Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Grieving pensioner fined £50 at graveside for taking family dog to cemetery

A pensioner was slapped with a £50 fine as she mourned by her father’s grave – because she was with the family dog. Police have defended the action at St Joseph’s Cemetery in Moston, saying they were only following council orders. Val Brogan, 65, was tending the resting place of her late dad James Eyres when she was approached by two police community support officers.

Val – who was with her daughter, Nicola Erlan, and Nicola’s cocker spaniel, Bailey – was told the cemetery had a strict no-dogs policy and slapped with the on-the-spot fine, despite her tearful protests. Val, a retired office worker from New Moston, has complained to the council over her treatment. She said: "They could have given us a warning. We said we wouldn’t have taken the dog in there ever again. We were both upset. We were both crying. Their attitude really upset us. They didn’t care. They weren’t bothered about our feelings at all.



"I think what they did was absolutely disgusting." Val and Nicola, 42, had just placed fresh flowers on the grave of Mr Eyres, who died two years ago aged 88. Val, who has five grandchildren, said: "We noticed them in the distance and we didn’t think anything of it. They came over to us and asked which entrance we had come in. They asked if we had seen the sign saying ‘no dogs’ and of course we hadn’t. We were flabbergasted.

"They told us they were going to fine us and we said: ‘You’re joking, aren’t you?’ But they said no. They saw us crying. I’m absolutely gob-smacked. The dog was on a lead. There’s no way I would allow it on anybody’s grave. I just wouldn’t. I could understand it if the dog was loose, but he wasn’t. Bailey is a well-behaved dog." The council declined to comment on the fine – which has now risen to £80 because Val missed a deadline for payment.

4 comments:

  1. Quit whining, you weren't wronged. Every excuse you make and every complain of "absolutely disgusting" treatment you utter make me sympathise even less with you. You or your dog are not special, now pay the fine and shut up.

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  2. strideranne12:17 pm

    I agree - follow the law. If you want your dog to mourn with you - I'm sure there are cemeteries that allow dogs.

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  3. Brixter1:43 pm

    Agreed. There are rules you know. You can't do everything you want.

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  4. Oh dry your eyes. If the dog wee('?)d on someone's grave would you mop it up? You'd be outraged if someone urinated on your dearly departed's grave.

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