DOG OWNERS SEE RED OVER BAN

29-03-2007

Dog owners in Sandwell are seeing red over new Council plans which appear to show that pooches will be banned from every green space in the borough.

We've been contacted by local campaigners planning to protest against the proposals which are detailed on the local authority website. Theresa Young, a vet's nurse from West Bromwich, was evenorganising a mass petition.

The good news for cross-legged canines is that the Council isn't going to stop them going to the loo after all - but our investigations have uncovered the cock up (cock of the leg up?) which made residents think it was.

Last month, the Cabinet Member for Community Safety And Partnerships Derek Rowley brought forward well-meaning proposals designed to give local wardens greater powers over irresponsible dog owners.

These Dog Control Orders include the authority to issue on the spot fines for owners who refuse to clean up after their four-legged friends, or who won't put them on a lead if they are bothering other walkers and park users.

There are also sensible limits on where dogs can go i.e. not in childrens' play areas, on sports pitches, or wildlife habitats.

So far, so uncontroversial.

The problem came when the Council printed a map of it's Dog Exclusion Zones on its website - marked in red, they cover vast swathes of the borough leading dog owners (not unreasonably) to believe they've been banned altogether (see the maps here).

Not so - Cllr Rowley tells us that despite the wording, dogs aren't being kept out of these areas altogether. The Dog Exclusion Zones aren't, in fact, exclsuion zones at all. These are simply thesites where the new regulations apply.

The website, he assures us, is being amended.

We trust that after publishing such misleading information someone is in the dog house.

For a moment, there, we'd started to wonder if Sandwell had finally gone barking mad.

Any more doggy puns that we've missed. Have a laugh on the Miscellaneous section of our messageboard.