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?

YABU.

But if it makes you feel any better about dogs in general, they're almost certainly not solely responsible for all the shit around. Foxes and cats do their bit.

You could also suggest to your council that dogs be banned from part of one of the parks, or that they instigate a rule that dogs must be on leads. Won't totally solve the shit problem though - see above.
I've seen dog-free areas in a few parks, it benefits all really as it removes dogs from the risk of being kicked by a child on a swing, takes dogs away from potentially scared children, means dogs & kids are not fighting over the same football etc.

Not unworkable? It is when councils (claim they) haven't enough funds to provide one dog warden at all, 5Foot5! Particularly when any funding which is ostensibly to cover changes in dog laws and therefore dog warden responsibility is not ringfenced, as has been the case in recent years.

YABU and I can't be bothered to argue with you either.

5Foot 5, also I'm not just talking of dog warden salaries. Add to that a number of vehicles, one for each warden. An additional mobile phone contract, holiday cover, whatever, you're talking waaaay more than your estimate of £45K per warden. And then the cost of incarcerating the dog of a non license payer, as suggested by the OP. Do you know what that costs the average council per day? Because I do.

Then add the court costs, police time - because sure, there will be police involvement in some of these cases, if I, for example, didn't have a license because I'd gotten the wrong replacement date or been ill when I should have been at the PO buying it you'd sure as hell need the police to come and forcibly tear my dog away from me.

It. Just. Isn't. Workable.

Also, the duty of proof will be on the councils to prove the dog is a domestic animal, unless you intend to make it a strict liability offence (good luck with that).

Shut up, you are being VVV unreasonable and you know it!
I think some people should be banned from having children but there's even more freedom for any idiot to do that!

What is the answer?

Because the problems the OP raises in her original post are indeed problems, not just of quality of life for residents but quality of life for many dogs.

I hate it that some utter shits are allowed to breed and own dogs.

the problem is irresponsible humans in all of the problems re mess mentioned..

There is very little we can realistically do to change it AKMD...... desspite education and the awareness of the problems of dog fouling for example some people just do not pick it up ! We already have human littering laws to deal with both the human and dog waste but not enough money or people to enforce these laws.

Councils are not going to spend money on setting up any more departments to deal with it ( the money from any fines would not start to filter in till way down the line and there is no guarantee that there will ne enough people caught and fined to cover the costs) . You have to emply people to set up a licencing system before there is any income to cover the cost of wages /systems.

Councils cant start this at a time when services for vulnerable people are being cut drastically for example.

Who should / would take the responsibility for this.

We have similar issues with registering horses... a few years ago legislation came in that msde it compulsory that horse should have passports. Its chaos to put it milldy.

All sorts organisations issuing passports ......and as for the identity supposted to be foolproof because theres a diagram / description of the horse on it .......in many cases thats laughable.

Many horses are aready freezemarked ( kinda like a white tattoo) with unique numners as well as tattoos... but its till possible to get round that re linking passports / identity.

Even with microchips owner identity is not always ironcast.... horses have been abandoned ( large problem with that in current economic climate) and if owner traces though microchipped they can just say horse was sold on / taken to market.

Many horses in this country still dont have passports... . until the owner tries to sell it or compete with it, have it vaccinated or have it pts its unlikley anyone will ever check / find out.

So I dont have that much faith in a licencing system being as effective as we would love it to be evn if it was able to be set up.

Like both I and squirted have said, in Northern Ireland we have compulsory licences and micro-chipping and there really isn't a massive dog fouling problem.

I hate it that some utter shits are allowed to breed and have children.

There must be some initiatives that work, re anti-dog fouling?

My main issue, having a connection with a dog rescue, is the sheer number of abandoned Staffies now heading for extermination.

Fair point, fuckarama.

Sorry I maybe sounded sharper than I meant to - but an utter shit is an utter shit, just because it's about dogs doesn't mean that the problem is with the dog, the problem is with the utter shit.

fuckerama (I do love that name btw!), I wouldn't be so sure about the burden of proof being upon the council in the wholly unlikely event that such laws were passed, not if the DDA is anything to go by.

YANBU but I'd actually rather ban cats as domestic pets. At least with dogs there is an expectation that owners will take responsibility for them. Stray dogs are reported and (someimes) picked up. It is an offence not to clear up after a dog, even if not everyone adheres to it. It is expected that dogs are kept on leads when in busy areas etc. If a dog attacks a child, person or another animal it is destroyed. Cats, on the other hand, seem to be the pet that you can have and forget all about unless they need feeding. They rip into food bins, they s all over my garden, they kill and destroy the birds nesting in my garden. The average response to which is "it's only natural". Well, it might be "only natural" but there's no reason why you can't train them to s in your own garden!

Just for you OP

Haven't read the thread yet but I am sure that most posters said you were being unreasonable.

But, I think YANBU. I too have a lovely park near my house that would be ideal for picnics, football, children's games etc but it is rendered a no-go area as it is basically a big dog toilet. Yes, some dog-owners pick up mess, but a lot don't.

I think dogs should not be allowed in public green spaces at all or have a section fenced off for their use.

You sound a right little ray of sunshine..

Graham - that's sadly all too true about the DDA

I agree fuckerama (also likes top name!)

Much like spitting, when I am elected Queen of the World, the punishment for leaving dog poo in the street will be being forced to clean it up with your best jumper.

The road from my house to the nearby park is always covered with little piles of poo, which are nearly impossible to avoid with a pram/pushcahir. So then it's on the wheels, and it gets accidentaly track through the house etc. Blurgh. Is vile.

Saying that, I do really want a dog. My cat hates me and sits sulkily on the bean bag, refusing to look at us. I fear that getting a dog would just make him hate me even more though.

YOu can be Queen of the World. In my world. IYSWIM.

I live opposite a park too. In a fairly rough area (we have squatters living a few doors up, no-one seems to care) Yet, I have to say our park is not swimming in shit. Most dog owners do pick up. The council pay someone to come around and clean up litter from people which the park is covered in, especially in summer, so I say we should ban people from the park. They make far more mess than dogs do. Having to drag my terrier away from a half eaten kebab and making sure my whippet does walk through the smashed beer bottle or rusty coke tin is not my idea of a relaxing walk.

Children should be banned to. They literally hurl themselves at my whippet and as if that is not bad enough they talk to me

Their parents should train them better. All children should be taught not to speak to strangers who have headphones in and are quietly ignoring their very existance, even if they do have a funny dog, because chances are they have took the funny dog out to escape their own children. They have no wish to entertain or educate other people's children.

Or I could continue to tolerate over excited children and their ill mannered, littering parents and the dogs haters can learn to tolerate me and my trained and controlled mutts.

Oh and if you could go for my dog with a big stick, I'd be much a obliged. It would save me having to drag him round the house hanging off of the end of a rope, you see. T'is his favourite game, and being that he is a dog, he has lightening fast reactions. He'd be hanging off the end of your stick, having a whale of time before you could yell "Call the dog warden"

These threads make me wonder where in the hell most of y'all live. Must be dire if it's worse than here. Do you have squatters too? Ours are quite boring, they tend to keep to themselves.

I have a whole list of punishments for annoying crimes. No actual policies for anything to do with running the world, but it would be lovely and clean with no spit or poo anywhere.

Most of the stray kebabs round here get eaten almost immediately by huge loud swooping seagulls.