On behalf of those who have relatives buried in Paddington Old Cemetery (POC) I petition Brent Council to ban dogs from the cemetery (excluding assistance dogs).

Dog owners are allowing their dogs to use the cemetery as a play / exercise area and toilet. Dogs run unsupervised around the cemetery, despite repeated requests for dog owners to be respectful. Dogs defecate and urinate on graves and run around disturbing the tranquility, this is an insult to the deceased and their relatives.

This has to stop.

The graveyard is a lovely place to visit but is being ruined by disrespectful and increasingly aggressive dog owners, including professional dog walkers running their business from POC. The cemetery is sacred ground where local people are laid to rest for eternity. The community has a responsibility to ensure their final resting place is respected. People would not have buried their relatives at POC had they known it would become a playground and toilet for dogs.

The cemetery should be a place of tranquility where people can visit the graves of their relatives in peace. It is impossible to pay your respects when an animal is bounding around and squatting over adjacent graves. The cemetery is not a public park. Many of the people affected by the dogs are elderly relatives visiting close family and do not feel able to voice their upset to dog owners. A graveyard is not meant for animal exercise, this quiet space is for relatives to pay their respects.

In many religions the notion of dogs in graveyards would not be allowed to be discussed, yet this is allowed unrestricted at POC.

It is easy for dog owners to exercise their dogs elsewhere. If dogs are allowed, then all animal owners will insist on being allowed to use this lovely space.

Please support this petition to return the cemetery to its intended purpose of a respectful final resting place for the deceased.