Walthamstow woman outraged at fine for 'missing cat' posters (From East London and West Essex Guardian Series)
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Walthamstow woman outraged at fine for 'missing cat' posters
12:38pm Monday 8th February 2010 in
A CAT owner is outraged after being fined by the council for putting up 'missing cat' posters.
Lynda Dyson, of Avon Road, in Walthamstow, was delighted when the posters she put up on lamp-posts in the area helped her trace Fluffy – but her joy was short-lived when she was stung by the council's enforcement department for £75.
The teacher said: “I understand that there is a law about posters, but it is a community thing. It was so heart-warming to see how people responded and it helped to get my cat back.
“The council say they have to impose the letter of the law, but this is not like graffiti and it is not advertising, so I wasn't profiting from the posters.
"In a world where there is less and less community spirit, to impose a law and fine me for something like this is horrible.”
When the black Persian cat went missing at the beginning of January, Ms Dyson was frantic with worry, believing “something terrible” had happened to her.
After putting up the home-made A4 sized posters on lamp-posts around Avon Road and Wood Street railway station appealing for information, Ms Dyson received calls from numerous people saying they had seen a woman taking three-year-old Fluffy from near her home.
The woman returned the cat unscathed after seeing a poster and said she wrongly believed the cat was a stray. Ms Dyson said she immediately took down the posters but mistakenly left one up in Bisterne Avenue.
She intends to pay the fine, which was issued under Section 4.3 of the Anti-social Behaviour Act, but thinks the law should be changed.
She said: “Pets are a very important part of people's lives. Without those notices, I would never have got her back.
“I think the council should change the law on this. I don't see it as being anti-social behaviour at all.
"Fluffy is outraged.”
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Comments(15)
Walthamster
says...
1:11pm Mon 8 Feb 10
It's like the council harassing local groups handing out leaflets in public.
It doesn't distract attention from the missing millions of pounds, the seven official investigations, the endless list of improper contracts. It just makes people like me say
"Never mind the £75. Can we have our millions of pounds of missing public money back from the council?"
Morris Hickey
says...
1:34pm Mon 8 Feb 10
everoptimistic
says...
1:57pm Mon 8 Feb 10
RichieA70
says...
2:16pm Mon 8 Feb 10
everoptimistic wrote:Here here - and if anyone from the council is reading this, can you PLEASE take down the sign attached to the railings at Wingfield Park about the £40K investment due for completion in 2007. That was finished nearly 3 years ago!
The council department responsible for this joke should be ashamed of themselves. Especially as they do nothing about all the big, untidy, flapping council advertising banners tied willy-nilly to every available railing across the borough.
Cllr Matt Davis
says...
2:32pm Mon 8 Feb 10
Techno2
says...
2:39pm Mon 8 Feb 10
Cllr Matt Davis wrote:Let alone the people who put stickers around the place advertising 'massages'.
I am at a loss to understand how it is that this innocent single Lost Cat poster warrants a fine when none of the posters, stickers etc posted all over Walthamstow by various political groups ever seems to get the same treatment.
Touchwood
says...
3:24pm Mon 8 Feb 10
Walthamster
says...
3:49pm Mon 8 Feb 10
If a single small "lost cat" poster is worth £75, why weren't the owners of those hoardings fined thousands of pounds over the years? Or is it a council site?
AirForceOne
says...
11:39pm Mon 8 Feb 10
Investigations
says...
11:56pm Mon 8 Feb 10
Immediately cats go missing the owners should be compelled to report their loss to the Redbridge Cat's Retrieval/Removal Centre who could then find or shoot the cat if it's found up a tree! Finding cats could also be part of the training for police dogs who I am told really enjoy such work! Get organized Redbridge there's no time to waste! Meanwhile the penalty awarded Fluffy should be regarded by her as part of the price for having chosen to have been born a cat!
Morris Hickey
says...
12:29am Tue 9 Feb 10
Investigations wrote:What a cretin you are.
The council are absolute right to enforce this bylaw. Posters with pictures or descriptions of cats can divert passing motorists and cyclists and cause horrific accidents. Such posters could also be used by terrorists as a means of transmitting information between terror 'cells' or by criminals to order bank raids! Immediately cats go missing the owners should be compelled to report their loss to the Redbridge Cat's Retrieval/Removal Centre who could then find or shoot the cat if it's found up a tree! Finding cats could also be part of the training for police dogs who I am told really enjoy such work! Get organized Redbridge there's no time to waste! Meanwhile the penalty awarded Fluffy should be regarded by her as part of the price for having chosen to have been born a cat!
roar
says...
12:01pm Tue 9 Feb 10
AirForceOne
says...
2:24pm Tue 9 Feb 10
Morris Hickey wrote:i think you will find it meant to be a joke.
Investigations wrote:What a cretin you are.
The council are absolute right to enforce this bylaw. Posters with pictures or descriptions of cats can divert passing motorists and cyclists and cause horrific accidents. Such posters could also be used by terrorists as a means of transmitting information between terror 'cells' or by criminals to order bank raids! Immediately cats go missing the owners should be compelled to report their loss to the Redbridge Cat's Retrieval/Removal Centre who could then find or shoot the cat if it's found up a tree! Finding cats could also be part of the training for police dogs who I am told really enjoy such work! Get organized Redbridge there's no time to waste! Meanwhile the penalty awarded Fluffy should be regarded by her as part of the price for having chosen to have been born a cat!
i have to mention this, the captcha words below are come-fine !! how appropriate
Earle Martin
says...
2:44pm Tue 9 Feb 10
> What a cretin you are.
*whoosh*
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WALTHAMSTOW: Woman fined for 'missing cat' posters
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Helen, Walthamstow says...
1:08pm Mon 8 Feb 10
Enforcing the law is one thing, especially when it comes to profit-making raves and scraping away the numerous posters stuck on bus stops. But targeting someone looking for the family cat in her own neighbourhood (and including her phone number which is presumably how she was tracked down) is utterly disgusting, not least because she took the posters down when the pet was returned.
If that - and stopping people singing in the town square or putting up the odd stall - is what having the extra enforcement officers means, then we can do without them.