We always welcome a Letter to the Editor to share with our readers. If you have something you’d like to share, get in touch. Maggie Nelmes shares this letter sent to the Clerk at Ventnor Town Council. Ed
I was disturbed to read a notice pinned on the bridge in Ventnor Park last Wednesday, 4 June, written by two children who that day witnessed a dog attack on tiny ducklings only four days old.
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Ducklings killed by German Shepherd
A local resident and responsible dog walker later told me that the dog was a German Shepherd, running loose in the park, and that it killed several ducklings in front of a group of young schoolchildren.
I keep posting notices at the entrances, asking people to keep their dog/s on a lead in the lower park. Most local residents are quite willing to comply, but a few dog walkers retort that they can do what they like in a public park.
Volunteers care for the wild birds
So many people, residents and visitors alike, love to watch the ducklings and moorhen chicks, and my little team of volunteers spend so much time and money feeding the birds a nutritious diet of mixed corn every day, all year round.
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Of course young birds are snatched by natural predators, but dogs are not wild, and there are far, far more of them than would be sustainable in the wild.
Dogs on leads
I wonder if there is a local by-law stating that dogs must be kept on a lead in the lower park? After all, there are plenty of spacious cliff-top greens where they can run free.
South Wight Borough Council had ‘No Ball Games’ notices posted in the lower park that lasted until quite recently. Now the lower lawn is often used for ball games, some of the players being grown men kicking the ball with full force, intimidating passers-by. Then there are the skateboarders who hurtle past the pond and stream, dodging people, dogs and wildlife.
Protect wildlife and vulnerable people
I realise that by-laws would be difficult to enforce, but official notices would at least legitimise our cause to protect the wildlife and vulnerable people from a free-for-all of dogs careering about and defecating on the lawns, and sports fanatics.
Yours, Maggie Nelmes
