New cemetery rules considered to stop dog fouling

Robin Tatler said a minority of dog owners were causing a problem at cemeteries in the Borders

A local authority is to consider new management rules for cemeteries in a bid to stop dog fouling and other irresponsible behaviour by owners.

At a full council meeting on Thursday, councillors in the Borders heard of growing complaints about the mess on graves and pets chasing balls.

Robin Tatler, who represents the Tweeddale East ward, said such behaviour failed to "respect the significance of these spaces to families where their loved ones are interred".

He called on dog owners to keep their pets on a lead and councillors backed his proposals for a report on what could be done to tackle the issue.

Mr Tatler said he did not want to ban anyone from graveyards but something needed to be done.

"We don't want to refuse access to cemeteries to anybody at all," he said.

"There are people who obviously want to visit the cemeteries to visit graves and they want to take their pet with them.

"The issue is that unfortunately there is a minority of people who are allowing their dogs off the lead to do things that they shouldn't be doing in a cemetery."

He said that was making the experience a "lot worse" for others.

Mr Tatler tabled a motion to look at the options available to try to address the problem.

"This is about trying to look at the management rules for these public spaces and encouraging people who do have dogs to have them on a lead and behave responsibly with the dog," he added.

A report will be brought back at a later date to look at what rules the council might be able to impose.