Please do not bring your dog to nature haven

✒ DOGS are bad news for wildlife - for that reason they are prohibited at The University of Gloucestershire’s Park Campus nature reserve.

The peace and quiet of this tranquil haven was rudely interrupted by a large loose Golden Retriever puppy, whose owner(s) (two girls) blatantly allowed it to chase and worry all the wildfowl at the usually serene lake on my recent visit.

Could I plead with dog-owners to bring only their assistance dogs to The Park campus and then keep them on a lead?

There are two alternative less-sensitive wildlife sites, both within 10 minutes walk of the Park, namely Montpellier Gardens and Hatherley Park.

So there is absolutely no excuse to bring your dog to the Park.

The Park campus is an excellent bona fide nature reserve, run by the Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust, for nature and quiet contemplation, not dogs.

It is unsuitable for dogs, which can be noisy, cause disturbance, or worse, to wildlife, defecate and urinate, the unpleasant evidence of which I sadly found today on the reserve and which is a danger to young children, whom we should be encouraging to the Park.

The ‘no dogs’ by-law is there for a good reason.

In these days of increased dog-ownership, due to the lockdowns, and the ever-increasing threats to wildlife from humans, it is even more vital that we robustly defend our essential nature reserves like the Park, and not just turn a blind eye to dogs and their owners in the wrong places.

I also observed a gentleman feeding the waterfowl bread, whilst a young family correctly fed them grain.

Bread is unsuitable for wildfowl containing little suitable nutrition for them while also polluting the water.

I was also shocked to discover that the useful central seat overlooking the water had clearly been used for the consumption of cannabis - another concern.

In conclusion please spare a thought for the wildlife, whose home the Park is - your dog is potentially like a small wolf to wildlife and is a predator, which they just don’t need or deserve, especially when they are attempting to bring up their broods of youngsters, at this time of year.

Remember you are also breaking the law by exercising your dog at the Park and may be disturbing the peace.

The Park is for threatened wildlife and and not threatening dogs. J Wilcock