Farmers dogs on public footpath

[Cuppateeee]

Just been on a lovely walk in the countryside, only to be spoiled by a shouty farmer. Need a different perspective on it otherwise it will just wind me up. Will include picture.

Walking with my dog on a lead through a field, staying on the public footpath when I see two border collies barking in the distance. I stay where I am to look for a farmer to check if they are aggressive or not, no one in sight, they are staying where they are but still barking and in the way of where I need to walk, so I went back and walked down the other side of the fence.

I get to the bottom and see the dogs have gone, also notice the gate was open so they could have got to me anyway, never mind I’m there now and go over the stile back onto the public footpath.

Only then I notice the dogs have come back, so again I check to see if I can see the farmer because whilst they weren’t growling they were barking which is intimidating enough.

At this point there is a fence between us so not a problem but I check to see where the public footpath leads and you’re supposed to join the farm track but their gate is open. The dogs are following me and my dog down the fence, still barking, so I decided to walk away from them not wanting to risk what would happen when we reach the open gate. I am at this point on the farmers field.

After a few steps a farmer comes running shouting for my attention, I stop and see what he wants. He said ‘the footpath doesn’t go along there, you’re damaging the crops’. So he was clearly watching me, and would have been able to see that I was uncomfortable with his dogs around.

There is snow on the field so I wasn’t sure what I was walking on but either way I said, sorry I appreciate that but your dogs were being aggressive towards me and my dog so I felt I had no choice.

He kept repeating that if I can’t stick to the path then I shouldn’t go on the walk, which in normal circumstances I totally agree with, but in this case I felt it best, to protect me and my dog.

He insists his dogs are not aggressive, they are with him at this point, still barking but I admit not growling or coming closer, just staying with him, but I said again that I was not to know this and didn’t want to risk anything happening to my dogs.

In the end I walked away because he clearly could not see my point of view.

So was IBU waking on his land or was he. And if he was is there anything I can do to stop if happening to someone else. Sorry for the long post, thanks for reading.

What happened after the police took a statement Greensleves?

@OP YWBU and YABU to be angry with the farmer.

Farmers and landowners DO know that public footpaths are just that - public. But if you feel intimidated by other dogs then perhaps it would be a good idea to stick to areas where all dogs will be on a lead, and not loose like working dogs tend to be. Landowners aren’t under obligation to ensure the path’s route is unencumbered by dogs/livestock/horses, you have the right to travel along it and that is all. If you don’t like that, don’t use the path.

Maybe the farmer was wrong to be angry, maybe you were the 17th person today that he’s caught straying from the footpath and you copped the full force of his ire. I’ve certainly shouted at people who’ve strayed off footpaths, especially with dogs and especially when they’ve tried to excuse their behaviour (my particular favourite was the idiot who opened gates AND LEFT THEM OPEN so she could go round the stile and not get her white trainers dirty). With respect, you don’t seem to understand what damage you can do.

You shouldn’t need a sign to remind you of the Countryside Code.

The farmer was visited by the police, told he was breaking the law and warned. I then received a follow-up call from the police saying the incident would remain on record and if we had a similar experience, to report it immediately and it would be taken further.

I'm sure I've read an almost identical thread with a shouty farmer. I have only one thing to say: sheep worrying. Seeing my sheep with horrible injuries tends to make me less than sympathetic to your plight, OP.
According to your diagram the footpath goes right past the farmhouse.
That would irritate the hell out of me.

I feel very sorry for farmers having to allow the general public into their land.

spanieleyes I would do the same tbh. Their livelihoods are hard enough to sustain without joe bloggs trampling all over it.

Oh ok Greensleeves.

And what colour was the bull?

Ahh francis you've given my game away

Why do you want to know what colour the bull was?

Obviously I can't prove I'm not making the whole thing up. I don't feel inclined to play silly games with you.

Farmers aren't above the law. Even the ones who think they should be.

Because if a bull attacked me in a manner I felt required a police statement I'm pretty sure I would remember what it looked like.

Farmers are allowed to keep bulls in fields with a footpath providing they aren't a dairy breed. No offence to bobbys but I can't see the average bobby being able to tell a dairy breed from a beef breed.

So I call bullshit (deliberate pun)

not everyone is used to being around farm animals

Then don't walk where you will encounter them.

I'd be pretty pissed off if someone decided to take a walk across my garden.

That said, I have walked round the very edge of a field before when the path should be across it but it was full of a crop with no visible path.

I remember exactly what it looked like

I imagine Devon and Cornwall Constabulary would have a better chance of getting to the bottom of the legality of the situation than I had, though, which they clearly did.

I imagine the fact that the bull was aggressive towards us had some bearing on their decision to follow it up.

Righto

But the bull didn't actually hurt you, correct?

No, it didn't. DH grabbed up our 2yo and we bolted for the gate.

Does that make it acceptable, in your world?

You're doing a fine job of demonstrating why farmers have a reputation for being selfish anti-social arseholes.

[sigh]

Look if the bull wanted to hurt you, it would have done. No offence to your DP but bulls are fast. I'm sorry (genuinely) that you were scared but as many farmers who have been mauled by their own cattle (in far greater numbers than members of the general public) will tell you, if an animal wants to hurt you it will.

We farm in an area with high levels of tourism. Most of our income comes from farming based tourism rather than farming. We are nice people, we have a.m.a.z.i.n.g reviews from our visitors and we make people feel welcome on our farm, and we keep safe, nice livestock and have many rights if way running through our land.

90% of people give us the same respect back that we give them. The other 10% are absolute numpties who give the British public a bad name.

The countryside is a working environment. That might be inconvenient for some people to understand, but for now it's the way it is.

I grew up in a rural area, on farming land. Most farmers understand the rights the public have to use footpaths. But just about every farmer I've met who has a path across their land, has had problems with litter, dog shit, anti-social behaviour and out of control dogs worrying or attacking livestock. In almost every case the people responsible for this type of behaviour are completely oblivious to the fact that they have a responsibility to be responsible - rather than tromping round treating the paths like they own them.

I have every sympathy with the guy who ended up putting palisade fencing on his path - here It's all very well and good campaigning to "raise awareness" but it does fuck all to solve the problem - which is inherent laziness from people who genuinely don't think they should have to pick up after their dogs.

And the farmer who lost a load of sheep after someone's dog attacked several pregnant ewes who went into premature labour and died. The people walking it were filming the dog - yes really! - and thought it was all great larks because the dog was 'playing'

[sigh]

You're really not in a position to make that pronouncement, as you have no idea of the distances involved between us, the bull and the gate. Bulls are fast, but they can't teleport. Happily.

And i'm sure all the farmers who use padlocks, vicious dogs and other stupid and illegal means of deliberately blocking off public footpaths are jolly nice people, just like you. Not selfish cunts who think they're exempt from the law, at all.

I cannot believe the outrage and sense of entitlement in that article from those environment campaigners! How dare a man protect his own land from dog shit and litter

I wonder if the farmer is trying to discourage use of the public footpath to get its use removed??? It wouldn't have harmed the farmer, on hearing his dogs bark, to come out and check rather than wait. What if the dogs were trying to warn him of something?

It wouldn't have harmed the farmer, on hearing his dogs bark, to come out and check rather than wait. What if the dogs were trying to warn him of something?

He probably did check, saw that there was no risk to his home or land and went back to work.

Why do you want to know what colour the bull was? Cos then some of us could tell you exactly the type of bull it was.

@minisoksmakehardwork

The farmer was trying to get OP to use the footpath, not stopping her using it in the first place.

I wouldn't go into a field with any type of bull on my own never mind with a two year old.