Parent’s concern at lack of dog wardens in the evening
A FATHER of three claims dog control orders in parks are a waste of time if people are not able to get them enforced.
It follows a visit to Jephson Gardens in which Alan Cooper said a Staffie-type dog was running free and concerned parents were “scooping up their kids” to safety.
The Leamington park is one of a number of open spaces which has a dogs-on-leads order.
But Mr Cooper, aged 42, of Warwick Gates, said although there is a sign warning of the order, there is no phone number to report contraventions.
And when he phoned Warwick District Council after spotting the dog off the lead at around 7pm last Thursday, he said there was no out-of-hours number for the dog warden.
Mr Cooper, who was with his children aged from one to nine, said the dog was with a group of around ten people walking through the park who were throwing a ball and giving it a rag to pull on.
“Worried parents were scooping up their kids and avoiding the direction the dog was going,” said Mr Cooper, who works in car sales.
“There’s been a lot in the news lately about these types of dog attacking children.
“It seems ridiculous having a dog-control order that people can’t phone up to get enforced.”
Mr Cooper said he raised his concerns with police parked by the main gates and said they told him if the animal was off a lead it was a dog warden responsibility inside the park.
Richard Hall, head of Warwick District environmental services, said: “We don’t have a 24/7 dog warden service unfortunately because there are not the resources to fund it for the demand that would be placed on it for that type of incident.
“There is a park ranger who does patrol the area and the dog warden liaises with the park ranger.
“If there is an ongoing problem we would step up patrols and some of them would be out of normal working hours.
“If a dog is behaving in a dangerous manner, then that would be for the police.”
Mr Hall said concerns about canines in dog-control areas can be reported during working hours on 410410.
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Weather for Kenilworth
Sunday 26 May 2013
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