CRAVEN District Council has denied it has abandoned its policy of prosecuting dog owners who allow their animals to foul in public places even though it has not brought anyone before the courts for six months.

At one time, faced with a tide of complaints from individuals and parish councils, Craven decided to enforce its bylaws with vigour.

The council's tactic was that the threat of an appearance in court would eventually result in clean streets and parks, and newspaper reports of successful prosecutions appeared on one council noticeboard in the piazza in Skipton.

In October eight people were due to face the magistrates on one day for failing to remove dog mess, but there have been no prosecutions since the council dropped a case against a local policeman who pleaded not guilty.

John Sykes, head of housing and environmental health, said the council was now tending to concentrate on education rather than enforcement.

"The prosecutions served to highlight the issues, but we are looking for co-operation. We will of course still respond to individual complaints," he said.

He added that there was limited staffing and resources with only one dog warden so the emphasis had been shifted onto education.

The council is about to embark on a campaign which it thinks will create a community of considerate dog walkers.

The Good Dog Campaign, to be launched over the bank holiday weekend, will provide free "scoop" bags, offer dog training classes and promote responsible dog ownership.

Yet in April 1998 the council was reported as saying it had already worked hard in educating and informing people of the health risks and social unacceptability of leaving dog faeces.

In one year dog warden Anthea Chapman issued 187 warnings against owners of fouling dogs.

Coun Peter Walbank, who is also a member of the RSPCA and the Canine Defence League, said he thought prosecutions should be brought back into action.

"Prosecutions were working," he said.

He added that it was essential dog fouling be brought under control, and prosecution and education should run side by side.

"Really there should be no need to educate people at all, if they have a dog they should know," he said.

Coun Paul English, who is helping to co-ordinate the Good Dog Campaign, said: "The campaign will make people aware that they are responsible for their dog. We can still prosecute as well.

"Putting the fear of God into people sometimes works but if I can educate someone to pick up their dog's mess, you do not make them a criminal.

"We have got to train and teach people. Prosecution is fine if they do not learn the lesson the first time. If we give them all the tools and all the means and they still do not pick up, then they must be prosecuted."

Kevin Hopkinson, from Skipton, was one of those found guilty of failing to clean up after his dog in November 1998.

He said: "Mis-directed, flawed, hit and miss, unworkable, ineffective, greatly under funded, where do you want me to stop regarding my view of the council's dog policy.

"The environmental health boss even arbitrarily decides who to take to court or not. And he's not taken action for six months, a change of attack or no money in the kitty?

"I paid the price for letting my dog go in a litter strewn ditch alongside the old Harrogate Road. Not on the estate, not in the playing field, not on any footpath, not on any grass verge, but in a ditch full of asphalt, garden cuttings, food trays, bottles, for which most of the year is a nettle or weed bed and hasn't seen a council strimmer for years."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.