Born and bred Dovorian Angela Condon says she has owned four Border Collies and has walked pooches in the park since she was 10.
The 66-year-old, who suffers from epilepsy (Ed: relevance..? ), told the Express she now wants to leave town after the warden approached her and her nine-year-old Griff.
The tearful Priory Hill resident said: "The warden said I'm not allowed to let my dog off its lead and I'll be fined £75 if I do it again.
"People know me in Dover for having Border Collies and they see me often playing with my dogs in Pencester.
"I first took my dog there when I was 10. I've never had any problems before. People have always been so nice to me and they love playing with Griff.
"The warden didn't even say she was sorry (Ed: What should she apologise for, doing her job?). She said, 'If I see you again with your dog off the lead, I'll fine you'."
Angela, who was born in Biggin Street and worked behind the counter of the post office for 20 years, added: "Griff has to be on a lead when walking through Pencester Gardens so now I can't play with him.
"I'm disabled so I can't drive. Now there is hardly anywhere I can take him to walk. I want to move from Dover."
Yes, I know, it would be nice if the wardens challenged Stabby McChav when he strolls out with his beloved Fang with bvigour, too, but laws are laws, and she can't say she wasn't aware...
Dovorians have been unable to walk their dogs off the lead in Pencester Gardens since June 27 this year.
The Dover District Council ruling was introduced to "create a more comprehensive and consistent approach when dealing with issues such as dog fouling, keeping dogs on leads and excluding dogs from specified areas."
A council spokesman said: "This updated many existing bylaws requiring dogs to be kept on leads in specified areas.
"This included Pencester Gardens where prior to the introduction of the PSPO there was a 1978 bylaw requiring dogs to be kept on leads.
"The penalty for failing to keep a dog on a lead in this park is £75. Notices have gone up detailing the order and Environmental Enforcement Officers (EEOs) have been advising people of their responsibilities."
All people. No exemptions because 'you've liverd here for ages and always done it'. Nor because you wave the Disability Card, either.
I'd want to leave Dover, too. Not because of this but because it's a shithole.
ReplyDeleteAs long as they also do the same my Mr McChave then I fully support this but if the warden doesn't want to do that then screw the rules.
ReplyDeleteBut of course this won't apply to those who use dogs as weapons / status symbols. It's always the soft targets that are directly affected by things like this. I do have sympathy for Angela, if she can't drive then how is she going to be able to walk her dogs? Always being on a lead is not good for the dog, so yeah, once again everyone's punished for the actions of a few, and those few will continue to ignore the bylaws anyway.
ReplyDeleteYou would think that waking up every morning and realising you were living in Dover would be more than enough to make you want to leave Dover anyway.
ReplyDeleteIt's a dreadful place.
"I'd want to leave Dover, too. Not because of this but because it's a shithole."
ReplyDeleteI've only visited the town (as opposed to the ferry terminal or Tunnel or hovercraft terminal) once.
Once was enough!
"...but if the warden doesn't want to do that then screw the rules."
I'm not a betting woman, but...
"It's always the soft targets that are directly affected by things like this."
But of course!