Dogs on leads rule for Angus cemeteries in fouling clampdown

Dog owners are set to be told to keep their pets on leads in Angus cemeteries.

In a proposed clampdown, council chiefs are suggesting the rules relating to local graveyards should be tightened up.

It follows a host of complaints about dog fouling.

Earlier this year, pet owners were told the area’s cemeteries were not ‘dog parks’.

Angus Council infrastructure director Graeme Dailly is proposing the change to the management rules for burial grounds.

These were last updated in 2022.

But Mr Dailly says there has been an upsurge in problems with irresponsible owners allowing dogs to wander free.

The director will ask communities committee councillors to adopt the new rule when they meet next week.

“Whilst we encourage visitors to our burial grounds, a minority have allowed dogs to roam unchecked,” he says.

“We have received numerous reports of dogs fouling burial lairs and in headstone borders.”

What do the current rules state?

At present, the cemetery regulations state ‘no person shall cause any dog to be in a burial ground unless it is kept under proper control’.

The planned change will see that altered to ‘no person shall cause any dog to be in a burial ground unless it is kept on a short lead’.

New signs will be put up in cemeteries if the change is agreed.

The council admits the plan is based on the rising number of complaints rather than any hard data on the extent of the problem.

The report says other councils, including Dundee and Aberdeen, already have a dogs on leads rule.

In January, a night-time vehicle ban was put in place at Newmonthill cemetery in Forfar.

It followed a spate of fly-tipping incidents. At that time the rise in dog fouling was also highlighted.

“Our cemeteries are not dog parks,” said the council.

“We ask that you show some respect to our cemeteries and to the families that use them to remember their loved ones.”

The communities committee meeting takes place on Tuesday.