A Yeovil woman feels a dog warden failed to apply common sense following an incident at Ninesprings.

Jill Griffiths, of 44 Seaton Road, was last month ordered to pay a total of £160 in fines and costs by magistrates after she had failed to clear up after her dog.

She feels her reputation has been unfairly tarnished, and hopes people will realise she is not a bad person after reading this story.

Ms Griffiths is in the process of paying her fine but says the case should never have gone to court. The incident happened on Friday, May 10th when Ms Griffiths, a lab technician, was walking her collie crosses, Finn and Milly.

Ms Griffiths says both dogs were on a lead when entering Ninesprings, but Finn was released once inside. After a relatively short period of time she heard someone saying: "Excuse me". It was the dog warden, who asked if she realised that her dog had fouled at the foot of the hill.

Ms Griffiths, who has devoted her life to animals and currently looks after 23 rescued animals, says she apologised and promptly produced bags, offering to clear it up immediately (which was acknowledged in court, according to Ms Griffiths).

But she claims the dog warden said it was too late and told her she was being cautioned.

The case went to court last month and Ms Griffith, who conducted her own defence, pleaded not guilty, saying she had not seen her dog make the mess.

Magistrates said that "not seeing what a dog does" is no defence and made her the 18th dog owner this year being found guilty of the offence following prosecution brought by South Somerset District Council's Environmental Health Service.

Ms Griffiths agrees that dog mess is a problem and enforcement is necessary, but believes a bit of common sense wouldn't go amiss.

"I was fully equipped to pick up the mess and the fact that I had numerous bags proved my intentions. They should differentiate between people with bags who intend to pick it up and those who don't bring bags and are not interested in doing the right thing.

"My whole life is totally dedicated to animals, and being hit with fines and costs of £160 doesn't help when you have a mortgage and 23 animals to look after."

The dog warden in question, Lyndsey Gempton, said last week there was no room for leniency as people must keep an eye on their dogs at all times, adding: "They are in a public place where children play and people have picnics."