"Dogs treated better than Travellers in Basildon"

A TRAVELLER rights group claims dogs are treated better than Travellers in Basildon.

The Irish Traveller Movement in Britain hit out following Essex Police’s publication of a report into its involvement in last October’s eviction on Wednesday.

The report detailed that 15 police officers were injured and 45 people were arrested following skirmishes between police and protesters.

However, the Traveller movement said the police report did not go into the “human cost of forcing Travellers from their homes.”

The group also hit out at Basildon Council for approving planning permission for a major kennels facility for the Dog’s Trust on the site of Nevendon Bootsale, at Wickford, shortly after the eviction.

Yvonne MacNamara director of the movement said: “Basildon will bend their guidelines to provide a home for dogs on green belt, but will stop at nothing to drive Travellers from their homes.”

“Britain has a high reputation for its treatment and its care for animals. Why is a Traveller child worth less than a stray dog?”

Council leader Tony Ball said: “Dale Farm was developed for residential purposes without planning permission over ten years and Travellers were breaking the law on a daily basis by living there.

"This cannot be compared with an application that will actually improve the site, was submitted prior to development, considered on its merits by the planning committee and subsequently approved. It is ridiculous to suggest that the council puts the welfare of stray dogs over the lives of people.”