One of the commonly shared pieces of information in discussions relating to this petition  and the petition for "Edinburgh Council to reinstate "No Dogs in Cemeteries" rule that was in place pre-Covid" is that dogs are allowed in some cemetries and not others.

You might wonder why there is a difference in rules, what cemetries have what rules or indeed the scope of the petition for "Edinburgh Council to reinstate "No Dogs in Cemeteries" rule that was in place pre-Covid".  We hope to provide some information and clarity.

So 43 out of 59 (we think 59 but there may be slightly more or less) cemetries are run by Edinburgh City Council and therefore have the rules set out by the council, such as, that dogs are allowed on a leash and dog fouling must be taken care of. You can see a full list of Edinburgh Council cemetries at the end of this update.

You can view the current cemetery rules here:

https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/downloads/file/33467/cemetery-management-rules

The remainder of the cemeteries are privately run and set their own rules, you can see their individual websites for their rules.

So in relation to the scope of the petition for "Edinburgh Council to reinstate "No Dogs in Cemeteries" rule that was in place pre-Covid" they may in theory may be able to bring changes to the rules in 43 of Edinburgh's Council Cemetries but not all of them as they are stating they want Edinburgh Council to do this and they can only change rules in their cemetries.

As previously mentioned the council has stated they reviewed the rules just over 2 months ago where they stated there was no official evidence to indicate such a change was required and they have in fact stated they have no future plans to change the cemetery rules.

See the notes from the meeting on 7th December 2023 which detail the council review of the rules. Item 7.5 relates to the cemetery discussion:

https://democracy.edinburgh.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=139&MId=6782&Ver=4

See update from this petition sharing the council email where they stated there were no plans to change the rules in the near future. The information is near the end of the update:

https://www.change.org/p/halt-the-petitioned-ban-on-dogs-in-edinburgh-cemeteries/u/32331835

Given that only Edinburgh Council decide on rules relating to Edinburgh Council cemetries, they have stated for the present they are not going to change them and the petition for "Edinburgh Council to reinstate "No Dogs in Cemeteries" rule that was in place pre-Covid" want the decision to be Edinburgh Council's decision we are unclear what the petition for " "Edinburgh Council to reinstate "No Dogs in Cemeteries" rule that was in place pre-Covid"  is actually asking for.

We ourselves are against the petition for  "Edinburgh Council to reinstate "No Dogs in Cemeteries" rule that was in place pre-Covid" and object to any rule changes as there is no official evidence to do so, we feel mourners who visit with their dogs will be disadvantaged, we feel a ban will not achieve anything positive as those breaking the current rules will break any new rules and there is no protection of people who use the cemetries respectfully with their dogs in times of needs as discussed in the update https://www.change.org/p/halt-the-petitioned-ban-on-dogs-in-edinburgh-cemeteries/u/32331835

As we are no longer entirely clear on what exactly the other petition is campaigning for we will keep our petition going until we know for sure that no rules will be changed - despite their title aim that it be decided by Edinburgh Council they have suggested they may be exploring other channels.

You can see below a list of all council cemetries or you can the link here under appendix 1:

https://democracy.edinburgh.gov.uk/documents/s41983/8.6%20-%20Cemetery%20Management%20Rules-FINAL.pdf

List of council cemetries, who the current rules apply to:

1. Buccleuch Churchyard
2. Canongate Churchyard  
3. Colinton
4. Colinton Churchyard
5. Comely Bank
6. Corstorphine Churchyard  
7. Corstorphine Hill   
8. Craigmillar Castle Park
9. Cramond Churchyard
10. Currie
11. Currie Churchyard
12. Dalmeny Churchyard
13. Dalry
14. Duddingston Churchyard
15. East Preston Street
16. Gogar
17. Grange
18. Greyfriars Kirkyard
19. Kirkliston
20. Kirkliston Churchyard
21. Liberton
22. Liberton Churchyard
23. Morningside
24. Mortonhall 
25. Mount Alvernia Convent
26. New Calton
27.  Newington
28. North Leith Churchyard 
29. North Merchiston  
30. Old Calton
31.  Portobello
32. Queensferry Vennel
33.  Ratho
34.  Rosebank
35.  Saughton
36. Sciennes Jewish
37. South Leith Churchyard
38. South Queensferry
39. St Cuthbert's Churchyard
40. St Mary’s Ratho
41. St Triduana’s Restalrig
42.  Warriston
43. Wauchope/Greendykes