Last year’s Dog Olympix went ahead despite warnings from the Town Hall

AN annual Crufts-style dog competition which ran for six years with the aim of fundraising for a water fountain has ended in acrimony after the organisers reported the council to the police over “negative” social media comments.

Police confirmed last night (Thursday) that they were reviewing a report of malicious communication in regard to a Town Hall order to cancel the event last year at Whittington Park, Archway, due to hot weather.

Organiser Natalie Alexander said the council “posted negatively on social media and in the local press about our efforts to raise the funds” and accused Islington of “casting us as the villains with their derision and malicious comments”.

The fallout means there is now no event this year, and the brakes have been put on attempts to get a cast-iron fountain for the park.

The Dog Olympix, which started in 2016, was a highlight in the calendar for local pooch owners and had so far raised £6,500 for the Victorian-style fountain, which the organisers had claimed the council had pledged to match fund.

Last year’s event had left dog lovers divided when the council ordered it to be cancelled over fears dogs could get too hot, but it went ahead anyway.

Ms Alexander said the council had slandered her and fellow organiser Sunnie De Pass.

In a statement this week, she said: “We apologise for the silence from the Dog Olympix team in recent months.

This is due to a deeply upsetting case of slander initiated by Islington Council against the organiser and the event, which is now under investigation and in the hands of the Metropolitan Police. As this is now out of our control we feel it’s time for us to say a few words to all our loyal supporters.”

Islington had issued a statement last year saying it was reviewing its procedures to ensure “a similar situation does not arise again” after their “polite and clear advice” was “ignored” by the organisers.

The end of the Dog Olympix appears to have put ambitions for a cast iron Victorian-style water fountain on ice, after the council said they planned to install a metal one instead – described as “bog standard” by Ms Alexander.

“It’s heartbreaking,” she said. “We’re all volunteers, asking the community to donate as little or as much as they can and people were shoving money in the box for this fountain. Why have we worked so hard, across so many years, only for a standard utility they would have installed anyway? That doesn’t seem right.”

She argued the council’s decision “calls into question our democracy and the community’s voice on how the money is spent” and urged the public to fight for a cast iron one.

Organisers have collected around 500 signatures for the fountain over the years.

A police spokesperson said: “On Tuesday June 18 we received a report of malicious communications alleged to have taken place in September 2023. The information is being assessed and enquiries are ongoing.”

A council spokesperson said they were “not aware of any police investigation nor any incidents of slander by council officers against the organisers of the dog olympix”.

She added: “In relation to the water fountain, we have been working with the group on this for a number of years. It is our duty to install equipment which is accessible for all park users (including those with mobility issues), and is cost effective and able to be maintained by the council. Unfortunately, the Victorian design does not meet these require­ments and is therefore not a suitable solution for Whittington Park.

“We are committed to match funding a unit that provides safe drinking water solutions for park users and dogs, but can only do so with a suitable unit.”