When I was young there seemed far fewer dog walkers about but they overwhelmingly seemed to be middle aged to elderly men who carried walking sticks and had absolutely no qualms about laying into any dog that took liberties with theirs.
Has the world gone so soft that the owners of an attacked dog don't think they have justification in causing major injury in defence of their own animal ?
On the two occasions in my life dogs have gone for me they've come off by far the worse for it. And so have their owners.
When there's always biscuits in the tin, where's the fun in biscuits ?
When I was young there seemed far fewer dog walkers about but they overwhelmingly seemed to be middle aged to elderly men who carried walking sticks and had absolutely no qualms about laying into any dog that took liberties with theirs.
Has the world gone so soft that the owners of an attacked dog don't think they have justification in causing major injury in defence of their own animal ?
On the two occasions in my life dogs have gone for me they've come off by far the worse for it. And so have their owners.
The age range of dog walkers today seem to range from pregnant Mums to elderly people barely able to put one foot in front of the other. One owner used to drive around the local park in her invalid vehicle to walk her dog. There are far more dog owners than before and far fewer working dogs on farms etc due to mechanisation.
Injuring an attacking dog could well develop into a much more serious situation. Also, you could end up being charged with cruelty to animals or GBH..
Interestingly, nowadays, because a lot of people live their lives through Social media sites, they go online and moan and complain about wandering and aggressive dogs. What they fail to do is actively report the incident to their local council/dog warden/ RSPCA. Not the police who have limited authority in these situations, consequently, no action is taken against the dog owner. However, having tried myself to report an incident, it is almost impossible to access any of the departments that deal with this issue.
A dog owner who lives locally, reported a dog attack which took place last summer, to the RSPCA, the owner of the aggressor is in court today so hopefully they will be given a fine and warning.
As far as I can ascertain the police do have reason for taking action if there is an incident which involves an offence. It is now a legal requirement for all dogs to be micro-chipped and to wear a collar with the owner's name and address etc. and dogs must not be allowed to access public spaces without their owner.
I reported the recent attack to the police and have an incident number relating to the report. I don't know whether the police co-operate with incidents which are also reported to the local authority - e.g. the dogs which attacked my dog have been reported because they bark constantly during the night - there has been a past restraining order in place relating to the barking/disturbance and another report must have been made recently as one of the local council officials came to speak to local residents earlier this week.
It seems totally unacceptable that I can't feel safe when leaving my house with my dog - please try to imagine how terrified I was when three large dogs all attacked my own dog, which was on a lead and therefore only four or five feet away from me, and they might have attacked me too.
I’ll probably get slated by some but I’m of the opinion that as a nation we’re becoming far too sentimental about dogs. Whilst I love dogs, and have had quite a few much loved pets, and abhor any sort of cruelty to any animal, in my opinion there are a lot of ‘rescued’ dogs which are (through no fault of their own) totally unsuited for re-homing and they should, for their own sakes as well as for the safety of the community, be euthanised.
I also believe that it should be illegal to breed a dog unless the owner has a licence to do so, much like a gun licence should be, showing that they are responsible and have a good reason for breeding the dogs, and then all pups born should be registered and chipped before going to their new homes so that they can be traced.
We used to have to have a licence to keep a dog, but that was stopped because it took more money to administer than it made … the obvious and right thing to do would’ve been to increase the cost so that it was financially viable … and make it free for those over a certain age as with the tv licence.
The safety of people should be paramount … but such a scheme would also benefit dogs welfare in general.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I totally agree @Dovefromabove and I’m a huge dog lover. Too many people breed dogs and let them go to unsuitable homes.
It infuriates me when people buy a dog on a whim, they base it on the cute looks of a puppy but with no thought of what the breed needs. Someone I know has a 9 month old male Labrador, he constantly moans about how the dog is out of control, chews and barks all the time. When I asked how many walks a day the dog has, he admitted that he hadn’t had time to walk him at all for the past month 🤬🤬 No wonder the dog is behaving like that, it makes me sad that there are dogs living a totally miserable life with irresponsible owners. It should be legal that dog owners have to have a licence, preferably after sitting an exam about ‘what a dogs needs are’ 😤😡
@Goldenlily. I see what you mean, Joyce, and you're right of course that people's safety is paramount.
I think what I'm getting at is that it would only take a couple of those righteous old bruisers armed with their knobkerries to deal with the few uncontrolled dogs, and their owners, in an area. And once word got around you can bet all the snarly little curs would be on leads.
Remember though, these weren't violent bullies of whom I write. They were no- nonsense fathers and grandfathers who had great respect for their fellow man .... and had been through a war, sometimes two, which had taught them the value of respect and decency.
When there's always biscuits in the tin, where's the fun in biscuits ?
I worry every time I see someone on a hill with a dog. I've never forgotten the clown who was doing the four Carn Mairg hills in Glen Lyon, and it was never on a lead. He was constantly shouting on it, and it never responded. The only time it was with him was the odd time it stopped and he caught up. There's really just one route round those four Munros, and he was pretty much going at the same rate as us, so we saw him regularly throughout most of the day. Just as well it was July and there were no lambs.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
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Everybody else's fault.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Has the world gone so soft that the owners of an attacked dog don't think they have justification in causing major injury in defence of their own animal ?
On the two occasions in my life dogs have gone for me they've come off by far the worse for it. And so have their owners.
Injuring an attacking dog could well develop into a much more serious situation. Also, you could end up being charged with cruelty to animals or GBH..
Interestingly, nowadays, because a lot of people live their lives through Social media sites, they go online and moan and complain about wandering and aggressive dogs. What they fail to do is actively report the incident to their local council/dog warden/ RSPCA. Not the police who have limited authority in these situations, consequently, no action is taken against the dog owner. However, having tried myself to report an incident, it is almost impossible to access any of the departments that deal with this issue.
A dog owner who lives locally, reported a dog attack which took place last summer, to the RSPCA, the owner of the aggressor is in court today so hopefully they will be given a fine and warning.
I reported the recent attack to the police and have an incident number relating to the report. I don't know whether the police co-operate with incidents which are also reported to the local authority - e.g. the dogs which attacked my dog have been reported because they bark constantly during the night - there has been a past restraining order in place relating to the barking/disturbance and another report must have been made recently as one of the local council officials came to speak to local residents earlier this week.
It seems totally unacceptable that I can't feel safe when leaving my house with my dog - please try to imagine how terrified I was when three large dogs all attacked my own dog, which was on a lead and therefore only four or five feet away from me, and they might have attacked me too.
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
It should be legal that dog owners have to have a licence, preferably after sitting an exam about ‘what a dogs needs are’ 😤😡
I think what I'm getting at is that it would only take a couple of those righteous old bruisers armed with their knobkerries to deal with the few uncontrolled dogs, and their owners, in an area. And once word got around you can bet all the snarly little curs would be on leads.
Remember though, these weren't violent bullies of whom I write. They were no- nonsense fathers and grandfathers who had great respect for their fellow man .... and had been through a war, sometimes two, which had taught them the value of respect and decency.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-65176370
I worry every time I see someone on a hill with a dog. I've never forgotten the clown who was doing the four Carn Mairg hills in Glen Lyon, and it was never on a lead. He was constantly shouting on it, and it never responded. The only time it was with him was the odd time it stopped and he caught up. There's really just one route round those four Munros, and he was pretty much going at the same rate as us, so we saw him regularly throughout most of the day. Just as well it was July and there were no lambs.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.