There have been fishy goings-on in Seymour Park for the past six months.
Every morning, as regular as clockwork, between the hours of 6am and 6.30am, someone has been leaving out an open tin of tuna fish!
Local resident Eileen McDonnell contacted OTN after her Golden Retriever was cut on the mouth.
“A full tin of tuna is left out each day. It is a hazard to dogs, cats and wildlife respectively,” Eileen explained. “The jagged edges cut tongues and lips and injure the animals”
The person is assumed to be a local resident of Old Trafford who is trying to be kind to local wildlife or pets, but is actually causing harm. Local residents worry it could attract vermin as they are attracted to the fish.
The police have been informed, but they stress that they only want to speak to the person to persuade them to stop doing it in the future. Criminal charges are most unlikely to follow.
As OTN were investigating, we met Police Community Support Officers in the park who said they would look into the matter for us, so watch this space.
Although the behaviour of the tuna fish phantom is most unusual, Trafford’s environmental health officers face regular problems with left-over food being dumped in Old Trafford’s parks. Offenders range from fly-tipping butchers to takeaway fast-food meals being left unfinished.
Also some residents follow the traditions common in parts of Asia where leftover food is placed away from the home in an open space. All these practices are not only unhygienic and likely to increase levels of vermin, but are also illegal. Local environmental enforcement officers can and do issue hefty fines to repeat offenders.
Old Trafford News urges all residents to dispose of food in a hygienic way - best of all , get yourself a compost bin and help the environment!
The strange mystery of the tuna fish phantom.
