Dog DNA scheme would be a step in the right direction
APROPOS your article in the Press on 25 July with reference to the suggestion by David Chamberlain, the States Vet, to implement a DNA/registration scheme for dogs – bring it on. I am a dog owner and pay the paltry licence fee every year – it can hardly be worth the administration costs of collecting it. We should pay more and it should fund the scheme. Dog owners who allow their dogs to foul public places should incur a hefty fine. DNA is the only way to accurately pinpoint the offending animal and it would certainly concentrate dog owners' minds if they knew that they were going to be successfully prosecuted and (hopefully) shamed in your newspaper. There should also be a fine for owners who are found not to have licensed and chipped their dogs.
I am a keen walker and am fed up of having to avoid piles of dog excrement around the cliff paths and on the commons or, even worse, avoid full 'poo bags' left lying beside the path. There are few outdoor places on this island, apart from the beaches, where I can take my grandchildren to play and not have to worry about the hazard of dog poo. It is in every public place – even the parks where dogs are supposed to be on a lead. Dogs are not more important than children.
Dog ownership is not just about having a dog. It is about behaving responsibly, considerately and not jeopardising the public's health or spoiling their enjoyment of this lovely island.
The authorities responsible should tackle this problem in a robust and effective way and implement the suggested scheme without delay. Similar systems operating in certain areas in the USA and in Berlin and Jerusalem have reduced dog fouling by 90%.
P. HEYWORTH,
Torteval.
