Man caught on camera leaving dog poo on pavement

An irresponsible pet owner was caught on camera watching his dog foul on the pavement and then walking away without picking it up.

The man was walking his dog along Down Terrace early on Sunday morning when a camera installed by Dave Smart filmed him waiting patiently for his pooch to do its business – and then calmly walk on without picking it up.

Mr Smart contacted the St Luke’s Residents Association, which in turn contacted the council, and an enforcement officer managed to track down the dog owner and give him an £80 fine.

Mr Smart said: “I saw the poo out of the window, right out where we walk out onto the street.

“I have got a toddler who would walk right through that so I had a look on the camera footage.

“The whole of Hanover is littered with dog poo. In lockdown, it was pretty bad and because we had a pram at the time, the amount of times we had to boil the kettle and clean it off the pram wheels – that happened every week.

“While it’s great that guy got an £80 fine, why not take it to court? Why not use it as an example of what can be done?”

A council spokesman said: “Dog fouling is a major nuisance and a health hazard. We know it’s a major concern for many of our residents.

“However, it’s impossible for us to prosecute dogs owners or issue fines unless we have very solid evidence such as video footage – or if
our environmental enforcement officers witness the offence in person.

“We welcome the support of the wider community in this, and will always follow up tip-offs where we are offered the level of evidence we
need.

“In this instance we’d like to thank the St Luke’s Residents Association for their support.

“The evidence they shared with us made it possible for us identify the perpetrator and issue them with an £80 Fixed Penalty Notice.”