Dog owners are facing £1,000 fines if they take their pets to the park on long leads.
The ban on leads longer than two metres (6ft5in) applies to dozens of parks and open spaces.
Bosses at Tameside council say they have brought in the measure to reduce dog fouling. The council says owners are more likely to clean up after their pets if they are on a short lead.
But the move was slammed as ‘ridiculous’ by dog owners, charities and pressure groups, which also questioned how wardens will be able to police the ban.
Dylan Sharpe, campaign director of Big Brother Watch – part of the Taxpayers’ Alliance campaign group – said: “This proposal is completely barking mad – only a local authority would even think of fining people £1,000 because of the length of their dog lead.
“This is just the latest in a steady stream of potty policies that try to criminalise and fine innocent dog walkers.”
Tameside is the first local authority in Greater Manchester to bring in the rule and introduced it despite many retractable leads being between five and eight metres in length.
Town hall chiefs have also banned dogs from cemeteries and school playing fields, with wardens now being trained to enforce the ban.
The Kennel Club, Britain’s biggest organisation dedicated to dog welfare, labelled the rules as ‘completely arbitrary’ and ‘unnecessary’.
Spokeswoman Caroline Kisko said: “Bringing in an order which states to ‘keep the dog on a lead of not more than two metres in length’ seems completely arbitrary and unnecessary. We believe it will be ineffective and extremely difficult to enforce. Many dog owners use flexible retractable leads in order to allow their dogs some freedom while still maintaining control so it seems particularly unfair to limit the length of lead in this way.”
Janet Sykes, from Ashton, who trains a dog that is used as Ken Barlow’s pooch Eccles in Coronation Street, said: “This approach is like using a sledge hammer to turn off a computer – it’s totally over the top.”
But Tameside council defended its policy, saying the changes were made to make green spaces ‘more enjoyable’. A spokeswoman added: “People are more likely to clean up after – and have control of – their pets when they are on a lead.
“The areas where we are asking people to keep their dogs on a lead include formal gardens and sports pitches in parks. However in almost all cases there are open spaces very close by where people can exercise their dogs off the lead.”
Although Tameside is the first in Greater Manchester to bring in the restrictions, Rossendale council introduced the same rule last year.
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And I thought Wirral Borough Council was nuts... every week I read of some of the most ridiculous rules being applied by councils and it would be very entertaining except these run our lives to a degree and are supposed to be responsible authorities. I understand the dog fouling problem which is dreadful in Wallasey (Wirral) where I live, but the length of the dog lead will make little difference to the real dog-fouling offenders; especially thugs walking their status symbol dogs...
not very social of a socialist council is it..training wardens to use a tape measure????will probually get stopped anyway when some other idiot on health and safety department bans use of tape measures as they could lead to cuts or that warden could be in danger of being bitten,but not before a considerable amount of money has been wasted.I do agree though that dogs should not be walked on school grounds or allowed to foul sports fields..
Just what you expect from a Looney labour dominated council
Rubbish! I always clean up after my dog no matter what length of lead I use. Are the wardens going to be going around measuring each lead length?
Im going to cut the exercise lead I use down to 1.99m now.
Barking.
How pathetic is this. Peolpe put their dogs on retactable leads so that the dog can run and get some excercise whilst still being in control and their pet not interfearing wth others. All this will do is force people to let their pets off the lead. OWN GOAL TAMESIDE COUNCIL.
Well done to tameside for policing irresponsible owners.We have a lovely green outside my house where children play but dog fouling is terrible i know the ones without bags for their dogs (its usually the ones on those long leads,out of site out of mind),its time dogs and dog fouling was taken serious.
How about just ticketing people who dont clean up after their dogs, You actually deal with the issue at hand?
I know - how about we conduct a study and discover that 100% of the people not cleaning up after their dogs are in fact wearing clothes. So we make it illegal to be dressed whilst walking your dog!
The stupdiity of the people who run our councils constantly amazes me, it is only outdone by the stupidity of those that vote for them.
If the Council can say that a dog owner using a shorter lead is more likely to clean up after their pet,without actually evidencing this fact.Then I can categorically state that a dog-warden approaching a dog-walker,with the intention of fining that person,the dog is likely to sense that its owner is under threat.The dog will want to protect its owner,and if needs be,bite said warden....Furthermore,I assume the Wardens will have to seize the 'offending lead' as evidence....Not going to happen.
In all aspects of life we are inconvenienced by the irresponsibility of a few criminal people. We have locks on our cars to deter the minority who would steal them. We have speed cameras to control the minority of drivers who choose to break the speed limit. We have to pay the wages of benefit investigation officers because a minority of claimants are cheats. We have to pay for CRB checks for all sorts of employees to deter a few child molesters from getting jobs in schools etc. We all pay for the things stolen from shops by a shoplifters. We all pay higher insurance premiums because some people claim for jewels, watches and cameras they never owned.
All dog owners should accept that they have to be inconvenienced by rules and regulations because a few of their number choose to let their pets foul public areas.
Near where I live there is a lovely country lane leading down to the footbridge over the river. Dog owners, often in big, expensive cars, drive to the car park at the top of the lane and stroll down it letting their dogs use it as a toilet. It is disgusting. Until a minority of dog owners stop letting down the majority then the rest of us will probably regard all dog owners with suspicion and support more laws and harsher penalties for criminals who allow their dogs to s**t in public places.
Only in Tameside: They actually pay someone to come up with these crackpot ideas, no doubt funded by the Council taxpayer: It won't be too long untill there is Anarchy on the streets of Tameside if they keep implementing stupid idiotic laws on us. They treat us that we are all a Bourough of law breakers.
My dog lead is 5ft 6ins. Do you think they will catch me out. NUMBNUTS COUNCIL WORKERS DOING ANYTHNG BUT WORK ! The sooner we have the big clean out of town halls the better.
I have always used a retractable lead when walking my dog instead of letting him roam free (which I will now do). I always pick up after my dog (it's not difficult to notice when your dog stops to do his business). Are Tameside Council going to provide me with a new lead for my dog? Are they also going to impose retractable food and drink containers for the McDonalds on Crown Point North because believe me, the rubbish that it produces far exceeds the dog mess which irresponsible owners do not pick up.
I have always used a retractable lead to walk my dog instead of letting him roam free (which I will now do). I have also always picked up after my dog (it's not difficult to realise when your dog stops to do his business). Are Tameside Council going to provide me with a shorter lead? Are they also going to impose retractable food and drink containers for the McDonalds on Crown Point North shopping centre, because believe me, the amount of rubbish that place generates far outweighs the amount of dog mess left by irresponsible dog owners. What next? ASBO's and electronic tags for irresponsible cats!!!
"Bosses at Tameside council say they have brought in the measure to reduce dog fouling. The council says owners are more likely to clean up after their pets if they are on a short lead"
Surely they cannot believe this, they shouldn't even believe that anyone else could believe this
I doubt this would stand up in court if it was challanged.
It just goes to show how busy, pointless and inept local councilors are.
What about retractable leads? Will they be an offence as well?
As for the foulers, just make the owners take it home in their pockets - without a bag. That's how they were going to leave it for someone else.
These Council goons should be put on leads 2 metres long to stop them from accidentally straying into the Real World
HURRAY bann them altogether !!!
A friend of mine is taking his 6ft 5ins lead to the shoe repair shop who are shortening it to 6ft 4ins and it will be ready for collection tomorrow.
That way you have a long lead and you beat the ban.
Before I read this article I thought to myself this has got to be Tameside Council and I
wasn't wrong. What the length of the lead has got to do with the dog fouling beats me.
If a dog needs to go then go it will unless it thinks hang on I am on a short lead I can't
c..p here. I would like to know how many at the council were involved in this brainwave and at what cost?
Type your comment here...what about the dogs rights!? being restricted on a lead all the time! fido isnt going to be happy about this, think he will sue the council on animal rights grounds!
Let's be honest about this. There are those that do (the majority) and those that don't - how far away a dog is has absolutely nothing to do with it.
I'm glad to see they haven't started tackling litter. On the odd occasion when I've run out of bags on a walk there's always been some bit of litter within a couple of metres to do the job (or should that be remove the job? ;-) - I'd like to thank all the residents of GM for supplying me with that backup plan.
Mine have favourite spots for doing their business - I could remove it all blindfolded :-)
So people are going to get fined for having their dog on a long lead, but its ok to let them off the lead.............ok, whose bright idea was this? Were they given a gold star for trying hard? Seriously, even a child could see that this is just ridiculous.
Talk about stupidity. The problem is dog fouling. You should get fined for dog fouling and not for using the wrong lead. Using the council's logic you should get fined for having a dog.
This is exactly the type of thing Cameron/Clegg need to get to grips with. This looney council will no doubt spend thousands on bylaw notices etc.