Hundreds of people use Harrow Recreation Ground, the popular park on the edge of the shopping centre, to play sport, walk, sit, and picnic every weekend. On a sunny Bank Holiday weekend the numbers multiply. Many people spend many hours in the park. But they have to go home if they need to go to the toilet once.
The absence of such a facility for such a popular destination is shameful.The more so, because a decent facility was built at great cost. But it has been locked for months.
For dogs there is no such problem. Unlike the human users of the park who may be "caught out" but have nowhere to go, dogs are taken there specifically to exercise their bowels. And unlike the humans who may be desperate, the dogs can take their time and choose their spot. While for humans there is no place, dogs can use the whole place.
While there is nowhere to change a nappy, nowhere for a child to do the necessary, nowhere for older people who may be needy, dogs can stop as often as they please before their owners usher them home to frolic in their unsoiled garden.
While the law prescribes that owners pick it up, (not the urine of course, urine is fine, so long as it is not from a human), that does not clean the soiled area. If anything it makes it more dangerous because there is less to see. And leaving aside the obvious unpleasantness of soiled footwear and clothing, a curious toddler's hand to mouth contact with faecally contaminated soil can lead to blindness and even death.
Despite this, dog owners in the leafy borough, most of whom have gardens, are encouraged to use the parks as dog toilets with the incentive of a special collection service for their dog deposits. The £35,000 that this costs every year is not being spent on caring services for the elderly and the infirm, and is coming from the pockets of all Harrow taxpayers.
This is barking mad.
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