Hi

Would just like to say a huge thankyou to those who have signed and shared - we may be small (so far) but we are mighty and have caused some change already.

As previously updated the petition to ban dogs was updated with a statement saying mourners and service dogs would be exempt from the ban - they have now added this to other places where they have discussed or advertised their proposed ban.

As stated before this is not enough so this present petition will continue to run.

Firstly, the statement which calls for the ban states behaviours which do not appear to be stated elsewhere in relation to the cemetery discussed - stealing of teddies and dog running around out of control. Therefore the reasons behind the proposed ban are possibly not representative of behaviour in Edinburgh cemetries and possibly not even representative of the cemetrey in question given no one else corroborates these reports. There are reports of dog fouling but there do not appear to be any in relation to dogs being out of control or stealing/destroying teddies - should a ban really be placed based on this with so little backing of these statements?

Secondly, we need to know how worthiness to go to the cemetery will be decided and by whom. Will worthiness be people who have had a loved one recently buried in the cemetery? Will people who have a loved one buried there for years be allowed to visit with their dog? Will people who don't have anywhere to grieve such as for those cremated or buried abroad have somewhere quite and tranquil to go to grieve? Will people paying respects to those fallen in wars be allowed to visit war memorials in cemetries with their dogs? Will those who are struggling in life possibly grieving possibly just needing a quite safe place be allowed with their dog? The list of questions as to who could respectfully use the cemetery is potentially huge and there's no answers as to how this will be decided and if it's even feasible to decide.

Finally, there are also no answers as to how this would be managed. Will anyone visiting with a dog need to prove this in some way? If so how? Would this not infringe upon their grief, rights and personhood.

For context there is a current ban on dogs off lead in cemeteries, council staff may visit cemetries once a day but it is more likely every 1-2 weeks so they are unable to check often - having said this from the checks they are able to make there don't appear to be any reports from them stating the things in the banning petition. 

There is one person who appears to act as an unofficial monitor and control for people breaking the present no lead rule - this includes people using (in their opinion) a long lead. By their own admission they will approach people which can end in a verbal altercation and they have admitted to shouting (verbal abuse) at people. Apart from going against cemetery rules on behavior this has the potential to be intimidating for people going to the cemetery even for people following the rules. Whilst we do not agree with breaking the rule we do not agree with this method of monitoring and control.

Imagine mourning for someone and hearing somone shouting at someone else in the cemetery, this would add to the devastation and grief and possibly put people off visiting their loved ones. One person has already stated they have missed visits to a loved one due to anxiety of witnessing or being party to such an altercation.

With the present rules only those with a dog off the lead would possibly face this behaviour but if a complete ban was put in place anyone walking through the gates with a dog could potentially face this and would have to prove they were visiting a loved one - this is unacceptable and a proper plan for management needs to be proposed.

Please keep sharing and getting signatures so everyone can safely and respectfully visits Edinburgh cemetries with their dogs for grief, tranquility and peace