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Caerphilly County Borough Council’s plans to ban dogs from council-owned sport pitches has been criticised by RSPCA Cymru.

A spokesperson for the animal welfare charity said it was “disappointed” with the plans.

Residents will have until August 20 to give their views on whether dogs should be banned from council-owned marked sports pitches through a public consultation.

RSPCA Cymru urged “all those in Caerphilly who care about dog welfare” to engage with the consulation.

The council’s plan to exclude dogs from playing fields is proposed as an amendment to the current Public Spaces Protections Order (PSPO) which has been in place since 2017.

Under the current PSPO, dogs are banned from children’s play areas and are to be kept on leads in memorial gardens.

PSPOs are created to prevent antisocial behaviour in public spaces and to promote responsible dog ownership.

An RSPCA Cymru spokesperson continued: “We’re concerned blanket bans like this create negative perceptions of dogs, and risk limiting walking sports within local areas – potentially creating animal welfare risks.

“The RSPCA instead hope Caerphilly Council will continue to use their powers under the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act to build harmonious relationships between dog-owning and non-dog owning communities; so we urge them to rethink this move.

“We all want to see dog fouling tackled – and responsible owners should be picking up their pet’s mess.

“But dog walkers in Caerphilly must already carry an appropriate receptacle to clean up after their dog – and we don’t think blanket bans like this are the way to deal with people already breaking the law; nor fair for the vast majority of law-abiding dog owners who may value some of these walking sports to exercise their canine companions.”

A council spokesperson said: “We are currently in the consultation stage of the PSPO relating to dog control and we would encourage the RSPCA to take part in the survey on our website which will run until August 20.

“We are fortunate in Caerphilly to have an abundance of award winning green spaces, walking trails and six country parks which are suitable for dog walkers, all of which can be found on our Green Spaces website.

“In addition we have recently published a list of pet friendly venues across the county for residents to visit this summer on our Visit Caerphilly pages.

“The results of the survey will form part of the decision making process in the coming weeks.”