Oops, I’ve run over your dog. Do you want a bin bag for him?
Park keeper stuns owner
WHEN Debbie McCarthy’s chihuahua puppy was run over and killed by a park keeper, she expected a heartfelt apology at the very least.
Instead, the man offered her a black bin bag to throw sixmonth-old Peanut’s body away.
The distraught dog lover said the council worker, who had been driving a buggy, showed no remorse.
Choking back tears, Miss McCarthy said: ‘The man just stood there saying, “He is dead, he is dead”.
‘He was just standing there with no emotion and then he turned to me and said, “Do you want me to put him in this bag?”
‘ I couldn’t believe what was happening. I was hysterical.’
Her partner Fred Ralph, 33, added: ‘You don’t stuff a pet dog in a bin bag and chuck it on a skip.
‘The drivers are supposed to drive the buggies at walking pace but our dog landed three metres away on the grass.’
Nursery worker Miss McCarthy, 47, was at Raphael Park in Romford, Essex, with Peanut, her other dog Missy – an 11-year-old Staffordshire bull terrier – and a friend’s pet, on March 12.
The puppy was playing with a bulldog near a cafe and a children’s playground as the owner chatted to another dog walker.
Miss McCarthy heard shouts from the driver, who had been travelling down a path in the buggy with council livery, and raced over.
‘I was screaming – poor Peanut was just lying there,’ said the mother of two from Hornchurch.
‘His eyes were open … but blood was coming out of his ear and mouth. Peanut didn’t stand a chance. The man didn’t even apologise.’ The dog has now been cremated and his ashes placed in an urn.
Taxi driver Mr Ralph added: ‘We’ve been asking for answers from the council about what happened but we’ve just met a brick wall. They don’t seem to care. They have not apologised.
‘It is disgraceful. One of their workers told me there is a sign which says, “keep dogs on leads” which simply is not true.
‘There are signs which say “keep dogs under control”, but Peanut was under control … He was just playing when he was struck.’ The electric buggy has a top speed of 15mph but is supposed to be driven at ‘walking speed’ in parks. The couple say staff are still charging around the park at speed.
Sources last night suggested the Havering Council worker was not facing disciplinary action.
Councillor Melvin Wallace said an investigation was underway, but asked owners to ensure ‘all dogs are kept under control so incidents like this can never happen again’.