NOT a single pet owner in Islington has been fined in the past year for dog mess – despite threats of penalties of up to £1,000, the Tribune can reveal.

Dog fouling is described by Islington Council as a “failure to pick up and dispose of your dog’s mess from any public space”.

The Town Hall says this offence can result in a fine of between £100 and £1,000 being issued.

Stuart Leasor, 65, who moved to Angel from Dulwich two years ago, said he was shocked at how much dog faeces he noticed around the borough.

“It’s virtually on all the streets on quite a scale, even outside people’s houses, which is really annoying,” he said.

“It’s an issue that transcends everyone, regardless of politics. It’s just really horrible.”

He added: “If you go out in the evening, walking back is always a bit of a minefield. I can imagine that if you had children or were disabled it would be even worse.”

Mr Leasor’s own border terrier, Kipper, died two years ago but he said he finds it amazing that dog-owners “don’t seem to care” about leaving their pets’ excrement lying in public.

“If people think they might get caught, they would be less likely to do it,” he said. “I was staggered that nobody had been fined.”

The lack of penalties emerged following a Freedom of Information request by Mr Leasor.

Islington Council use the Love Clean Streets app to identify issues such as missed recycling collection and littering.

It states: “Once you have made the report, our team will pick it up, deal with it, and we’ll notify you once it has been resolved.”

A Keep Britain Tidy poster that went up in Islington in 2020 which was criticised for being ‘scary for children’

According to Love Clean Streets, there have been 1,143 reports of dog fouling in Islington in the past year. In the previous year, between March 2022 and March 2023, there were 865 incidents reported.

But these are only the worst cases which get flagged up to the council.

Anna McCraken has been running a dog-walking business in Islington for 10 years and said she believes that the council should be doing more to clamp down on the issue.

“I contacted the council a long time ago to ask them to create more bins and smaller bins to give us easier access,” Ms McCraken said

“At the moment, the bins are really spread out. You can get three bins on one corner and then be walking along for ages without seeing one.

“I definitely think the council should be doing more to fine people. Me and my team don’t like being the people blamed and having fingers pointed at us when we haven’t done anything.”

She added: “In fact, we go and pick up other poo in the community dog parks to do our bit.”

The council website claims that it tackles dog fouling by educating dog owners, placing signs that highlight the laws in parks and estates, and patrolling local areas to look out for dog owners who are breaking the law.

A council spokesperson said: “We’re committed to ensuring that local people are able to enjoy clean, welcoming streets.

“Thankfully, the vast majority of residents do pick up after their dog and there is only a small minority that don’t. Where this is the case, our street cleaning teams help to clear any mess.

“We have teams that regularly patrol our streets to deal with environmental offences, including dog fouling. Unfortunately, dog fouling is one of the most difficult offences to enforce, as enforcement officers have to witness the offence taking place, and then obtain the owner’s name and address.

“We’re continuing to work hard to address dog fouling, including leafleting areas where it is an issue, asking residents to provide information on repeat offenders, and working with Keep Britain Tidy on new ways to deal with this issue.”