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?

Yanbu.
She has a phobia of dogs, so she should either avoid them or get help for it.
If your dog was misbehaving/approaching people/barking, I would say yabu to have him off the lead and she would have had every right to have told you to put him on he lead.
But if the situation was exactly as you describe, she has no right to tell you that you can’t keep your dog off the lead. The dog wasn’t bothering her, so it is her with the problem.

And to add, I thought you were referring to cat-related deaths and injuries because you introduced the anecdotes about cats scratching people (which isn't great but is hardly a significant public menace).

By your logic one can insist that you keep your DH indoors because for all we know, he might be a rapist or he might attack someone when they're walking. And we have a RIGHT to walk where we want without fear.
You have an extreme and irrational perspective.
In fact I think you're a troll so I'm not going to feed you any more.*

Another comparison of dogs with people 🤦‍♀️

You are plainly a fool so I think I’ll ignore you.

Disease is almost always more significant than injury on the pyramid of public health risks , so animals that roam around pooing and urinating in urban areas without ever being restrained or controlled are a greater risk to public health! It’s just that dog bites make the front pages. Just saying.

LastOneDancing
Did you not read what was actually said? The dog was nowhere near her

The biggest public health risk from cats is indeed the spread of toxoplasis, which does affect about 350,000 people in the UK per year. 80% of people will be symptomless, and it's hard to know how many people get them from their own pet, rather than as a result of cats pooping or peeing outdoors, or another animal altogether.

For the remaining 20% of people, symptoms are usually mild and don't require treatment, but there is a risk of complications to those with weak immune systems and unborn babies where the mother is exposed.

If people want to clamp down on that by requiring cats to be kept indoors, I think that's probably a tad disproportionate but not the worst thing. It would be good for wildlife too.

Even then, if someone caught toxoplasis, I don't know how they would go about proving they got it from a particular cat, in order to make a personal injury claim, so I don't think the insurance component that I think should accompany dog licenses would be of any meaningful benefit.

Ruffina you’re so right it’s foolish to compare dogs with humans. Dogs are clearly much support in every way😁. Would you like a stroke of my dog (on a lead of course) it really is very calming!

@Ruffina, the major animal menace is Homo sapiens.

Dogs are saving the NHS hundred of thousands of pounds every day.

It's proven that they help reduce high blood pressure and stress, they help with depression and weight management.

We ought to be grateful for that.

hundreds

Interestingly nearly twice as many people were killed by cows in the uk than dogs in the first 15 years of the 21st century. But you don’t see such frankly hysterical outbursts about cows

And cows shit a lot more than dogs. And emit methane gas which causes global warming.

I demand the bastards banned and shot or at least shackled at all time and their bums plugged.

@Grrrrrrt No, I only mentioned cats scratching as a reference to personal experience, if your argument though is that you've been bitten unprovoked twice by dogs this past year then surely I can say cats are vicious due to my own experiences also? I'm not however and my post about cats shitting everywhere and cat owners not being responsible for this wasn't in relation to anything you said, I was pointing out what I had said.
I agree with a dog license but 1000 a year is ridiculous, I agree dog insurance at least 3rd party should be a legal requirement. Entirely disagree that dogs are the no.1 public menace and that they should all be on a leash because some people don't like them.

I would be in favour of compulsory insurance and a licence, I think this would send a message to people that taking on a dog is an important responsibility and not something that you just do on a whim.
It's just about as easy to get a dog as it is to get a goldfish and this gives people the impression that a dog is an easy and trivial thing to have as part of your household
it is not!
A dog is a massive commitment, to give it a good quality of life you need to devote time and money to it.
However my worry would be that it would be difficult to enforce and it would encourage the bad dog owners to hide dogs to avoid detection?

Dog food companies would of course oppose any legislation because it would mean fewer people would have dogs and their prophets would drop
so dog food companies and anyone else who stands to make a profit from dogs are actually working against the welfare of dogs 😔
Which is a shame because most almost all dog owners love their pets and want them to be happy

Yabu..we had a rottie and friendly as he'll but even the cops told us to put lead on it and that's understandable..
Never think that your animal can't switch cause my sis in law's rottie ripped my sons chest and according to her he was the friendliest dog ever..had to be put down that night by vets...and the mad hung was she left her other sis in laws new baby tell week before in room with same dog..luckily the hospital took great care of my d's.
Everyone has a right to walk around a park and by right I do agreen you should have a dog on a lead in public..just because we like pets don't mean everyone else should...you don't know if an incident happened in past regarding a dog...

Sorry for mistakes in pp...auto filling in lol