London - DNA testing has helped to catch countless serious criminals such as murderers, rapists and terrorists.
Now it is to be used to rid streets and parks of the mess left behind by dogs and their lazy owners.
Barking and Dagenham council, in east London, will become the first local authority in the UK to use the technique to identify irresponsible people who fail to fail clean up after their pets – and to hit them with an £80 fine.
Council chiefs are creating a DNA database of local dogs by encouraging owners to take them to a vet to have cells collected from each animal’s cheek using a painless swab.
The proposal is set to be introduced after compulsory micro-chipping becomes law in April 2016.
Council tenants will be required to have their dogs DNA tested as a condition of housing agreements.
Dogs not registered will be banned from the 27 parks owned by Barking and Dagenham. Local enforcement officers equipped with microchip scanners will carry out spot checks
Council workers who discover dog mess in streets and parks would take a sample and send it for a lab test, which can trace it to a dog with 99.9 per cent accuracy, it is claimed.
Streetkleen, the biotechnology company which is working with the council to implement the PooPrints DNA testing scheme, said it would be cost effective and pointed to similar enforcement in the US which had resulted in a 90 per cent reduction in dog fouling. But dog lovers said the scheme could create ‘negative feeling’ among law-abiding owners.
Caroline Kisko, secretary of the Kennel Club, said: ‘It would be difficult to make this compulsory and enforceable, which is likely to mean that only responsible owners would register. The irresponsible minority, who do not pick up after their dogs, would simply continue to flout the law.
‘We would also be concerned if there was a cost involved for dog owners, which could effectively become a tax on responsible owners.’
But the council’s leader, Darren Rodwell, said: ‘The vast majority of dog owners are socially responsible but a selfish few think it’s OK to not clean up after their pet.
‘Dog mess not only spoils our streets, it’s also a health hazard, especially to young children. It’s why we are using this innovative approach in making a cleaner, healthier and better community.’
Daily Mail