Irresponsible dog walking members of the community have been criticised by a local county councillor for not picking up after their pooches.

Clr. Jon Preston who who also represents the Penally ward on Pembrokeshire County Council, as well as St. Mary Out Liberty (New Hedges) and Gumfreston said this week that he is ‘disappointed’ that with very few ‘visitors’ around during the current COVID-19 crisis, he and the public can only deduce that it must be local residents responsible for the leaving dog mess on the pavements, streets, beaches and public gardens of the county.

“As if we haven’t got enough to be dealing with at the moment, a new phenomenon has emerged since lockdown - irresponsible dog owners seem to have decided that they need not clean up after their dogs,” stated Clr. Preston, who has written to PCC’s head of service in an attempt to deal with the matter.

“I have had information from around the county that the problem is escalating as the lockdown continues. Due to the current travel restrictions I’m disappointed to have to conclude that the offenders must largely be members of our communities,” he continued.

“COVID-19 has undoubtedly driven some to act irrationally, but the bizarre practice of cleaning up after a pet only to leave the bag on the pavement, beside a bin or hanging from a tree has been evident for many years, perhaps it is the same people who cleared the supermarket shelves of toilet roll? It remains a complete mystery!”

In correspondence to Neil McCarthy PCC’s environmental services operations manager, Clr. Preston has flagged-up what seems to be an increase in environmentally irresponsible dog owners not cleaning up after their pets during the lockdown.

“This is possibly due to the quiet streets leaving the offenders to carry on unchallenged,” Clr. Preston states in his correspondence.

“Public health is at the forefront of everything we should be doing during the COVID-19 crisis so I would welcome a strategy to address this problem.

“I am assuming the litter enforcement team may not be fully operational since the lockdown, however I think it would be in the interests of public health to deploy a highly visible, dedicated team to issue fixed penalty notices to offenders,” he continued.

Despite many calling for PCC’s dog ban which comes into force from May 1 on beaches across the county, to be lifted during these unprecedented times and whilst the lockdown continues, Clr. Preston states that it is his understanding that the ban on Pembrokeshire beaches will continue this season - which may increase the problem during the current restrictions if the problem ‘remains unchallenged’ he stated.

The ban which runs on some beaches until the end of September, to protect Blue Flag statuses, has been temporarily lifted by the county council for events such as the Long Course swim which takes place in July and Ironman Wales in September, to allow spectators viewing the sporting events to take their pets onto Tenby’s North Beach where the swims take place.

One long-standing elderly resident in Tenby who walks his dog on the North Beach everyday, and abides by the beach ban rules from May onwards, by driving to Penally station to park up to access the end of the South Beach where the ban is not in place, has stated that he would struggle to get by if the ban is enforced, as the coastal path from Penally has been closed off during the Coronavirus crisis.

Such a ban being enforced on any of Tenby’s beaches will also run the risk of forcing dog walkers to amass on the South Beach end, increasing the likelihood of more people gathering in one spot

The fear amongst communities is that if the ban is enforced for as long as the lockdown restrictions continue, it will also encourage others to drive to beaches at this time where the ban is not in place, when everyone is being told not to take ‘non-essential’ journeys.