Dog Registered to Vote in Local Elections Could Land Owner in Jail
Posted By Ryan O'Meara Date: 1/05 Posted Under: Social IssuesIt’s local election day in the UK and up and down the country people will be trekking to their nearest polling station to have their say on who should run their local councils.
One registered voter won’t be getting to join the democratic process though.
According to website This is Wiltshire, a man who registered HIS DOG to vote could find himself in the dog house:
A MAN who registered his dog to vote in tomorrow’s local elections could face jail or a £5,000 fine.
Gavin Huckvale, from Toothill, has had to tuck his tail between his legs and write a grovelling apology to Swindon Council’s director of law and democratic services, Stephen Taylor.
If the letter does not arrive today Gavin could be prosecuted for the offence of supplying false electoral information.
The offence carries a maximum penalty of 51 weeks’ imprisonment or a fine of up to £5,000.
Gavin, 29, told the Adver earlier this month that his dog, Bobby, had been sent a polling card and hinted that it would be interesting to see how far he could take it.
Asked at the time whether he had put Bobby’s name on the electoral roll as a joke Gavin said he hadn’t.
But after a visit by the police, prompted by Swindon Council, Gavin has now admitted that it is definitely his handwriting on the list.
He said: “I just don’t have any idea how I’ve done this. I must be cracking up.
“I must have put it down completely unconsciously - it certainly wasn’t a practical joke.
“I don’t know how to explain it. I know it sounds crazy but it really was a mistake.
“If I’d known that it was me who had put the dog’s name down I wouldn’t have gone to the press and made all that fuss.”
Mr Taylor said: “Because of Mr Huckvale’s statement in the Adver last Saturday to the effect that he didn’t put his dog’s name on the form and that he planned to take the dog to the polling station to vote, I referred the matter to the police.
“False information was given by Mr Huckvale as the form clearly showed that Mr Huckvale did write the dog’s name on it.
Gavin said: “I’ve sent a letter to Mr Taylor saying that I’m sorry and I’ve sent the polling card back as well, so Bobby definitely won’t be voting.
“He didn’t like the look of the candidates anyway.”
Whilst Bobby might not be able to have his say on the political issues of the day, he might be interested to know that there IS a brand new organisation set up specifically for pets and their owners to have a voice on the major policies and laws affecting pets and their owners.
The Pet Owners Parliament is a free, democratic organisation formed with pet owners in mind.
Members are able to contribute their opinions, ideas and advice on any issue related to the welfare of pets in the UK.
You can join here
Ryan O'Meara is editor-in-chief of K9 Magazine, the lifestyle magazine for dog lovers. He lives in the East Midlands with his own two dogs, Mia and Chloe. - See this author's webpage
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Thursday, May 1st, 2008 at 1:40 am and is filed under Social Issues. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Instead of pondering whether to prosecute this dog owner for this, maybe they should let the dog stand as a member of parliament, after all it cannot do as bad a job as many MP’s?