Lisburn man vows to boycott Mayor's Parade after council bans dogs from fun day

Aidan Verdon, whose beautiful vintage car has been chosen as a Mayor's favourite at previous parades, is outraged that he won't be allowed to bring his beloved dog to the event after the Council Chief Executive said he was concerned a child would be mauled if dogs were permitted in the park during the fun day.

The ongoing question of why dogs are not allowed at council events in public parks was raised by Councillor Andrew Ewing at a recent meeting of the council.

Mr Ewing, a dog owner himself, said he had been approached by a number of concerned residents about the issue.

“This council has first class events of which I attend almost all of them, but they should be more inclusive, dog owners want to feel welcome,” said Mr Ewing. “Allowing pet dogs, it would also attract more people to our events. We should be doing more for our furry friends.”

However he was told by the Chief Executive David Burns: “There would be safety concerns and insurance matters to consider.

“I would rather 20 phone calls from people complaining of not being able to bring their dog to an event rather than the headline ‘Dog mauls child at council run event’. I wouldn’t want to put any child at risk."

Mr Verdon was livid when he found out he would not be allowed to bring his dog to the family fun day and ridiculed the Chief Executive's statement, saying that a rule to have dogs on lead at all times would solve the matter.

"Last year I saw a family being ejected from the park with security all around them because they had a dog,” said Mr Verdon. “I thought it was a one-off and someone had made a stupid mistake but then I was told that dogs would be banned again this year.”

Mr Verdon immediately contacted the council, saying: “In the past the event held a dog show for members of the public which was a great success this included a section for rescue dogs. Both our dogs were from the Lisburn dog pound, I find it difficult too understand the draconian measure now in place.

"At such events you simply have to make it a condition of entry that dogs belonging to visitors must be on a lead at all times in all areas of Wallace Park.

"The council told me one of the factors they used was dog fouling but there will be security there to enforce the law. They also talk about the noise that might frighten the dogs but they have a petting zoo and small animals. How can a dog be affected by noise and not these other animals?

"The Chief Executive is going over the top. This seems to be down to one person who has made this decision and everyone else has had to toe the line.

"If something doesn’t change I won’t be attending the Mayor’s Fun Day,” he added.