A north-east woman has been evicted from her home – after repeatedly failing to scoop up her dog’s mess.
She was kicked out of her Langstane Housing Association (LHA) property in Aboyne after repeated complaints form neighbours for allowing her dogs to foul in the building’s common area, and not cleaning it up.
The woman is believed to have been evicted from Michael Fair Court, off the village’s Old Mart Road.
She is said to have been “persistently allowing” her dogs to mess in the area – and not clearing up afterwards.
It is an offence under the Dog Fouling (Scotland) Act 2003 to allow a dog to make mess without removing the faeces right away, and was also a breach of her tenancy conditions.
The issue was first reported to Langstane in August 2014, shortly after she first moved into the property.
After initial investigations, her permission to keep pets was withdrawn. She then told the association there would be no more problems with dog fouling and was allowed to keep the animals.
However, complaints persisted, and her permission to keep pets was withdrawn a second time.
She then refused to find a new home for her dogs, and LHA launched eviction proceedings at Aberdeen Sheriff Court.
Chief executive of LHA, Helen Gauld, said: “The association recognises that owning a pet can have a beneficial effect on the physical health and social wellbeing of our tenants.
“However during our recent customer satisfaction survey dog fouling was highlighted as a major antisocial behaviour issue for our tenants.
“We encourage responsible dog ownership and will work with individuals where there may be issues with their pets but if they repeatedly refuse to clean up after their dog then we will have no other option than to take action against their tenancy.”
