Section 20 Companion Animals Act 1998 | Dog Defecating in Public Place

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Section 20 of the Companion Animals Act 1998 is Dog Defecating in Public Place and is extracted below.

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The Legislation

20 Dogs defecating in public place

(1) If a dog defecates in a public place:
(a) the owner of the dog, or
(b) if the owner is not present at the relevant time and another person who is of or above the age of 16 years is in charge of the dog at that time–that other person, must immediately remove the dog’s faeces and properly dispose of them. Maximum penalty: 8 penalty units.

(2) Proper disposal includes disposal in a rubbish receptacle designated for the purpose by the local authority. It is the duty of a local authority for a place that is commonly used for exercising dogs (including an off-leash area) to provide sufficient rubbish receptacles for the proper disposal of the faeces of dogs that defecate in the place.

(3) This section does not apply when the dog is an assistance animal being used bona fide by a person with a disability to assist the person and the person’s disability makes compliance by the person with this section not reasonably practicable.