$500 fine for not picking up after your dog in Casey Council
JUST walking down the street with your dog could cost you $200 in this outer south-eastern council area if you aren’t carrying a dog-poo bag. And not picking up after Rover will cost you a lot more.
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DOG owners who fail to pick up after their pets now face a $500 fine courtesy of a tough new council law in the south-eastern suburbs.
Even heading out without a dog poo bag on hand will attract a $200 fine as part of a suite of laws introduced by Casey Council late last month.
Ben Smith, who runs a Facebook group for Cranbourne East dog owners, said while he agreed people who failed to pick up poo should be punished, the city’s fine was higher than a low-level speeding fine.
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He said fining people for not carrying bags was unfair because dog owners could be caught short if their dogs pooed more times than they expected.
He said the Pasedena Estate dog park used to have free dog poo bags when it was managed by the developer but the city took them away when it started managing the park.
“People should not be punished for not having foresight— if I don’t have a bag by accident I will still try to make an effort to pick it up, I will see if I can find a bag or use some branches,” he said.
Previously, the fine for leaving dog poo on the ground was $200.
In the past 12 months, the council issued four infringements for failing to remove poo and received 32 complaints about poo litter.
Casey safer communities manager Caroline Bell said the council increased the fine in line with “community sentiment”.
“We urge all pet owners to pick up after their animals and show courtesy for everyone that uses our public places so they can be enjoyed and kept clean for our community,” she said.
Casey’s new bylaws will also allow chook owners to expand their flocks from five to six, and ban homeowners from installing alarms that emit a noise beyond the boundary of the land, unless it is automatically switched off within five minutes.