Illustration by John Sadler www.johnsadlerillustration.com 

• WHAT is it with a certain breed of dog owners who appear to feel that they have the ultimate right to abuse the limited “dog-free” garden areas of Regent’s Park when they have access to the vast majority of the park already designated as dog-friendly areas?

Sunday afternoon was chaos, especially on the greens near the Rose Garden café. There was one altercation with three very large dogs on the grass with a group of 20 or so who refused to leave the Rose Garden green area.

The deckchair attendants were passive and I asked several members of café staff who were sympathetic but powerless to help.

The solitary gardener who had finished her shift was sorry and said the police had all moved to Hyde Park and there was not a single authority in sight. I spent nearly two hours on my bike searching for any signs of management or police but to no avail.

Finally I came upon a dog unit at the stage door of the Open Air Theatre but sadly, in spite of three of them standing in the street, they could not help as they said that they were “back-up” for the “football”.

“What football?”, I asked as one smirked in disbelief that I was not clued up. It was clear that I was not going to receive any help from them so I went home tired and angry and disillusioned.

Do these people who supposedly love their dogs know what misery they inflict? There’s a very different attitude since Brexit which has made people generally more dog-righteous.

How can anyone oversee three or four dogs at a time and tell me the dogs are not fouling the areas around the Broadwalk?

Some actually sit on tables where diners then have to eat their lunches. They seem to love this area as the grass is longer and it’s easier to disguise fouling.

However the park rangers really need to focus on the gardens themselves which are so well kept. The gardeners deserve such praise; but without wise management all of this hard work is easily abused by some irresponsible dog owners.

The park rangers should be given authority to issue on-the-spot fines. This is the only way to get some people to listen.

SUE BANKS, NW1