Dog Fouling in Bristol

Daryll Dulay is carrying out research about "Dog Fouling" in the UK and has submitted a number of Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to gather data for this research. I have use the data provided by Bristol City Council for this article.

Dog Fouling Fines (2022 to 2024)

2022 - Fines Issued: £0
2023 - Fines Issued: £100 (Paid: £100)
2024 - Fines Issued £500 (Paid: £100)

Totals: Fines Issued £600 (Paid: £200)

The fine for dog fouling is £100, which means only 6 people have been fined in 3 years, and only 2 of those 6 people have actually paid the fine.

Report a dog owner

By law, dog owners must clean up after their dogs. Dog owners can be fined and taken to court if they dont pay the fine.

Call 0117 9222100 and choose the option for waste and street cleansing to report a dog owner. You'll need to tell us:

where the owner and dog live

what the owner looks like and the type of dog

location, time and date of the incidents

The requirement for someone to know the dog owner's address is likely to prevent people reporting these offences as you would either need to know the person concerned, or follow them to their home address. Fining people for "dog fouling" is clearly ineffective and alternative solutions should be considered if this disgusting issue is going to be solved.

Dog DNA Database

A much better solution would be to implement a National Dog DNA Database, which could be used to track down (and deter) "dog foulers".

A register would also improve our city parks and public spaces by tackling dog fouling, which has been linked to toxocariasis, a parasite that is a particular risk to the youngest children. Trials by Barking and Dagenham Council showed that DNA testing drove down fouling by over 60% once owners realised that they could or would be traced.

This will be an effective solution for a number of dog-related problems. Although the list I have given today, including pet theft, puppy farms, dog fouling, wildlife protection, livestock worrying and veterinary research, is not exhaustive—although it sounds it—once the basic framework is set up, any number of other applications can follow. It is clear that a DNA-based approach will become the standard sooner or later. It is surely easier to start now, sorting the scaling problems earlier, so that we make this a long-term fix.

Dog Fouling Reports

The data from the FOI request provides the numbers of "Dog Fouling" jobs that the Street Cleaning Team actioned from Oct 2020 to May 2025.

These are the areas in Bristol where the reports were made.

FixMyStreet "Poo" Reports

Here are the FixMyStreet "Poo" reports for the same period. Please note that this data shows all "poo" reports and will include more than just "dog poo" reports.

FixMyStreet now appears to be the main route by which people report dog fouling.

Here are the top Wards for "poo" reports.