to think that the keeping of dogs for domestic purposes should be banned.

[AKMD]

That?s it really. I am sick to death of having to watch my feet to make sure I don?t accidentally tread in dog muck left to steam by some selfish, lazy dog owner. I resent not being able to take 2yo DS to the park directly opposite my house because it?s used as a dog exercise ground and you can?t play toddler football without the ball and toddler falling into said dog muck. I hate that every time we go to the slightly nicer park there?s at least one dog without a lead who decides to come and sniff DS and that while he backs away the owner stands there laughing that ?he?s only being friendly?. I loathe and detest the particularly ?friendly? dogs who lick DS while I drag him away, probably just after eating another dog?s poo or a dead rat or some other disgusting thing they just found. I have personally seen the scars left on a young child by a ?friendly? dog turning savage and ripping the toddler?s cheek off. The problem of people getting bored of their dogs and dumping them in rescue centres is sickening. The stories of dogs being bred to fight, being neglected, being bred for ?beauty? despite the ?beautiful? characteristics causing the animals pain and suffering are beyond belief.

IMO domestic dog owners as a general class have proved that they are irresponsible and selfish. Fear of treading in dog poo on a pavement or in a park is common to everyone and I am so, so sick of people blaming it on a tiny minority. Domestic dog owners can?t be trusted to be responsible so they shouldn?t have them, end of. People should only be allowed to keep dogs for working purposes ? guide dogs, sniffer dogs, police dogs, sheep dogs etc. - if they are licensed.

AIBU?

How are the responsible dog owners on this thread supposed to "engage" with points that don't apply to them?

AKMD, no, you haven't answered my question at all. Your post at 12.58 covers dogs in existance, of which you would so generously like to rid Great Britain. I was asking about the dogs which you propose should be seized by dog wardens if they are found to be without a chip and/or a license.

"Dog wardens with powers to confiscate an unlicensed/microchipped dog"

What do you propose to do with these dogs? Where do you propose that they go to upon seizure?

Fuckarama - I think the point about dogs off leads running up to people does apply to many. There are certainly lots of remarks on this thread saying that their dogs aren't dangerous, and that people are lucky to be greeted by a friendly dog.

"Dog poo is an issue but the way some people are going on, you'd think it was a massive issue. It really isn't."

I don't think dogs should be banned, but I am just absolutely fed up of them. After four years of walking my children to school having constantly to look out for dog poo, and with many years more of that ahead, and because we can't use our best local big park because there's just so much shit in it (and most of it is dog poo), it is asking too much to expect me to differentiate between responsible and irresponsible dog owners any more. I'm fed up with urban dog owners, full stop. There are too many dogs in towns for the amount of green space available. Dogs and cats used to be far more working animals than just pets - it's not a law of nature that there should be as many around in towns just as pets as there are now.

It is an absolute certainty that at least once a week one or other of my children would tread in dog shit if it wasn't for the fact that we spend our entire walk to school looking out for it. It's boring and I'm sick of it - it is a big issue for me! As for it not being the dog's fault but the owner's - so what? I really don't care which should get the Hard Stare of Opprobrium, I just want it to stop.

I'm also a bit skeptical of the idea that there really is just a minority of irresponsible dog owners. If picking up dog poo is like most other human activities, then there'll be a lot of 'responsible' dog walkers out there who may pick up 9 out of 10 of their dog's poos, but who leave quite a few, telling themselves that it's OK because they pick up 'most' of them (not like those 'irresponsible' owners who don't pick up any at all).

I don't think dogs should be banned, but no amount of people telling me it's only a few irresponsible owners, cats are just as bad (and cat poo is a nightmare in my garden so I already know that thanks), kids are just as bad etc. is going to make me stop wishing there were about a tenth as many urban dogs as there are. And dog owners calling people with very reasonable complaints about dogs 'stupid' and 'simple' is frankly just adding insult to injury.

They should be re-homed if possible and PTS if not. Sorry to be unsentimental about it but if a dog owner is so irresponsible that they would flout the law on their pet then I don't think they're in a position to treat their dog properly and keeping dogs in overcrowded kennels indefinitely is just xx

I haven't said that my dog runs up to people and is friendly - he is, but he doesn't.

Generally, he isn't off the lead except in the doggie area of the park. Or at the forest or on the beach - and on the beach means early in the morning or late at night when the beach is empty.

He has excellent recall and I wouldn't let him do that - I just wouldn't.

He's also neutered, chipped, wormed on a regular basis, has 3rd party liability insurance and pet insurance, vaccinated, licensed and has a tag on it with my mobile number on his collar.

And his poo is lifted. In cheap nappy sacks out of poundland fwiw.

How the hell do you expect me to engage with something that does not apply to me?

Only if cats can be banned too.

Well said, fedup.

"They should be re-homed if possible and PTS if not. Sorry to be unsentimental about it but if a dog owner is so irresponsible that they would flout the law on their pet then I don't think they're in a position to treat their dog properly and keeping dogs in overcrowded kennels indefinitely is just xx"

So you'd punish hundreds, if not thousands of dogs by taking their lives because the owner commits the obviously heinous crime of not having them chipped and/or licensed? Because there's no "if possible" about it. There is no possibility of finding homes for these extra impounded dogs, not even irresponsibly as pounds currently do when and if they rehome at all. A council pound doesn't homecheck a new owner, they aren't paid to do that, they just take your money and hand you the dog, so what if you beat him, keep him in the utility room or garden all his life, use her as breeding stock or he bites your child, they won't assess you or him. Even if they could rehome a fraction of your impounded dogs the chances are you could be taking him from a caring home to a nightmare situation for both him and humans.

For Christ's sakes do you know how many dogs are already euthanised each day by the councils, at your expense and mine, btw, just because they have no home to go to? (And please don't pretty it up by using twee euphemisms like "put to sleep", it isn't sleeping, it's being killed).

Obviously not, as only the cruellest, most inhumane person would suggest it otherwise. You're not a cruel, inhumane person, are you AKDM?

Because if, after reading what I've said, you stand by your words, frankly you're talking out of your bottom on a situation you clearly know nothing whatsoever about and if you had the power to carry out your idea you would be a danger to society.

And dog owners calling people with very reasonable complaints about dogs 'stupid' and 'simple' is frankly just adding insult to injury.

The proposal of banning dogs is (in my opinion) stupid as is DNA testing dog poo!

And sorry but if dog poo is really such a big issue for you, well, I just don't know how to reply to that!! In the grand scheme of all the non-literal shit going on in the UK, dog poo is only a minor inconvenience.

Btw, you have no idea what is dog poo and fox poo because they look the bloody same! The only reason I know is because my dog has a penchant for fox poo and rolls in the gross stuff.

What fedup said.
I am actually serious about a shame campaign. It just needs to be socially completely unacceptable to let your dog shit everywhere. And that includes the woods, off the path, because, hard to believe this may be, but my 5 year old does not walk sedately on the path in the woods. He goes and climbs trees, and the result of that ends up in my house.
Also, as far as I can see, this is not a dogs versus cats debate, so making it one is a bit daft.
Obviously it is not the dogs fault-it is the dog owners. Lets get them chipped and have done with it.

I think there is a valid argument for a cull of dogs belonging to people who allow them to be an anti-social menace.

Either the threat of losing the dog will inspire people to become responsible owners, or we have to figure out a way of eliminating irresponsible dog ownership.

You can't honestly be suggesting that we should just accept living in a dog-shit smeared world surrounded by dogs that are not under control?

There need to be serious disincentives to being a selfish twat with a dog.

You would kill a dog because it's owner doesn't pick up poo? How lovely!

So what about the fox shit and badger shit in the forest then?

Coz dog shit and fox shit look pretty alike.

i think prosecuting breeders that sell unmicrochipped dogs would be the correct way to go about it.

i also think commercial breeding of dogs should not be legal.

Well, ideally I would kill the owner, but, crazy as it sounds,that's illegal crashdoll.

Hereigo - when I walk my parents dog (he's a 1 year old newf) I always keep him on his lead even in the park. If we pass a person regardless of age & he starts sniffing & licking them & they don't like it I ALWAYS pull him to the side, make him sit & let the person or people carry on walking their merry way.

I repeat what others have said: depends on the owner & now YOU are being unreasonable & definately over exaggerating by saying dog owners never pull their dog away from your child.

I think there's a valid argument for a cull of people who are an antisocial menace. It's not acceptable to live in a litter-strewn world surrounded by humans who aren't under control. Fortunately, where people are concerned we live in a civilised society where human life is valued more than that, though going on some of the outrageous and offensive suggestions here I haven't a clue how we manage that state of relative civilisation.

Thank your lucky stars that neither I nor the OP are prime minister.

Surely watching where you put your feet is a good thing, regardless of if there is dog pooh there or not. You could walk on a rake or slip on a banana skin or fall down a man hole. I honestly can't remember the last time I trod in dog pooh - where the hell do you live where this is a regular occurrence? In my experience most kids love dogs. Kids are normally naturally pretty fearless until we dump our own crap on them.

Under your logic you should also stop people having kids, cars, relationships and pretty much everything because not everyone does it very well. Having a license has hardly stopped tossers owning cars so not sure it will cut the mustard with dogs. YABVVU and a bit daft.

good post fedup

I'm a total weirdo, but I consider human life to be more important than the life of dogs.

So no, I don't think there is an argument for culling humans.

"Surely watching where you put your feet is a good thing, regardless of if there is dog pooh there or not."

Do you walk around permanently looking at the ground?

Because most humans don't, and nor do we want to.

I and my children should be able to use public pavements and parks without having to watch constantly in case we get covered in shit.

It is absolutely not acceptable to expect people to put up with public spaces being covered in filthy, germ-ridden excrement that gets onto their shoes and into their houses. It's absolutely vile.

People who are caught leaving dog shit around should have their dogs immediately removed and be banned from ever owning a dog again.

If you are the kind of person who thinks it's OK for their to be shit all over the place, you are not the kind of person who can be trusted to own a dog.

Taking dogs off irresponsible owners is the only way to make sure there are no irresponsible owners.

Since these irresponsible owners are apparently a tiny minority, this shouldn't cause too much of a problem.

But the OP said the keeping of dogs for domestic purposes should be banned.

Yes, that was quite some time ago.

The conversation has moved on a bit.

Oh no, your precious babies might have to wipe their feet!