AN app designed to encourage dog owners and wider communities to take responsibility for tackling dog fouling in their local area has been launched.

Pooper Snooper, a free smartphone application and website aims to build public awareness and in turn increase social pressure on dog fouling, and to identify problem hotspots to allow for better targeted enforcement activities.

To achieve these aims, the mobile app, designed by Natural Apptitude, enables you to quickly and accurately record the locations of dog fouling on an interactive map, providing an overview of dog fouling hotspots.

Any dog fouling incidents that are cleaned up can be marked as resolved, and bin locations can be recorded within the app, with a “find nearest bin” function helping you locate bins in unfamiliar areas.

To help raise public awareness you can share your records along with an overview of dog fouling in the local area, on Twitter and Facebook.

We decided to see which areas within our patches are dog poo hotspots and it certainly seems that the residents of Knutsford are making full use of the app.

Northwich Guardian:

The reports of dog fouling in and around Knutsford according the app

As expected there have been many reports of dog fouling in and around the parks, such as The Heath, Moorside and Tatton Park.

In terms of streets, Thorneyholme Drive is identified as a dog poo hotspot with six reports, while locations off Mobberley Road also seem to be popular for those not picking up after their dogs.

The reports in and around Knutsford come as the town council launch a campaign to get residents to report such incidents, either via the app or by e-mailing them.

Both the Northwich and Winsford patches have nowhere near the number of reports as their Cheshire East neighbour, which doesn't necessarily mean it isn't an issue, but use of the app may not be as widespread.

Northwich Guardian:

The reports of dog fouling in and around Northwich according to the app

The most notorious spot for people leaving behind their dog's mess in Northwich is on Hunt's Lane on the way to Cuddington with six reports made, while two were made in Hartford.

In Winsford, there were no reports in and around the town centre, with the nearest hotspot being in Little Budworth Country Park where six reports were made.

Natural Apptitude CEO, Dave Kilbey, said: "Our main hope for Pooper Snooper is that in years to come it will actually cease to be necessary.

"A dog poo free environment may seem like fantasy, but it shouldn’t be that way.

"We hope that Pooper Snooper can start to turn the tide on this modern-day scourge by actively engaging people with the problem and by raising awareness of the sheer scale of the issue.

"Ultimately, what is required is a cultural shift around dog fouling; from tacit acceptance to zero tolerance, regardless of where it takes place.

"Dog poo is not only unpleasant, but a form of hazardous waste that can have serious repercussions for the health both of humans and livestock.”

The supporting website enables local authorities and other interested parties to see dog fouling incidents on an interactive map based on local authority boundaries.

This is designed to further raise public awareness and promote engagement on the issue. Anyone can export the data to enable enforcement effort to be targeted where most required.

To check out your own area, you can either download the Pooper Snooper app or go to poopersnooper.app.