By Andy Balfour

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At the September meeting of Derry City and Strabane District Council’s Health and Community Committee, councillor Ó Fearghail said he had recently received several complaints around the issue from constituents. He added: “They’re complaint to me is there doesn’t seem to be any deterrent; there hasn’t been that many people fined for their dog fouling. “They’re saying they haven’t seen dog wardens on the ground, but I appreciate we don’t have that many dog wardens to cover a vast area.” “I think it’s necessary that you have cameras there permanently to stop it, because they’re carrying the dog dirt into the schools, on their shoes or hands, are not aware of the dangers.” “If we could get the CCTV erected permanently at primary schools, it would be a good deterrent.” Head of Health and Community Wellbeing, Seamus Donaghy, said officers will return a paper to a future Committee meeting on the feasibility of cameras or signage outside schools. “Recently the focus has been dealing with dangerous dog breeds and we have an increase in the number of attacks on people, livestock, pets and there’s a number of legal cases ongoing,” he concluded. “So I’m happy enough to take on board your recommendation.” Andy Balfour, Local Democracy Reporter.