Last week Sutton resident Michael Lichtenauer presented a petition with 165 signatures on it to the town council, calling for local cemeteries to be dog-free zones. Speaking before the council Lichtenauer said that he and the other signatories of the document consider it to be “completely inappropriate and disrespectful,” for the Grace and Fairmount cemeteries to be promoted as spaces to walk one’s dog, given that they are meant to be places where people’s loved ones are laid to rest.
Speaking with The Record directly, Lichtenauer underlined the fact that he is not opposed to dogs in general, but simply feels that there are other places in town better suited as recreation spaces for them. He said that he put the petition together after the town put up signs at Fairmount encouraging people to keep their dogs on a leash. These signs, he argued, are tacit encouragement for people to use the cemetery as a dog park.
Sutton Mayor Robert Benoît expressed sympathy for the feelings expressed by Lichtenauer and other residents, but he also pointed out that the cemeteries are private land.
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Sutton resident concerned local cemetery is going to the dogs
By Gordon Lambie
