Dog Control Orders

The Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act (NI) 2011 became law in Northern Ireland in April 2012 and introduced a number of new powers for district councils to deal with environmental issues. The Clean Neighbourhoods legislation is broadly divided into six separate areas, part 5 of which refers to the use of Dog Control Orders to deal more effectively with irresponsible dog ownership.
 
These Orders introduce certain additional controls over dogs in public places and aim to deal more effectively with dog fouling, nuisance dogs and the protection of children and others using our public spaces and facilities.

Dog Control Orders generally apply to public land that is open to the air and can be made by district councils provided the order is a justified and proportionate response to problems caused by the activities of dogs and those in charge of them.
 
The penalty for committing an offence contained in a dog control order is a maximum fine of level 3 on the standard scale (currently £1,000).  Alternatively, the opportunity of a fixed penalty of £80 may be offered as an alternative measure to prosecution.

The former Antrim Borough Council and Newtownabbey Borough Council made the following named Dog Control Orders: