City Council to crack down on pet owners who let dogs foul pavement

Staff Reporter The municipal water board Emaya, responsible for keeping Palma clean, has launched a campaign to force dog owners to clean up after their pets. It will come into force next month. Deputy mayor Antoni Nadal, who is also the head of Emaya, spoke yesterday about the nature of the campaign. Backed by a government subsidy of 71'800 euros, it will include adverts in the media, posters and the distribution of 125'000 information leaflets. Dog owners will be advised to clean up after their dogs if they foul the pavements, to stop their pets from urinating against the front walls of buildings or against lamposts, benches, etc, on the streets; to use extendable leads only if they are taking small dogs out to walk; and to muzzle breeds of dogs classified as dangerous. At the same time, the leaflet will explain the new by-law which prohibits giving food to animals out on the street, a measure that Nadal justified as a question of hygiene. He stressed that the purpose of this restriction is principally not only to avoid the proliferation of stray cats, but also an increase in pigeons which can pose a threat to hygiene. He insisted, however, that no one is going “to condemn children who give the remains of their sandwiches to pigeons in the Plaza España” in Palma. The information leaflet also lists general by-laws relating to keeping the city clean, such as the banning of depositing rubbish in containers outside the established collection timetable or throwing rubbish in the streets or public highways and byways. Future statutes, initially approved last month, establish a system of fines. The maximum for very serious offences (1'803 euros), is 20 times greater than the current penalty, whilst the least serious offence will be a fine of 30 euros. The deputy gave assurances that the City Council is to make it easier for dog owners to comply with these statutes by installing more “pipi-cans” in public parks. Nadal announced also that he is planning to section off 15 plots of land under municipal authority in different areas around the city for exclusive use by dogs, an idea that he wants to see up and running next month.