Sutton received more than 200 complaints about dog fouling in public areas between March 2023 and March 2024.

However, according to research from Vitasure, less than 10 fines were issued.

Dogs might be a man’s best friend, but cleaning up after them can be one of the most annoying things to do for any dog owner. 

Between March 2022 and March 2023, the number of complaints in Sutton decreased from 335 to 234.

This reduction places Sutton 77th out of 272 boroughs in the United Kingdom for the number of complaints received. 

There were no complaints issued about dogs pooing on private property.

Between 2022 and 2024, Sutton received a total of 569 complaints.

Despite the growing number of complaints across the UK, fewer people are being served fixed penalty notices (FPNs) for not clearing up after their dogs.

Just 1,006 fixed penalty notices were issued between March 2023 and March 2024 - 147 fewer than the previous year.

This was also the case for Sutton alone where nine FPNs were issued between 2022 and 2023, and only five were issued between March 2023 and March 2024.

There are currently 1,199 dog bins across Sutton, according to the data.

Beth Nash, Chief of Doggy Happiness at Vitasure, said: “We’re a nation of dog lovers, and the last few years have really cemented that; there are now almost double the number of dogs in the UK as there were in 2011, with more families welcoming our four-legged friends into our homes.

“However, that is no excuse for us seeing such huge - and growing - numbers of complaints for dog fouling on both private and public property.”