, “It is unlikely… that irresponsible dog owners would voluntarily avail of such a scheme and therefore dog foul sampling for DNA would be both costly and ineffective.”

John Boyle, the council’s director of community health and leisure, told the Tyrone Herald that dog fouling had noticeably increased over the past 12 months as more people walked their dogs during lockdown.

He added, “The council introduced a number of measures in April, including the employment of additional staff for increased patrols and enforcement, awareness and education campaigns, targeting of ‘hot-spot’ areas, installation of stencils and additional signage, increased engagement with residents and relaunch of the Green Dog Walkers Scheme. It is much too early to assess the impact of these measures but the council will continue to monitor the issue, and indeed will introduce additional measures to reduce the blight of fouling in our communities.”

On DNA testing, Mr Boyle continued, “There is no legislative base to compel dog owners to submit swabs of their dogs DNA to allow testing to take place. The scheme would therefore be a wholly voluntary scheme and unlikely to receive widespread support from those owners who do not clean up after their dogs. DNA testing is therefore likely to have limited effectiveness and, given the cost of implementation, is not seen as value for money at this time.”