| | RE: Chelmondiston Playing field and Dogs.
It is a fact that all faeces contain bacteria. Dog faeces contain Toxocariasis which is an infection that can ultimately cause blindness.
How would the parishioners of Chelmondiston feel if a child in the village was to be blinded by Toxocariasis knowing that we had just spend the last few months arguing over whether to ban dogs from the playing field or not? How would a case of Toxocariasis influence our decision? I would only hope that such a case, or indeed the possibility of such a case, would confirm the requirement to provide the children of Chelmondiston with a safe place to play. Conclusion: ban dogs from the playing field.
Is this a too larger price to pay? No. The only people impacted by such a decision would be the dog owners who simply do not care about the safety of our children and who fail to appreciate that we live in a rural area surrounded by country side and insist that the village playing field is the only place to allow their dogs to defecate. I can only imagine that there are a few people, if any at all, which fall into this category.
This is my opinion. In May we have the Annual Parish Meeting and I would suggest that the issue be placed on the agenda where it can be further discussed and a vote taken. If the parishioners at the meeting are in favour of banning dogs from the playing field then I see no reason why the Parish Council could not impose this ban as it is well within their powers to do so. We might also like to vote on banning dogs from Pin Mill Common too!
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