C. Fouling of street by dog faeces

C. Fouling of street by dog faeces 

Under section 13(1)(a) of the Public Cleansing and Prevention of Nuisances Regulation (Cap. 132BK), a person commits an offence if he is in charge of a dog and allows the dog to deposit any faeces in any street or public place, unless the place is an area specifically set aside as a latrine area for dogs. 

However, no offence is committed if, before leaving the place where the faeces have been deposited, the person in charge of the dog removes the faeces and cleans the place where it was deposited. 

For the purposes of this offence, the owner of the dog is presumed to be the person in charge of the dog. The owner can rebut this presumption only by proving that, at the time of the contravention, the dog was in the charge of another person who was neither a member of the owner’s family nor employed by the owner. It is not a defence for the owner merely to prove that the contravention happened without his or her consent or knowledge. 

A person who contravenes section 13(1)(a) commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine of $10,000. Alternatively, a public officer can issue a fixed penalty notice of $3,000 to the offender. For more information about the fixed penalty notice, please refer to “Fixed penalty for public cleanliness and obstruction offences”.