POOR FIDO!

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 79, 11 January 1944, Page 2

POOR FIDO!

An instance of the difficulty sometimes felt in arriving at a clear statement of a simple rule is provided from the minutes of a borough council meeting. One councillor objected to the wording proposed for a notice, “No dogs must be brought to this park except on a lead.” on the ground that such an order “would not prevent an owner from releasing his pets, or pet, from a lead when once safely inside the park.” He offered as an improvement : “Dogs are not allowed in this park without leads.” “Mr Chairman. I object,” cried another councillor. “The order should be addressed to the owners, not to the dogs.” The other then amended : “Owners of dogs not not allowed in this park unless they keep them on leads.” Objection: “Strictly speaking, this would prevent me as a dog-owner from leaving my dog in the back garden at home and walking with my wife across the park.” Suggested: “Nobody without his dog on a lead is allowed in this park.” Objected : “Strictly speaking, this notice would prevent me, as a citizen who owns no dog. from walking in-the park without first acquiring one.” Amendment: “Dogs must be led in this park.” Objection: “This reads as if it were a general injunction to the borough to lead their dog? into the park.” Amendment : “All dogs must be kept on leads in this park.” Passions rise, the chairman interposes with another amendment : “All dogs in this park must be kept on the lead ” Carried unanimously. “with two abstentions ” —(From “The Reader Over Your Shoulder: A Handbook for Writers of English Prose,” by Robert Graves and Alan Hodge).