Have your say on where dogs should be kept on a lead - or banned altogether - in Preston
The city’s dog control rules are being reviewed.
Preston residents are being asked whether they think there should be any changes to the rules dog owners have to abide by in the city.
The local regulations for controlling canines dictate where dogs must be kept on a lead – and which public spaces in Preston they are banned from altogether.
In addition, there is a general rule that dogs must be leashed in any area when an authorised officer requests that they are.
The orders also make it an offence for dog owners not to clean up after their companions if they defecate in public – and not having anything suitable to use to remove the mess is not deemed acceptable as an excuse.
The rules have to be renewed every three years – or will otherwise expire in October.
However, Preston City Council is obliged to carry out a public consultation before it can agree to continue with them. The authority is not currently proposing to make any amendments to its Dog Control Public Space Protection Orders
The last time the regulations were renewed in 2023, it emerged from a police study that dog dirt was the third-biggest concern of Preston residents, just behind antisocial behaviour and road safety issues – but ahead of drug dealing and burglary.
The consultation – which runs until 21st July – seeks the public’s views on the existing regulations regarding cleaning up dog mess and also the area-specific rules which state that dogs are not allowed in:
***play areas;
***multi-use game areas and ball courts;
***bowling greens (except the perimeter footpaths);
***skate parks, BMX tracks or youth shelters;
***sports pitches when organised sporting activity is taking place;
***fountains, water features, ponds or ornamental lakes;
****cemetery or crematorium grounds (except the footpaths or highways within them);
and that they have to be kept on a lead on or in:
***all vehicular highways (including footways and verges within the highway width);
***Miller Park;
***footpaths adjacent to and leading to and from Avenham Park pavilion;
***Japanese Garden in Avenham Park;
***Winckley Square Park;
***school fields and playgrounds;
***leisure centre grounds, including sports pitches;
***council owned cemeteries and crematoria;
***the Peace Garden at the junction of Friargate and Ringway;
***the Flag Market, Market Place;
***the city’s two covered markets.