As strange as fiction

25 Feb 08

This is surely a case of life imitating art (in a fashion). Just as in a novel by Alexander McCall Smith, where Angus Lordie’s beloved hound Cyril is wrongly accused and imprisoned (facing ‘destruction’) when he was wrongly accused of being an aggressive dog, a woman in Carlisle was recently shocked to recieve letters from a Carlisle housing association accusing her dogs of bad behaviour. She’s shocked - mainly because her beloved dogs are dead! She very sadly had to put her two dogs “down” last year. Awoooo!

Imagine! Accusing dead dogs of bad behaviour! If only these kind of busy-bodies would check their facts first. The woman’s son is furious as his mother is still grieving the loss of her beloved pooches, and has memorial urns with their ashes in her house.

Mrs Gardiner, 57, has lived in her home at Greenside Road, Morton Park for nine years, and received the first letter from Carlisle Housing Association (CHA) in January, and got another one on Friday. Her son Chris said he is livid, and notes that “My mum is still grieving for the dogs.”

Mrs Gardiner never replaced the dogs – a Jack Russell called Sindy and an 18-year-old Border Lakeland terrier, Ben. Sindy had to be put down after suffering stomach problems and Ben because of old age.
The letters allege that her dogs were roaming with no collars.

The letter from CHA is headed ‘Important: Do Not Ignore’ and ‘Complaints of anti-social behaviour’. It says: “Unfortunately I have received complaints that you have been engaging in anti-social behaviour. The complaint is that you are allowing your dogs to roam free and foul all over the pavement and grass area.”

Chris says he, his mum and his sister have all been trying to get hold of the employee quoted in the letter to point out that the dogs have been dead for five months.

“My mum was told she was in a meeting and would call back. She never did. Then my sister called up and was told the woman was off sick. We are worried that the next letter she gets could be saying she will get evicted.” What a shambles!

A spokeswoman for CHA said the employee dealing with Mrs Gardiner’s case was off sick but she would raise the matter with her as soon as she returned. She said: “If she has no dogs, it will go no further.”

Grrwooof! Let’s hope they get their act together, and also that lessons are learnt from this fiasco - e.g. that allegations are investigated before heavy-handed letters are sent out to innocent dog owners.

Awoof! Archibald the indignant