P-06-1418 New legislation should be introduced to protect sports pitches from dog fouling

This petition was submitted by Abercarn RFC, having collected a total of 2,518 signatures.

Text of Petition:  

Dog poo on sports pitches creates serious health risks for players of all ages. Current legislation such as Public Spaces Protection Orders have proved insufficient to prevent this problem, meaning sports club volunteers are having to inspect and clear pitches of dog mess every time pitches are used for training or fixtures.

New legislation is required as the current legislation has proved useless because of lack of enforcement by local authorities.

Additional Information:

The following news article highlights the serious injuries that can result from dog mess on sports pitches:

https://nation.cymru/news/ms-urges-welsh-govt-to-ban-dogs-from-sports-fields/

New legislation is required to protect sports players as the current law has proved to be toothless.

Where recreational grounds provide mixed use of general leisure and sports facilities, local authorities should be advised to put in place strong measures to mitigate the risk of players coming into contact with dog mess. These measures could include greater levels of enforcement, fencing off sports pitches, not allowing dogs to be walked off leads etc.

Sports clubs should also be able to seek compensation if club volunteers are compelled to clear dog mess from pitches before they can be used.

We do not seek to make dog walking more difficult, we simply seek to protect players.

Senedd Constituency and Region

• Islwyn
• South East Wales

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