A popular local dog walking spot has been deemed a danger by the Forestry Commission.
St Stephens Castle in Verwood has recently become a cause for concern due to a constant littering of food, drinks and other debris.
Mark Abraham, beat forester at The Foresty Commission said: “We have had ongoing issues with what I would call anti-social behaviour around the area of St Stephens Stone in Ringwood Forest and I have picked up large amounts of litter consisting of cans and bottles.
It is this carelessness that has led to a recent incident and an advised ban on dogs swimming in the lake.
Verwood resident Katheryn Blachford’s dog was one that got injured: “Someone had dumped glass or metal in the lake. Bella was swimming and got a nasty deep gash across the whole of her back leg which has since needed staple stitches, antibiotics and pain relief.”
“Luckily it was only her leg that got cut open and it wasn’t anything too sinister on this occasion”
Mark Abraham also added: “The Forestry Commission simply do not have the staff to tackle these anti-social issues on their own, but we would be happy to meet with the Parish council to come up with a joint initiative to tackle this problem.”
The Forestry commission have said that they are set to send a team to the area to investigate later this week. They have advised that dogs should be kept out of the ponds until further notice. The incident has since been shared on the Verwoodians Facebook page to try to ensure that no other dogs get injured.
