Novel scheme helps Madrid cut the crap with dog owners

Having long blighted the city’s streets, dog mess is now the target of a pioneering scheme overseen by the authorities in Madrid, under which a combination of fines and community service will be used to punish and educate animal owners.

Dog owners caught failing to pick up their animals’ mess will be given the choice of either paying a fine or cleaning the streets.

“Despite repeated information campaigns and the seven million plastic bags which City Hall distributes for free to pet owners, there is still excrement on the streets, in parks and in other public spaces,” City Hall said in a statement announcing the plan, which described the problem as a “public health risk”.

City Hall has also published on its website a "dog excrement map", highlighting all the streets of the capital where dog mess is deemed a regular problem. The map, on which affected areas are shaded brown, suggests that few parts of Madrid are clean. The well-heeled Chamartin district suffers almost as badly as the more working-class San Blas barrio.

Madrid's mayor, Manuela Carmena of the leftist Ahora Madrid coalition, vowed to clean up the city's streets on taking office nearly a year ago. However, a publicity campaign using signs to tell the owners of Madrid's 270,000 registered dogs to clean up their mess appears not to have worked.

The law says that a pet owner who fails to clear up after their animal can face a fine of between €751 and €1,500, a sanction that will now be enforced by municipal police. In order to avoid paying the fine, the owner can opt to do several hours’ street cleaning, for which they will be given gloves, boots, a jacket and equipment.

The scheme is already under way in the districts of Villaverde and Tetuán, but it has drawn criticism for distracting police from other work.

"We're amazed that this issue should be prioritised," Julián Leal of the CPPM municipal police union told La Razón newspaper. He warned that other problems, such as criminal gangs, were more pressing, "but they're giving priority to the fact that people should have to pick up dog poo. It's incredible."

In 2013, the town of Brunete, near Madrid, carried out a pilot scheme under which dog owners who failed to clear up were sent their animals’ excrement in the post. The short-term project, dreamed up by an advertising agency, was credited with reducing dog mess in the town’s street by about 70 per cent.