Beware Dumfries dog owners.
If you let your pooch poop on your neighbor’s lawn, it could cost you as much as a $250 fine.
The Dumfries Town Council recently enacted a new “Dog Feces Ordinance,” making such defecation on property not owned by the pet’s best friend a Class 4 misdemeanor.
“If someone would receive a ticket or a violation notice, they would have to go to court and a judge would assess a fine based on the circumstances of the case,” said Dumfries Town Manager Kimberley Alexander.
“The maximum fine that the judge could assess, because it is a Class 4 misdemeanor, is $250,” she said.
Alexander said the request for a dog poop ordinance came from the council long before she took over her job in the spring.
The town attorney did some research on dog feces laws in other jurisdictions, including Prince William County. The Dumfries ordinance was modeled after the county’s, Alexander said.
Mayor Fred Yohey said he did not remember which councilmember asked for the ordinance, but he did remember why.
“The reasoning was that the county had such an ordinance and if it was good enough for the county, it was good enough for us,” Yohey said.
Aside from making it unlawful to allow your pet to urinate or defecate on public property or that owned by another, the ordinance also makes it unlawful for your pet to be off your property without a leash.
There is one exception to this dog poop ordinance. If a dog poops on someone else’s property and the owner picks it up “immediately and disposes of it in a public trash receptacle or in a public sanitary sewer or on the owner’s own property in a lawful manner,” according to the ordinance, all is forgiven.
Following a public hearing held about two weeks ago when no town residents made comment, the council approved the new ordinance. As of late last week, Dumfries police had not been asked to look into any violations.
Staff writer Aileen Streng can be reached at 703-878-8010.
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