Burial: Lesley Phillips hired a mini JCB to bury her greyhound A dog lover has sparked fury with residents who live by a stretch of recreational land after she hired a digger to bury her greyhound in the middle of it.
Lesley Phillips, 45, was caught on camera as she used a mini JCB to create a final resting place for her beloved dog.
Stunned neighbours watched as a workman used the machine to dig a grave in the land which backs on to nine homes.
But residents in Pinhoe, near Exeter, Devon, are angry because the field is used by children and claim that using it as a burial site could pose a health hazard.
The plot of land was left over when the houses were built nearly 30 years ago.
Sarah Bradley, 36, whose property backs on to the field, says the dog has been buried away from Ms Philip's home.
She says the plot is included in residents' deeds and they are all responsible for its maintenance and care.
Ms Bradley said: ‘She seems to think it is acceptable to go and do that. She has her own garden that she could have buried her dog in.
‘She seems to have buried her dog in the furthest point away from where she lives.
Companion: Lesley Phillips with her greyhound‘Environmentally it is not the right thing to do and I'm shocked. It's not a huge piece of land.
‘There are 20 of us in the deeds of the property and what if we all had animals and all chose to bury them there?
‘She didn't ask any of us if it would be okay to do it. I don't know how far down she has buried the dog. I think it is unreasonable - I'm concerned anything could dig the dog up.’
In a letter to all her neighbours calling for their support, Ms Bradley wrote: ‘What if we all had animals buried there? What did the dog die from?
‘Are we now accepting that the recreational ground be used as a pet cemetery?’
Ms Bradley says she approached Ms Phillips during the burial but was told she was within her rights.
She says Ms Phillips, who owns a further two dogs - including one as a replacement for the dead pet - should have buried her dog in her own garden.
A spokesman for Exeter City Council's environmental health team confirmed there was no law preventing people from burying pets on private land.
Ms Phillips is a member of the charity Greyhound Rescue West of England, which helps rehabilitate and rehouse dogs which have been abandoned after their racing days are over.
source: dailymail
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