I WRITE in response to a "Caring parent" who wrote regarding dogs being exercised on and around Sharples School fields.

While appreciating there were a lot of responsible pet owners, they failed to remark that there aren't quite as many responsible parents.

I used to exercise my dog twice a day around Sharples School fields, before and after school hours, always picking up any mess my dog made and taking it home. However, I had to stop this harmless exercise because it was too dangerous for my dog.

Apart from excessive litter, most mornings there was at least one broken school window where all the glass was scattered about. Numerous empty drink bottles were smashed along pathways, obviously deliberately. Most evening, come rain or shine, I also encountered groups of "children" drinking alcohol and being quite threatening, often stupidly chasing after my dog and shouting abuse at me. Some evenings the car park and road to Sharples Leisure Centre was being used as a car/motorbike rally track or merely a place to set fire to cars!

Maybe fines and bans could also be put in place for the parents of the children who cause this mindless destruction as well as the irresponsible dog owners.

A responsible and caring parent/owner of both a Sharples School pupil and a dog.

(Name and address supplied)

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.