Owners can be worse than dogs!

I want her to know that she is not alone in her sadness and she has the support of the many responsible people who visit St Mary’s Parish Church, Mirfield each year.

As one of the many volunteers who spend varying amounts of time trying to keep the graveyard tidy there is nothing worse than having dog dirt flicked onto you from the back of a mower or trying to clean your hands or shoes. Signs are regularly put up asking people to keep dogs on leads and clean up after them but they are either removed or defaced.

I am a dog owner myself and often ask people to put their dog on a lead or take them into the fields to run free. I and some of my fellow dog walkers even offer nappy sacs or empty bread bags to those who appear to have “forgotten” to clean up after their pet.

Within four hours of me putting up new notices requesting dogs to be kept on a lead and the cleaning up and removal of excrement two notices had been ripped down and removed and another defaced. What sort of community have we become when some people have no respect for themselves, the living or the dead?

I echo Lynne Cliffe’s plea to take responsibility for your pets and I urge people visiting the graveyards in Mirfield and beyond to encourage irresponsible dog owners to put their dogs on a lead, keep to the footpaths and always clean up excrement -

However BEWARE: - when challenged some dog owners can be far more aggressive than their unrestrained, defecating dog.

R G Smith

Dunbottle Lane

Mirfield