To think if you don’t like dogs, don’t walk this route?

[YippeeKayakOtherBuckets]

I’ve just been told off, aggressively, for having my dogs off lead.

We walk to school down a woodland path that is used by literally dozens of dog walkers, I counted fifteen other dog owners just on this walk, the vast majority off lead. There is nowhere on the length of the path that can’t be easily reached by a faster route, the path runs a winding way alongside a quiet road with a wide path.

Anyway, dogs, joggers and the odd cyclist all usually use the route along with pedestrians and it’s generally accepted that you’ll meet several dogs on the way. This woman, who I’ve not seen before, got right in my face and said ‘put your dogs on a lead, I don’t like dogs’.

I’m terrible at confrontation so just apologised and moved on.

But it’s really rattled me. Am I being unreasonable? One of mine is a bouncy 4month old lab, he’s well trained and doesn’t approach people or dogs unless I let him, but he is, as I say, bouncy and large so that might be why she picked on me and not the other dozen people she must have passed.

If I see her again (and have the nerve) wibu to suggest that she walks the other way round?

The way she approached to you looks little rude. But............ I see little point when its large one.
My husband gets very uncomfortable with any animal until they are contained or restricted either mouse, dogs, cats, parrots even squirrels and hamsters, ducks, chickens.. which I feel very cute.
he will also prbablly freak out when a large one coming/passing by him.
It's not that he does not like them or does not want welfare of them.. he says he just find a mucky or soft sticky ..gummis, jelly type (dont know one word we say GIZZ-GIZZ feeling) by seeing them ..
for smaller ones he doesnt touch them because he is scared that he might hurt them .. for even newborn babies.
and for larger or some little mouse, dogs/birds(which I find cute) he is scared of .. he has a feeling like they will jump on him any time and bite.
But he does not say anything to owners ... he tries to curve his patch as far as he can to avoid them.. but if still animal come on his way when he tries to ignore them I can expect a outburst from him... that is not because he wants to be rude .. but because he is scared.

Interesting stats here:
www.pfma.org.uk/historical-pet-ownership-statistics
Disclaimer ... pet food manufacturers association data so may have bias?

All domestic animals have the legal right to:I couldn't care less what Blue Cross says, or whether you've inserted the ideas of rights yourself...animals do not have rights.

Nope 🤣 Nothing inserted. A direct quote.
www.bluecross.org.uk/pet-advice/laws-all-dog-owners-need-know
Animal Welfare Act 2006 section 9 apparently.
Sorry if you don't like or accept that.

How wrong you are, ferrier.

There is nothing in the 2006 Act that gives rights to animals. Everything quoted in the section you referred to is a duty on the owner, not a right of the animal.

The only references to rights are to rights of people to appeal against conviction for offences that involve animal welfare.

Sorry if you don't like or accept that.

Stupid emoji omitted.

Ruffina is correct, animals dont have rights, for instance it would be contradictory to allow them rights at the same time as subjecting them to factory farming.

That article is feelgood spin

Does it help if it's copied from gov.uk?

www.gov.uk/guidance/animal-welfare

Legislation
The Animal Welfare Act 2006 makes owners and keepers responsible for ensuring that the welfare needs of their animals are met. These include the need:

*for a suitable environment (place to live)
*for a suitable diet
*to exhibit normal behaviour patterns
*to be housed with, or apart from, other animals (if applicable)
*to be protected from pain, injury, suffering and disease

There's a link there to the Act itself. So no ... not feel good spin I'm afraid.
If you want to argue semantics feel free. There is an obligation to provide the animal with a certain quality of care.... therefore the animal has a right to that quality of care.

Stupid emoji omitted

I'm allowed to laugh when you suggest I've made up or inserted something when all I did was copy and paste and if you could have been bothered (which I know you wouldn't have) you would have seen that for yourself.

doesnt say animals have rights, just that humans have obligations to them
these are important distinctions
only persons have rights
animals are not persons

ferrier

I may dislike the enormous nuisance caused by dogs, but I do respect the right of anyone to speak, even in defence of shit-spreading or otherwise anti-social dogs. Which is all dogs.

Nothing you've said or linked-to shows that animals have rights.

Duties on people towards property do not create rights for the property. Like my MOT example. Dogs are no more than property.

YABVU and good for her for confronting you. I am sick and tired of dogs being off lead in public places. People have the right of way, not dogs. In your own home and garden then fine, let your dog off lead. Otherwise it needs to be controlled. How many times have I heard 'oh she's only being friendly, she won't bite'. Until one time, this 'sweet' little doggy did bite - half or my daughter''s nose off. You can be sure that it was one dead dog after that. If you must keep the smelly, hairy creatures, then understand that we do not all have the same tastes and keep your dog on a leash like it's meant to be.

YABVU and good for her for confronting you

You're free to go around shouting at people for behaving in accordance with the law and social norms, but it will make you look a bit crazy.

Everyone who is arguing that animals don't have rights..... human rights are limited too you know! Humans do not have the right to walk a public path and not encounter any off lead dogs. Humans do not have any right and or legal basis to demand any dog to be put on a lead unless it is behaving aggressively. This person who confronted the OP had no 'right' to demand what she did, and the OP has no obligation to put her dog on the lead.

Actually in 17/18 it was 1046 children under 9 admitted to hospital with dog bites. This doesn’t mean kept in necessarily. It also means A&E attendance so includes very minor bites by family pets.
Adults aged 50-59 are most likely victims and labradors are most frequent culprits.

I do think ownership of numerous dogs has increased and this does increase problems in smaller public spaces like parks. A pack of six large dogs running around would intimidate most people. .

We have a dog friendly beach and it’s always spotless. It’s popular as one of those rare places you can take your dog swimming so not clearing up wouldn’t be tolerated. Can’t say that I have ever seen a problem between families and dog owners. They play very well beside each other. There is an adjacent dog free beach but many prefer the quieter stretch with sand dunes and shallower waters.

A dog is not 'meant to be on a leash.' It's natural way of being, just like most/all animals is running free.

only persons have rights

You've not heard of animal rights then?

A dog is not meant to be in a house and eating dog food
its natural way of being is living outdoors and hunting for itself

Therefore all dog owners are violating the rights of the dog to a natural life
Dog owners are inherently immoral

You've not heard of animal rights then?
Our legal system hasn't. People (including animal rights activists) may make a philosophical argument for animal rights, but animals do not have rights in the UK. Idk about elsewhere.

Julia jaynes😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂.im so sorry but🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣. I think your comparing dogs (which
Have been domesticated for tens
If thousands of years, specifically breed to live with man, doing
Many valuable jobs) with wolves. If we are following your logic why are you living in a house not swinging from the branches of a tree after all we are all descended from apes aren’t we??? I’d love to see my miniature schnauzer hunt but beyond chasing (unsuccessfully) a few birds and squirrels in the park she prefers the home cooked food I make her😁😁🤣.

*you’re not your

I shouted at someone for having their dogs off lead yesterday.

That was after I found their dogs in my garden, having forced open the chicken run, attacking my chickens. The run is fox proof, but I guess not strong enough to withstand the weight of two large dogs. One of the hens is missing - I found a pile of her feathers . Keep searching the garden in case she got away and survived the night, but I know it's futile.

I did eventually find the owners. First they denied that it was their dogs because they hadn't let them out of their sight. Then they admitted the dogs had been off lead in the general area of my house. Then they told me it was my fault for having a garden dogs could access, although they went a bit quiet when I said the dogs had broken into the run. Zero remorse, zero sense of any responsibility.

I'm so cross. And so gutted about my lovely hen.

You've not heard of animal rights then?
Our legal system hasn't. People (including animal rights activists) may make a philosophical argument for animal rights, but animals do not have rights in the UK. Idk about elsewhere.

Sigh. Please read the thread. The law protects animals (some kinds of) ... so yes ... they do have rights. Animal Welfare Act 2006.
Let's give an example-

The Animal Welfare Act 2006 makes owners and keepers responsible for ensuring that the welfare needs of their animals are met. These include the need:
to be protected from pain, injury, suffering and disease

Therefore the animal has a right - by law in the UK - to be protected from pain, injury, suffering and disease.

Sigh. It’s been said many times on this thread...a duty on an owner is not a right possessed by the animal. Why don’t you get it?

The Animal Welfare Act 2006 does not give legal rights to animals. It does not describe legal rights for animals. It does not provide for any vindication of animal rights. Animals have no legal rights. Animals have no way of establishing their rights. Our legal systems are not designed to accommodate any rights that humans might wish animals to have.

Activists make claims about animal rights. But they have not secured any provision for legal rights. The legal responsibilities of owners do not convey rights to animals.

I believe people can be prosecuted for causing animal suffering - both wild and domesticated. Anyone, not just the owners of the animals. So that suggests to me that some animals have the intrinsic legal right to be protected from harm regardless of the status as property.