In the light of the recent Victoria Park survey about attitudes to dogs in the Park – see our recent post With Leads, Without Leads or No Dogs at all – we thought that we’d bring you the YouTube clip of a disagreement over dog poo between a Tower Hamlets Enforcement Officer and the pet’s owner in Victoria Park which has gone viral across the web.
The incident occurred on New Year’s Day in Victoria Park when Amber Langtry, 35, was out walking her German Shepherd along with a friend.
In the 10-minute long video, the officer can be seen confronting Langtry over some dog mess in the park that had not been cleared up. Langtry denied that the offending piece of excrement belonged to her pet, and insisted upon being taken to the scene of the alleged crime.
The officer can be seen asking for Langtry’s details and engaging in a heated debate over the matter before calling for police back-up.
Langtry’s friend, whose name remains unknown, shot the video on her mobile phone and was also accused by the council official of being “quite aggressive” and “obstructive”. The approach of the park official, which included Langtry being read her rights, has been criticised by some viewers as excessive.
In response to the incident, Tower Hamlets Council said: “The council has a long standing policy of tackling the issue of dog fouling. The council can confirm an incident took place on Wednesday 1 January where a Tower Hamlets Enforcement Officer (THEO) asked a dog owner to clean up after their dog.”
“When the dog owner refused to give their name as the THEO requested, the THEO then called for appropriate back-up after explaining the situation fully to the dog owner. We take dog fouling seriously in this borough as it is a concern for residents which is why the council took this course of action.”
That one video has had over 30,000 views on YouTube alone, the original video was taken down after it went viral..