Does something need to be done about dogs?

VincentHanna said:
No, you just have to be in control of your dog.

Mine listens to commands and does what she is asked.

I wouldn't walk her on a dedicated cycle path but they are often right alongside pedestrian paths with only a painted line to divide them.
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What do you do if she decides not to listen one day?

Our idiot never listens. He was even kicked out of puppy school for being untrainable.
 
Dis86 said:
I often approached from the front.
Also to be clear, it's a cycle path, not a dog walking path therefore bikes should be expected by owners.
I might be wrong on this but also is it not a legal requirement to have your dog on a lead in a public space? We keep ours on a lead at all times unless we rent a free-run field.
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If it's a bike only path then I guess pedestrians and dogs shouldn't be on it, but most bike paths are shared use, meaning that cyclists should also be aware of pedestrians and dogs and not put them at risk.

I think you're misinformed about dogs having to be on a lead all the time - they should be under control, but not necessarily on a lead. Playing fetch in the park or letting dogs run around in the woods is perfectly legal.
 
GreatAuk said:
If it's a bike only path then I guess pedestrians and dogs shouldn't be on it, but most bike paths are shared use, meaning that cyclists should also be aware of pedestrians and dogs and not put them at risk.

I think you're misinformed about dogs having to be on a lead all the time - they should be under control, but not necessarily on a lead. Playing fetch in the park or letting dogs run around in the woods is perfectly legal.
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But then how is the dog under control?
 
All dogs are the most gentle softest human loving until they are not, not sure what can be done, should really make it illegal for a dog to be off a lead anywhere in public to at least make it safer for public, they should be banned entirely from farmland as well, most of the articles you read on people getting killed by cows are dog walkers.

Not sure what else you can do apart from requiring a license to own a dog but that isn't going to stop a dog randomly attacking a family member realistically as nobody knows the mind of the animal and it's not really the dogs fault as it doesn't know any better

Maybe dogs should come with health warnings like cigarettes ? I think the video I saw on reddit titled "MMC after I get eaten by puppies after being killed in Lugansk" would be a good PSA of the reality of doggo's so people realise it's not a toy they're bringing into their family but an animal that can go wild at any time
 
Dis86 said:
But then how is the dog under control?
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From Google, its actually 'dangerously out of control' which is illegal, meaning your dog injures someone, or makes them worried it might injure them :
https://www.gov.uk/control-dog-public
Guess it's more lax than I thought! I thought it would be along the lines of 'a reasonable person would judge...'

Still a bit of a grey area I guess, as technically someone could be worried your dog would injure them even if it was on a lead walking nicely next to you. Bit of a judgement call.
 
GreatAuk said:
From Google, its actually 'dangerously out of control' which is illegal, meaning your dog injures someone, or makes them worried it might injure them :
https://www.gov.uk/control-dog-public
Guess it's more lax than I thought! I thought it would be along the lines of 'a reasonable person would judge...'

Still a bit of a grey area I guess, as technically someone could be worried your dog would injure them even if it was on a lead walking nicely next to you. Bit of a judgement call.
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It's very woolly! A few places say the only way you can ensure you don't fall foul if it is to have it in a lead but yeah, that's not specified within the law itself. The issue comes around people 'feeling as if it could attack'. My mum is one of those people who feels like every dog is trying to attack her all of the time.

NI is different though, it must be on a lead.
 
I dunno I think laws are not bad for combating bad owners.
I think an ad campaign or two might help jog some peoples memories that as lovable as your dog may be , you don't let it get near little ones unless you have full attention/control and you absolutely ned to be putting dogs on leads more than off.
 
Can someone educate me on cycle only paths in the context of this discussion? We walk extensively in the countryside on all manner of paths with our dog on a lead and I don't recall seeing a path exclusively for cycling except for special events.
Generally speaking I've found the interaction between cyclists and walkers to be positive but I do wish that cyclists would not remove bells etc.
 
To be fair the statistics for fatal dog attacks show that yes whilst tragic are insanely rare. Should we be making every potentially lethal activity illegal? Because above dogs is pretty much everything else people do in their daily life. Except getting struck by lightning
 
Ragnahex said:
To be fair the statistics for fatal dog attacks show that yes whilst tragic are insanely rare. Should we be making every potentially lethal activity illegal? Because above dogs is pretty much everything else people do in their daily life. Except getting struck by lightning
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People get emotional because it's usually kids involved.

Never mind the fact that it's usually the parents who often get these dogs from a mate down the street who is selling it, and just introduce them to toddlers and young kids with no real thought.

It's not always the parents, a little kid got attacked in a pushchair the other day by a random dog, but that is even more rare.
 
Ragnahex said:
To be fair the statistics for fatal dog attacks show that yes whilst tragic are insanely rare. Should we be making every potentially lethal activity illegal? Because above dogs is pretty much everything else people do in their daily life. Except getting struck by lightning
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Again, as I point out there are a significant number of attacks per fatality. The numbers are estimated at 40000 serious injuries and 200000 minor.
 
Dis86 said:
Was going to create this thread a few days back after yet another child was killed by a dog however a further 3 attacks have taken place since then, including another child killed and 2 more seriously hurt.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hereford-worcester-60907487

A quick read on the matter came up with this sentence "fatal dog attacks have been increasing significantly over time which was not attributable to the increase in number of dogs".

Now the number of deaths isn't massive but is still too high, the main issue is the numbers of people injured. Its estimated for each fatality there are 200000 bites and 40000 serious injuries.

It's also ignoring the fact that owners are often violent due to confrontation over their dogs (something I've personally experienced), and aspects of animal neglect and cruelty.

Do we need to look at dog ownership and something to ensure only the right people can have a dog? My thought is yes, but how could we do this?
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Yes, having been through the saga of my Wife being attacked by a 'loving family pet' which them went on to drag our spaniel like a rag doll down a dark alley, taking 4 blokes to stop it and 20 minutes before they eventually freed it..

Everyone that thinks "Dogs aren't dangerous, only the owners" is (quite frankly) a moron.. Some dogs are bred with features that make them efficient killers.. it's a fairly simple concept.. and unlike a gun, no one really has control 100% of the time of any dog, they are animals with a brain and no matter how well trained, they have instincts..

We have many dog breeders in the family who breed working and show dogs and they all have gone away from any breed that is genetically built to do damage, because despite what people think, it's very difficult in a lot of cases to predict when a dog will go 'wrong'.. and at that point the breed and it's physical make up are very very important.. and they've had the odd spot incident of such breeds suddenly getting in a bad situation..

This all fed in to our choice of dog and since the attack I tend to look at dogs / owners and there is this correlation of beta male playing at being alpha as one of the common themes.. When you have to warn other people their dog isn't friendly and you better keep it away whilst not muzzling their dog in public pretty much tells you everything you need to know..
 
Certain dog breeds should absolutely have extra requirements to ownership. Unfortunately most people would not agree with my opinion of which breeds
 
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