We can scarcely believe we are writing this update.

It is not often that we are left speechless…however speechless we (and many of our supporters) were, after reading the counter petitions latest nonsensical, ill informed, update.

To publish such a contradictory attempted justification of dogs urinating on headstones in a cemetery was inadvisable at the very least, shows a staggering lack of awareness, and a level of “failing to read the room” that is lower than the deepest ocean bed.

You can read it in full here: https://t.ly/5NXCS

If it ever gets deleted, which we would not be surprised at, you can read an archived PDF version here: https://t.ly/nVd4e

Here are some choice snippets…

“There have been a lot of discussions on social media and from the other petition re dogs urinating on headstones. Whilst we agree this is unpleasant and we personally believe is disrespectful to the deceased person and their family we also understand how difficult it may be to avoid. Our biggest thought on this area recently has been - is it actually legislated for and against official current cemetery rules?”

·         It is not “difficult to avoid”. Just don’t take your dog unnecessarily into a cemetery…there you go, avoided.

·         “Legislated”?

So a dog urinating on a loved ones resting place has to be “legislated” for it to be wrong?

It is clearly stated on the official Edinburgh Council trial signage at Morningside Cemetery not to let your dog urinate on a headstone…does that mean it is “legislated”?

The fact they are not "legally bound" to do this is immaterial - it is the decent thing to do. Any reasonable human being would agree.

"So the photos shared by the other petition of dogs on leads (adhering to current official rules) urinating on gravestones are by rule and law not doing anything wrong".

·         Yes, they are all doing something wrong – the photos were taken in Morningside Cemetery, where the official Edinburgh Council trial Cemetery Management Rules for dogs have been in place since March, on eight notices, one on each entrance gate

These signs have clear wording around exercising a dog, short leads, and allowing your dog to urinate on a headstone (there is no “law” around Cemetery Management, although we would love there to be).

"We personally suspect dog urination has not been included in the law or cemetery rules as realistically it is a natural function that is difficult for an an outside party (i.e dog owner) to control".

·         “difficult for an outside party to control” – what gobbledygook is this?

It is up to dog owners to control their dogs at all times. Dogs can be toilet trained.

Of course, proper assistance dogs are professionally trained to go to the toilet on command and so are unlikely to foul in a public place.

“Your likeliness to step in it and take it around on your shoe for hours or for a kid touch it and get a disease is drastically less - it is different to dog faeces.”

Unbelievable.

Parents of "kids" - take note:

One of the dangers of dog urine is the presence of ammonia. Ammonia is a substance that can easily cause respiratory problems, even if inhaled in smaller quantities. In larger quantities, it can cause your airways and lungs to feel like they’re burning (tracheal burns), airway damage, cough, shortness of breath and a variety of other problems. All of these could result in respiratory discomfort and infection, and it can also become the source of some serious respiratory diseases. These may include bronchitis, pneumonia and even nasopharyngeal cancer or alveolar edema.

Skin and eye irritations such as skin burns, chronic eye damage, and even blindness can result from prolonged exposure to dog urine odour.

Another hazard associated with dog urine is Leptospirosis – a pretty common, but also quite dangerous bacterial disease. If humans are exposed to the bacteria, they may experience flu like symptoms for a while, but severe cases can also lead to liver and kidney disease.

“There's also the facts that pee can be washed off by rain (no issue with lack of rain in Edinburgh) and wildlife will pee and poo on gravestones and you can't legislate for that - it's nature”.

We are not talking about “wildlife” in cemeteries.

The clue here is the word “wild” i.e. we have no control over wildlife.

Dog owners have control over where they take their dogs – it is a choice made by the owner to take their dog into a cemetery, and it is a choice to let them urinate on a headstone.

In many cases, this isn't a dog needing to go, and emptying it's bladder, this is unnecessary scent marking using urine, which the owners are allowing them to do.

“It can be hard to know when they will go and what the target will be”.

If you take a dog into a cemetery full of headstones, we can make a pretty good guess what “the targets” might be. 

“Having said that, in our experience it is not impossible to avoid urination on gravestones”.

Ahhh... so you CAN do it now? In our experience, and as evidenced by yet another photo above showing a dog urinating on a headstone in Morningside Cemetery, quite a lot of dog owners find it completely impossible to avoid letting their dog urinate on a headstone.

…and see the little white square that the yellow arrow is pointing to in the photo?

That is the official Edinburgh Council trial Cemetery Management Rules sign on the gate…clearly saying “do not let your dog urinate on a headstone”

…it is mere feet away from this dog owner.

They would have had to walk right past it, to enter the cemetery.

“Main paths are usually wide enough that you can walk them and the dog will pee on the edge of the grass, as long as there's no grave there it shouldn't be an issue”

Really? - as long as its on the grass, and not near a grave, it “shouldn’t be an issue”?

Apart from the health dangers outlined above, try telling the poor Council staff & Friends of Cemeteries groups in Edinburgh, who try and keep the grass nice and green, and in a healthy condition for the bereaved and their loved ones, that “it’s not an issue”.

Dog urine contains nitrogen, which “burns” the area of grass when they urinate, kills the grass and leaves brown and yellow patches.

The author then goes off on a quite frankly baffling tangent about leaving a toilet door open in the house. We have no idea what the point is here – maybe you can figure it out: 

“In our house there's an unwritten rule that you close the toilet door, we feel this is respectful to everyone in the house and offers dignity to the person themself. If a friend visited and did not close the door we would be upset, as I'm sure many would. We don't know why the friend did this - do they have a urine infection and didn't have time to close the door in case they wet themself? Do they live alone and don't normally close the door and were on auto pilot? There could be many reasons our personal (but widely accepted) rule does no necessarily apply to their thinking. 

Should we ban them from the house and visiting anyone else's house forever OR explain that in most households it is respectful to close the door and to please do this?”

Nope – we have no idea either.

See what we are up up against?

If you want to see a stop to this nonsense, please:

1: Continue to share this Change petition on social media and amongst friends & family. We have 28 days left to get as many signatures as possible.

2: Contribute a pound or two to this Change petition. It really helps to increase visibility & awareness. you can do this here: https://t.ly/uRM3t

3: Cast your vote in the online version of The Scotsman article here https://t.ly/LxhBS
The figures are still very much in our favour in this vote, however again, the gap has decreased a little in the past few days.

4: Join our Facebook Group "No Exercising Dogs In Edinburgh Cemeteries":
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1479741686087660/

5: Send an email of support to your local Councillor. Easily find your local Councillor and use our email template text here: http://tinyurl.com/2p8sujpn 
We are happy to help you do this if required.

6: Come along and support us in person on 8th August. The Committee meeting is open to the public, and there is public seating available.

Thank you. Paul & Andy