Page 30 - link magazine

• Letters to the Link Letters with full name and address should be sent to The Link,
13 Castle Dore, Freshbrook, Swindon by the 20th of the month

More views on dogs Good shortcut to work
From H M Brown of Cabot Drive, Grange Park people's cat mess. So how about letters on that From Mrs J B Brown of Cabot Drive, Grange Park
I note with interest the letter from Mrs B in the subject! I would go on to suggest that pets have I am writing in answer to Mr J Adams (Road
January edition of The Link following on as it been and will continue to be part of the society Destruction) Link No 94.
did fromthe dogrelated article in the December we live in, be they dogs, cats or budgies. I would like to know if he has tried getting to
edition. I feel there now is a need to redress the I hope Mrs B reads the article in the same work in the mornings.
balance being one of those heinous dog owners edition as her letter, concerning the problems The new road from Grange Park to Shaw
myself. our street cleaners have to put up with. Instead (old Hay Lane) road is a Godsend to me and
Let me begin by unfortunately agreeing with of singling out one small section of society let other alike, as it only takes me ten minutes from
some of what Mrs B has said and without being us get down to the crux of the matter. One of my house to Cheney Manor, it means I don't
too condescending I would put the blame at the the things I would totally agree with Mrs B on have to go down to Whitehill Way.
door of the inconsiderate dog owner. Over the is that the pathways, verges and walkways are Yes it has been badly designed, with two
Christmas period we heard all too much of the absolutely disgusting, not simply because of nastybends, most users feel that they should be
inconsiderate dog owners who tire of their pet. dog owners but because of the Swindon, and straightened.
However please do not label us all in the same indeed this country's, residents dumping all
vein. I would point out that my dog does use sorts of rubbish. Vacuum cleaner blues
my garden when necessary however a dog So please Mrs B and all others in the anti-dog
needs exercise the same as any human and lobby extend your horizons to the realproblems From Mrs S Mitchell of Moresby Close, Westlea.
unfortunately there will be times when it is of the environment. I read with interest your article entitled 'Nice
stimulated by smells on the ground and it is machine, doubtful marketing' concerning the
these times that considerate dog owners do In appreciation of Kirby cleaner.
attempt to minimise the problem. Ijust wonder In October, I too received a telephone call
whether Mrs B has a cat,I personally do not, but Street cleaners telling me I had won a holiday in either Spain
I continually have to clear my garden of other From Hinves Family, Fowey, Freshbrook or Malta for which I only had to provide my
Our family are 'newcomers' to West Swindon own air fare to get to the destination. I was told
and thoroughly enjoy living in Freshbrook. that an agent would deliver my voucher but
From Mrs Raine of Warneford Close, Toothill Our only disappointment is the abundance of was asked if I would be prepared to give up 1 /
Jam writing to you in reply to Mrs B of Grange litter everywhere. 2 hour of my time to watch a product being
Park's letter concerning problems associated To get a feel of the area we went exploring demonstrated for which my opinion would be
with having a dog (Link No 94). the paths, mounds, small parks, bike tracks, up valued. I was asked to be sure that my husband
She gave me the impression that she thought toLydiard and down toToothill, out to Blagrove was also present, in fact it was insisted by the
that all dog owners were in a class of their own. and over to Westlea. We have seen complete caller that he was. I was told that the Company
I ama wife and a mother of two young children, Council signs, planks of wood, sheets of were not selling anything and that my
and yes, the owner of a gorgeous little dog. plywood, blocks and lengths of wood,shopping comments on the product were simply needed
The difference between us the dog owners trolleys, bundles of newspapers,a stackof your for market research.
who Mrs B was discussing, is that we take our own magazines stuffed into a hedge down a The agent arrived at the appointed time and
dog out on a lead, to an area of woodland which path to Windmill Hill School, plastic bags full immediately told me that he did not have the
is not of public use. It is the dog owners who let of household rubbish and of course the more holiday voucher with him as he needed to
their dogs run stray that need to be penalised, usual litter, cans, bottles, wrappers - what there check my post code. He also said that he was a
not the owners who dearly love and care for is in short supply is Rubbish Bins. salesman selling Kirby cleaners. The
their animals. The path alongside Elsie Hazell Court is demonstration began and it was 'hard sell'
Yes, I do walk in dogs 'poos' when I go out but always a sorry sight, there are rubbish bins right from the word go, something which Jam
Jam quite certain that no one can knock on my outside the shop (also a litter sign!) but none afraid never impresses me. After almost an
front door and blame me for allowing my dog elsewhere on the path. hour of non stop 'selling' a telephone call called
to foul the pathways. When I was asked by a couple of our him away urgently. I have since heard however,
I do have one main concern though, and that neighbours how we liked living here, we said that a full demonstration actually takes 2 hours
is I would like to say that cat owners need to "great, but all the litter", their reply "can't say and not half an hour.
take more care over their animals. I constantly we've noticed". I waited and waited for my holiday voucher.
have cats fouling in my front garden, killing Last summer my youngest daughter thought I telephoned the company and they said they
my plants and making my own garden a dirty we would walk to the Link Centre. We walked would send it. Having still not received it I
smelly place and most certainly unfit to let my through the underpass, she commented how telephoned the Trading Standards Office and
children play in. 'yukky' it was, we passed over the stream ditch the following morning my voucher arrived.
and said what a mess. Frankly,I was not impressed with their whole
From Mr W.B of Toothill On our way back, as if they had heard, two method of operation and such a technique
At last we have had another letter about dog council men were cleaning out the ditch, we would never induce me to buy a product
filth. This from Mrs B. of Grange Park. Around stopped, much to their surprise and told them however good it might be.
Toothill we have this filth all the year round, what we had said. We chatted about the messy
but far worse in Winter, because people keep situation and ended up by thanking them for
their animals off the wet grass, and let them doinga necessary job. Then just after Christmas From Gordon Harrow of Middleleaze
foul the pathways instead. It is quite useless to once again, out for a stroll my daughter and I I too had someone on my doorstep who gave
appeal to these disgusting people, and there is came across Ray and his mate cleaning out the me a card saying that I might win a holiday.
but one way to put a stop to it. There should be storm drains /ditch along the bike trackbetween We were quite pleased at the thought of going
a licence fee of at least £50, so that wardens can Mannington/Blagrove, as usual he was doing off to the Meditarranean.
be employed to control dogs, and their owners. a great job. Bundles of free newspapers, fence Then I had a 'phone call telling me that we
We would soon see how many 'dog lovers' we poles, shopping trolleys, broken branches all had in fact won a holiday in Spain or Malta.
have in our midst! being removed, we stopped to say 'hello' and Great. But then I was told this was for
Abandoned trolleys are becoming more to thank him. He said it was a thankless job. accomodation only; we had to get ourselves
common, I notice, and even the kids won't Come on people of West Swindon, take pride there. And we could only get the voucher if we
collect them for 20p. Still, it's far better than it in your lovely suburbs and help Ray to clean it agreed to have a demonstration of this vacuum
used to be. Walking around the district, as I do up. It doesn't take much effort and costs nothing cleaner which is supposed to do everything.
lam appalled by the amount of rubbish which to ask your children not to drop litter, but to put I think your readers who havn't already had
is thrown into the nearest ditch, or on waste it in a bin or pop it into their pockets till they get a visit from people offering them a hàliday
grass. We have such an excellent waste home. When you next go for a walk, just take should be careful of what they agree to. It
collection service in Swindon, and one wonders a look into thebushes and corners at the rubbish, could turn out quite expensive.
about the mentality of people who simply have you'll be shocked. Then try to imagine it without
to dispose of rubbish outside their own litter - looks great, doesn't it. Also, how about
property. a competition for the cleanest area like your Clothing Alterations & Repairs.
Let's have a good clean-up before the whole competition for the best garden. Tel: 872096
place becomes a slum area! P.S. Keep up the good work Ray! Mrs. White, Freshbrook