Dog owners protesting on rights

May I make a few comments on the letter from Mrs Lander which refers to the Old Racecourse at Oswestry?

First, there is no protest group. Instead, there are a number of dog owners who care about their pets and who think that Oswestry Borough Council's proposal to ban free-running dogs on the racecourse should not go ahead unopposed.

Next, did Mrs Lander witness the incident to which she refers? I did.

I saw one of the residents (a member of the management association) leave their car in the mouth of a road junction and approach us to ask what we were doing.

During the exchange that followed, this individual stated in front of witnesses that walking dogs on their leads was law and then, when corrected, asserted it would soon become law.

I am prompted here to ask if there is some "inside information" to which most of us are not privy?

Moments later we were told that we (dog walkers) should be grateful to the commoners for keeping the racecourse open.

Also, and in reply to a direct question about whether the racecourse was considered their "private back garden" the reply was an unequivocal "yes".

When this person was asked how long they had lived by the racecourse, no definite answer was given.

Since Mrs Lander's letter was written from a third-party (hearsay) point of view and since she presumably doesn't care if certain rights are withdrawn, I cannot understand why she felt moved to write in the first instance, other than to swipe at people who are making a legitimate protest.

Derek Wheeler, Oswestry