Dog walkers ‘fight back’ after being told to keep pets on lead in cemetery

Dog walkers at Padding Old Cemetery in Kilburn have been ordered to keep their pooches on the lead (Picture:DOPOC Community Group)

A group of dog walkers have hit back after they were banned from letting their pets off the lead at a cemetery.

Dog walkers at Paddington Old Cemetery in Kilburn, north west London, have been ordered to keep their dogs on the lead after Brent Council said received 74 complaints about misbehaving dogs.

The council said they wished to ‘preserve a peaceful and respectful environment’, but members of group Dogs of Padding Old Cemetery have branded the decision as ‘unfair’.

The spot has become increasingly popular for dog walkers as one of the area’s few open green spaces, users said.

Some mourners said they were concerned about the animals urinating and defecating on headstones.

But dog owners have insisted this simply isn’t true, and that dog walkers make up the vast majority of daily users.

The council said they wished to ‘preserve a peaceful and respectful environment’ (Picture: Google Maps)

Dasha Sobornova, who walks labradoodle Bradley at the cemetery every day, told Metro while some dog owners visit up to three times a day, many mourners are only visiting around three times a year.

The 43-year-old said: ‘It is a strong community of people who use the space, and everyone knows and says hello to each other.

‘We find around two-thirds of people who use the area everyday are there for leisure, not for visiting gravestones.’

The Grade-II listed graveyard is popular in the area as it offers an area where there ‘little anti-social behaviour’.

It is the final resting place of Michael Bond, who wrote A Bear Called Paddington, and has his headstone engraved with ‘Please look after this bear’.

The spot has become increasingly popular for dog walkers as one of the area’s few open green spaces, users said (Picture: Google)

Dasha said the community spirit is strong in the area, and everyone works to keep the area clean.

‘I have been walking my dog there for a year and a half, and I have never seen a dog making a mess on someone’s grave,’ the lawyer told Metro.

‘I think it’s a strange thing to be fixated about, I have buried loved ones but I am not thinking about a dog weeing on their grave.

‘Most of these dogs are tiny little fluffy things you have in your hand, but there’s this idea that we are these bad people trying to overrun the place.’

The dog walking group have said the next places available need to be driven to, and are so out of the way they will need to pay dog walkers to walk them during the working week.

This risks behavioural problems with their pets, as well as having to go to the effort of finding a new place when people have been walking their dogs in the space for 40 years.

Dasha said: ‘I bought a house in the area a year and a half ago, and this space was a big reason to.

‘When you come here, you realise how beautiful and safe it is, which you don’t get anywhere else in Brent.’

Councillor Harbi Farah from Brent Council said: ‘We understand that dogs are an important part of people’s lives and that many responsible dog owners value the cemetery.

‘That is why we will continue to allow dog walking here, rather than banning it altogether. We are also looking to create a designated off-lead area within the Cemetery.

‘However, we needed to act following the more than 70 complaints about dogs behaving badly.

‘The new rule is all about striking a fair and proportionate approach, so that this working burial space is a peaceful and respectful place for mourners, while still allowing responsible dog walking.’

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