DOGS GIVEN THE BOOT!
AROW has erupted between dog lovers and the organisers of a car boot sale after pets were banned from the site.
The Sully Sports Club car boot sale in the Vale of Glamorgan first banned dogs three years ago after they received complaints from sellers about dogs urinating on their stalls.
They now also have a “dog enforcement officer” and have warned they will call the police if necessary.
The car boot sale, held every Sunday morning during the spring and summer, will next be held on April 29. Organisers decided to remind people of the ban on Facebook.
The post read: “We would like to remind all buyers and sellers that we operate a ZERO TOLERANCE approach to dogs at our car boot sales. Therefore, any dog owner with their dog/dogs will be asked to leave Sully Sports and Social Club’s grounds immediately, the only exception being assistance dogs. Furthermore, any dog owner that is physically or verbally abusive towards our dog enforcement officer or any of our stewards will be banned from attending any future car boot sales.
“Not only is dog mess unpleasant, it is a public health hazard and we take our duty of care to all sports team members, staff and visitors to the club very seriously...ALL the grounds are either used for training purposes or are sports pitches.”
It added: “Please don’t think that we are anti-dogs, we are not, but our car boot sales are not a suitable place to bring them.”
The post went viral, with thousands of people commenting and sharing it.
Club Secretary Fred Johnson said it led to more than 25,000 hits on their website, with 6,000 likes on the post itself. The club took the post down on Wednesday .
Fred said: “We can have up to 2,000 people on the site, so we have 15 or 16 stewards and one is designated as a dog warden.
“His job is to speak to people and ask them to take them [the dog] off the site. Obviously if somebody won’t leave the site, we will call the police.
“What happens is people are rum- maging at a car boot and a dog cocks its leg up on the merchandise. The stallholders have complained.”
Fred said the ban came into place after an application to turn the fields into a village green was turned down.
He said: “The inspector has said we are private land and people shouldn’t be walking on it without our permission. We told people who wanted to walk their dogs on the playing fields that it’s not safe for our sportsmen and women. We have 28 football teams.”
The post hasn’t gone down well with some dog lovers. Anita Andrews, 72, from Barry, hasn’t been to the sale since they banned dogs.
She said: “I’m very disappointed. Myself and my husband used to love to go there. All the dogs are on leads so I don’t see the problem, I have never ever seen dog mess.”