It's not dogs' fault park's such a dump

By lvickers

I HAVE read many letters from residents in the Sutton Coldfield area criticising the actions of dog owners when using Sutton Park, mostly about not picking up excrement.

Can I just make a point that when visiting the park recently, early on a Sunday morning, in order to exercise my own dog, that after picking up the mess as I always do, I came across an area littered with empty bottles, burger cartons, crisp packets, sweet wrappers, sandwich boxes and other litter which clearly was left by the two-legged visitors rather than four-legged ones.

As a responsible dog owner, I count myself extremely fortunate to have moved to an area which has the wonderful facility of such a beautiful park so close to my home. I use it nearly every day and enjoy meeting other dog owners and in particular, enjoy the facility of the Blackroot Bistro where I can sit and enjoy a coffee while my dog rests quietly next to me, usually munching a cookie. Perhaps the parents of youngsters who don't seem to know how to clear up their mess or young people who should be old enough not to need parental control, could give others some consideration and clear up their litter. After all, we all want to enjoy the park and dog owners seem to get the brunt of the criticism, which is not always justified.

Ms B J Ward, Sutton Coldfield.