There is growing concern over the issue, it was claimed, and the Council should be issuing and enforcing more penalty notices for the offence.

The question was raised at a meeting of the Council's Marr Area Committee at Alford this week during following a quarterly performance report on the authority's environmental services. The report said that, because it was a relatively new entry in the performance indicators, there was no measurable trend so far, for action taken against owners whose dogs fouled pathways and other areas.

Asking what could be done to improve the situation, Aboyne area Councillor Peter Argyle said that the problem was worse in winter, because it took longer for any mess to be cleared away and it was therefore more offensive. Chairwoman Moira Ingleby said that she was aware of many complaints from the public in her area and said that any action to deal with the problem would be welcomed. And Councillor Jill Webster said that the Council did need to give out more penalty notices for dog fouling.

Principal Environmental Health Officer for Marr, Joe May, said that he would look into the matter and report back to the committee but said that the question of issuing notices was not perhaps as simple as it might seem. Only certain officers were in a position to issue the notices.

Councillor Appleby said that, in view of the concerns expressed by members, perhaps the numbers of officers able to issue the notices should be increased.

Councillor Linda Clark said that it could be difficult catching a dog and its owner "in the act" and that there was a need for more bins to be made available for dog waste. However Mr May said that there were problems with placing such bins, as not all suitable land was owned by the Council.

The issue of noisy dogs was also raised, with Councillor Alastair Ross saying that, at a meeting of Tap o' Noth Community Council the previous evening, people attending had raised the question of a man, who owned eight dogs, that had been "howling all night." Councillor Joanna Strathdee asked if the Council issued ASBO's to the owners of dogs that barked all the time.

Mr May said that the Council gave out advice about fitting dogs with anti-barking collars and other methods of controlling the problem and did have powers to deal with barking dogs, including fining owners – but such actions were not always successful. However, members agreed that more should be done to tackle both problems.