Kildare County Council is to target a second location in the Naas area in a bid to tackle dog fouling.

However this has been criticised by Naas councillor Seamie Moore who described it as a standard reply.

He wants a month-long awareness and enforcement campaign during which supportive members of the community would be encouraged to use their observations, and a free phone number “to bring offending dog owners to understand and appreciate the existence of penalties for not cleaning up after their animals”.

Cllr Moore also criticised the audio device which is deployed in areas where dogs are walked and which reminds pet owners of their responsibilities.

The audio device is one of a number of measures KCC said it will use and which were deployed during campaign in Kill and Johnstown in January.

KCC says the campaign also includes the presence of a community warden on site over a number of days, the placing of warning signs and stencilling as well as placing “any bag any bin” stickers on bins. Cllr Moore also criticised the “any bag any bin” message because he said dog dirt should not be placed in green bins.

Cllr Carmel Kelly said the only way to stop dog fouling is to impose fines on the owners. She said that stencilling needs to be redone in many areas and agreed that dog dirt should not go into green bins.

“A fine will make people think twice about allowing their dogs to foul,” she said at a Naas Municipal District meeting.

She was supported by Cllr Fintan Brett who said about 10% of people don’t care where their dog fouls.

“Enforcement is what is needed,” he said.

SEE ALSO: Sweet job for Naas man, Eoghan Crawford, at Mars Ireland