Sir, It is with deep regret that I have to announce that in my old age I have become a social pariah. Perfect strangers now feel it necessary to hurl unprovoked abuse at me and scuttle across roads muttering imprecations to ward off any danger that my contaminated status might infect them. I am getting to the stage where I can only show my foul presence at night for fear of offending the upright citizens of Tenby. The reason for my fall from grace? My wife and I have acquired a dog. In mitigation, I can only plead that it is a very small dog with an impeccable pedigree and its waste products are in proportion. Also, m'lud, I state on oath that I stand above the animal with my pooper scooper at the ready on every occasion while it does its business, ready to remove the offending product to the nearest bin. No pavement, nay, no middle of the road (the dog is not fussy) remains sullied after our passing. Nevertheless, the shouted imprecations continue. What can I say in reply? On a facetious note: - to the gentleman with the small child who couldn't wait for the end of the performance before saying "Children could step in that!!" I can only ask if he usually allows his child/grandchild or whatever to walk unsupervised in the middle of the road. - to the lady whose pavement, that is the pavement near her house, was about to be besmirched. When did you buy it? - to the council employee in his van who watched for fully five minutes while I cleaned up, fixing me with a malevolent stare, but saying nothing, only driving off when I deposited the effects in the bin immediately next to me. Who trained you on effective use of time? On a more serious note. Yes, I recognise there is a problem with dog-fouling in Tenby. Yes, offenders deserve to have the errors of their ways pointed out to them. Persistent offenders should be fined. However, there are ways of getting people to comply with your legitimate requests. One way is by speaking politely and asking. It is more likely to get a favourable response than aggressive criticism. Sadly, I am rapidly coming to the conclusion that dog hating is now becoming socially acceptable and that dog-owners are now fair game for unsolicited abuse, in much the same as smokers used to be before they died off, sorry, were driven outside. It appears that certain people do not have enough serious problems in their life and now need to release their petty-minded aggressions and frustrations in some other way. Psychologically, unloading your anger on others is very negative, but, by God, it makes you feel better and, in this case, very self-righteous as well. To those people I can only say, in modern parlance - Get a life!

Name and address supplied.