On 31 March 1986, Garry Ellis-Jones began work with Gosport Borough Council as a Seasonal Park Attendant; little did he know that his season with the Borough was to last 21 years!
After just two months working as a Park Attendant with Leisure Services, Garry transferred to Environmental Health as a Driver.
Although he enjoyed his time there, Garry’s role was soon to change and on Monday 2 January 1989, he took on the role of Dog Warden for the Council.
Of course you couldn’t be a dog warden for 18 years without one or two stories and Garry certainly isn’t short of a few. “My first day as a dog warden also proved to be my most embarrassing,” said Garry. “I was called to catch a stray dog outside of the flats in South Street, opposite the Town Hall. There I was, chasing the thing around with half of the Environmental Health Team watching me out of the window. You can imagine the hilarity it caused when I finally caught the dog and it turned around and bit me, something it took a long time for me to live down.”
Since then his job title may have changed, including that of Area Inspector; Environmental Health Inspector and more recently Enforcement Officer (Dogs), but it is his work and connection with animals that Garry has become renowned for.
New schemes and new legislation has meant an ever changing role over the years and Garry has always embraced those changes. One of the biggest new schemes introduced was the micro-chipping of animals, whereby it made it easier to trace the owners of stray dogs and return them safely to their owners. Garry worked tirelessly and attended many of the Council’s Beach Campaigns to chat to owners and try to encourage them to micro chip their animals.
But it wasn’t just dogs that Garry was called to deal with. His most unusual call out was when a lady rang up to say she had a snake in her house.
“I went to the Council property and there at the back of the sink, in a small hole in the wall, was this little head sticking out,” added Garry. “After a lot of fiddling around I managed to extract a slow worm from the cavity. How it got there we never knew but it was just another day in the life of a Dog Warden! You never knew from one day to the next what you would be chasing.”
A real animal lover Gary keeps 11 ponies. He has Welsh Section Bs; Welsh Part Bred and Part Arab Riding Ponies and his knowledge of these animals is held in such high esteem, he is often called on to judge competitions.
So now, having reached the age of 60, Garry has decided it’s time to hang up his lead and hand in the keys to his van and to follow his heart. Yes, after 21 years with the authority Garry is retiring from the Gosport Borough Council to devote more time to his ponies, judging and fly fishing and on Tuesday 25 September at 12.30pm the Mayor, Councillor Keith Gill, will welcome him to the Parlour.
After thanking him for his Service to the authority and wishing him well on his retirement, the Mayor will present Gary with his Long Service Award and gift, a computer complete with webcam which will enable Garry to keep in touch with his daughter who is shortly jetting off to New Zealand.
