Vandals who threw 15 lifebelts into the River Clyde at the weekend have been lambasted by the Glasgow Humane Society officer George Parsonage.
Parsonage, who has saved more than 1500 people from the Clyde in the last five decades said he couldn’t understand how people could be so thoughtless when it came to others’ safety.
The lifebelts were thrown into the water on Saturday night in the Richmond Park area. “Someone obviously coming home has just decided to lob them in the water,” Parsonage said. “People who have been out partying and who thought it’s a great joke to throw lifebelts in the water.
“But it’s not funny. It could be their mother, it could be their sister, it could be their next door neighbour’s wee brother who next need the lifebelts. It’s extremely stupid.”
Tampering with the lifebelts can result in anything up to a £5000 fine, but Parsonage said that the fine should be the last reason people refrain from tampering with them. “It’s a life that counts, not money. It’s just so bloody stupid.
“We are very proud of what we do in Glasgow with our safety campaigns, but 15 lifebelts? They save so many people’s lives over the years. Why? Why throw them in?”
Parsonage’s fellow Glasgow Humane Society volunteer William Graham retrieved the lifebelts with the help of Ross Macpherson and Marc Dickson of Bishopbriggs High School, both of whom are currently doing Duke of Edinburgh Award Community work with the GHS.
“I think it’s very good to get the boys involved because that’s the future of the city,” Parsonage, who has been working on the river since 1957, said. “If they learn to respect lifebelts maybe their mates will learn to respect them too.”
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