'Banned' dog can return to docks

Mr Howard said Tosh had gone with everyday to his boat before the ban

The owner of a Jack Russell Terrier that joined him on thousands of fishing trips from Swansea Docks says he was told his pet was banned from the port.

Pensioner David Howard said security guards told him he could no longer take Tosh with him when he visited his boat.

Mr Howard said he would rather sell it than spend his days without his pet.

Associated British Ports said it had banned loose and unattended animals but as long as 15-year-old Tosh was on a lead he could resume his daily visits.

Mr Howard, a member of the Abertawe Fishing Club which has a compound at the docks, said he had been mooring boats there for more than 20 years.

The 69-year-old has been accompanied every morning by Tosh - named after former Swansea City manager John Toshack - since he was a puppy.

"I've been taking Tosh with me for the last 15 years, every day of the week," he said.

Every time I go fishing he is on that boat David Howard

"I'm an old age pensioner. I live on my own and he is my companion.

"We leave in the morning, I put my dog in my Land Rover and we go to the docks and straight to the compound and to my boat.

"If the weather is nice I take him out on the boat with me - we never miss a trip. He loves it.

"Every time I go fishing he is on that boat."

Mr Howard said other members of the club had also been told they could no longer take their dogs as all dogs had been banned from the docks.

"We were told by the security guards - we can't argue with them because two are members of our club and they are friends of mine - they are only doing their job.

"They said they were told to tell us there is no dogs whatsoever allowed on Swansea docks."

But a spokesman for Associated British Ports said: "Loose and unattended animals are banned from the port estate at Swansea, for obvious health & safety reasons.

"It is clearly unacceptable for animals to be moving around in the area of a working port alongside vehicles and machinery.

"However, there is currently no objection to pets kept under control on a lead, or confined to a car or boat."