Henry was on his final walk when his owner was fined by a dog warden

Struggling with grief after making the decision to put his dog down, Frank Ward decided to take Henry for one final outing to his favourite beach.

Riddled with arthritis, the Old English Sheepdog was unable to walk, so Frank, 73, wheeled him out in a stroller he bought two years ago when the pain left him unable to go on proper walks.

In May Henry started wetting himself and was unable to stand on his back legs, and that’s when it was realised the end was near.

Frank started preparing for the last goodbye, travelling from Doncaster, Yorkshire, with his ex Sue Brown, to Cleveleys, Lancashire, for his last breath of fresh sea air.




But then Henry’s stroller hit a sand dune and he was sent tumbling onto the ground.

The moment his paw touched the sand a council worker appeared ‘from nowhere’ and issued Frank with a £100 fine.

Henry was confined to a stroller but fell out while being taken out for final walk (Picture: Triangle)

It turned out that dogs are banned from the beach between May and September.

Sue said: ‘Henry loved going on the beach. We’ve had to go away because Frank is that upset.

‘I just think they should have shown a bit of compassion. I know rules are rules – fair enough – but the beach was empty and there were two horses galloping along.

‘I understand about dog fouling and I’m totally behind them on that, it’s disgusting, but we always pick up after him and it was just one last visit to the beach before he was put to sleep.’

Frank said: ‘We decided we’d do one more walk and have him put down. We knew it was going to be his last walk.

‘I took him down the ramp on his pushchair and I pushed him towards the sea, but we hit a sand bank and he fell out. He didn’t walk – he can’t walk.

Frank took the painful decision to put Henry down when he was unable to stand on his back legs (Picture: Triangle)

‘There were never plans to take him out of the stroller because he can’t move. They jumped out on me immediately. I’ve no idea where he appeared from.

‘He said “I am so and so”. I told him he’d fallen out of the pushchair and it was obvious he couldn’t walk. But you can’t argue with them. They handed me a ticket for £100.’

Wyre Council initially told him that the fine would stand despite being presented with the cremation certificate.

As a gesture of good will they said they would extend the amount of time he had to pay by another two months.

Ms Brown, who wrote on his behalf, added: ‘I emailed them and explained the situation. I sent a picture to them of Henry in his pushchair and a picture of him on the beach – all he did was sit there and look at the sea, he never used to cause a nuisance – and then I sent a picture of his cremation certificate to the council.

The council finally decided to cancel the fine last night (Picture: Triangle)

‘I have it all on email and they just emailed me back and said they were sorry but they couldn’t bend the rules in any case. An offence had been committed, but as a bit of leeway they’d give us until August to pay.’



Councillor Rita Amos, councillor for the Cleveleys Park ward of Wyre Council said: ‘I know it sounds harsh, but you have to err on the side of caution.

‘If the dog was that ill, maybe it should have been strapped in like a person would have been. Rules are rules, unfortunately. I wouldn’t want to bend them myself.’

Last night the council agreed to waive the fine.

A a spokesman said: ‘We are aware of the sad circumstances surrounding the health and subsequent death of Mr Ward’s dog and we pass on our sincere condolences.

‘On review of the case, the ticket has been cancelled and no further action will be taken.’

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