AIBU to think dogs should be banned from parks?

[Allthebiscuits]

They're everywhere, crapping, barking, smelling one another's arses and fighting. Then there are those jumpy ones trying to get a lick of a child's face before bounding off to piss up the nearest tree. Not everyone likes dogs and they spoil the park for kids. I'd love to see them allocated their own area away from the rest of the park where like minded dog owners can all hangout together picking up their pet's turds and convincing each other that "he's usually so gentle". AIBU??

I agree with you - and I love dogs. However, so many dog owners (mainly women with prams in our area....) think picking up is optional, so the park is basically a big dog shit area.
Or mandatory genetic profiling of each dog (if you can afford a dog, you can afford this), and fines in the area of a weekly salary per identified poo.

I do so look forward to this exact same thread every fucking week.

A pp pointed out that the phenomenon of having a small fenced off area for urban children surrounded by a larger green area for pet owners seems to be the wrong way around in terms of prioritisation and access to space. I agree with that.
Except it isn't a child area Vs pet area.

It's a "here is a designated fenced area with play equipment where parents and carers can be confident their child can run around and is unlikely to make a break for it into an otherwise large public space (complete with benches for parents/carers to supervise play)" and "here is the rest of the large, open, public space which is there to be enjoyed by everyone, but often has open gates onto roads and the rest of the town".

If a parent wishes to allow their primary school aged child (or younger) to play in the rest of the park and not on the play equipment, nobody is stopping them. Indeed, at my local park there's regularly families playing ball games and having picnics outside the play area. It's a lovely park where everyone manages just fine.

Crazy idea. But parks should have dog-free areas and laws re control and poo should be enforced more strictly. If your dog isn't trained to your voice, it should be on a lead. Generally I think lots of dog owners are appallingly slack about their dog's misbehaviour (and I speak as a dog owner and lover).

@marshallmathers pet owners are human. Pet ownership is a human activity.

Btw I would include cats in the conversation we need to have about pet ownership as they are also destructive to wildlife and habitats although they don't pose the same danger to humans as dogs do.

@Fuma

Well maybe if your opinion against pets is just "well they aren't good for the environment or humans", we should stop humans having children too because we aren't very good for the environment either, are we? Far too many of us.

No, we aren't very good for the environment and as I have consistently said pet ownership is part of that.

So is having more children, I take it you don't do anything that could negatively impact the environment?

Cats bad for the environment? Why because they kill birds? Like wild cats do?

I hate this human level of arrogance that assumes the world should be catered to us. We share this earth with other animals - get over it

The issue is that the dogs being talked about on here have been taken into private ownership and domesticated and trained by some humans to be 'their pet'. Therefore the pet owner has to be responsible for the behaviour of this animal they call 'theirs'. That includes being responsible for their poo and being responsible for their behaviour around other people and animals.

I recognise that most 'dog owners' do that, but those that do not cause significant problems for others (including other dog owners). The problem exists, if it didn't there wouldn't be so many threads in it or any need for dog wardens, pet rescue centres, RSPCA etc.

A well trained dog is a wonder to see, but a dog out of control of its owner is a fierce-some experience to encounter.

Dog licenses that raise enough revenue to cover the cost of dog wardens should be brought in as should compulsory training and microchipping.

Generally I think lots of dog owners are appallingly slack about their dog's misbehaviour (and I speak as a dog owner and lover)

Every dog owner I am friends with says this too. They feel they suffer for others less responsible than they are.
I recall seeing some people going round the streets of a neighbourhood spraying orange dye round dog poo. It literally highlighted the problem to everybody - it was a on kerb sides, footpaths, Park grass, school gates and outside people's driveways. It was gross.

There are around two thousand wild cats in the UK and over 11 million domestic ones. The destruction that the two groups do is not comparable and again the domestic cats are, like domestic dogs, an example of human activity.

Tbh the entire concept of pet ownership sits uneasily with me. I mean, I can understand the desire to have a mute, biddable and lifelong dependent companion, but to take this impetus to the extent of actually owning an animal, another living being ...?

You talked about species upthread. There isn't another species that does this. You don't see a wild dog with a pet lizard, or a wild elephant with a pet giraffe. It's a bit mad really when you think about it.

I'd rather kids were banned.

But Fuma my point is that we aren't the ones who domesticated them are we? What's done is done, they now exist as domesticated animals that can't just be gotten rid of. Should we kill them all?

I agree too, sorry dog owners! Our local parks have signs requesting that dogs are on leads due to wildlife in the area and it's never adhered to. My DD and I were quietly sitting by a lake the other day practising our wildlife photography....think no talking, camo on the camera lenses, hiding in bushes etc when this enormous dog came running over and launched itself into the lake, scattering the ducks, swans for miles. Our day was over, they wouldn't return.
We are also geocachers, which involved trampling off the beaten track. Last two trips have resulted in dog shit caked shoes. And the dog owners response? If they shit off the path it doesn't matter as no one walks there.
I'm not a dog person. (Pats cat that craps in a box and doesn't scare wildlife)

Just to add, I don't even own a dog!

Not banned but kept on leads. My kids and I were having a picnic on the park minding our own business. A big dog ran over, stood all over the food and licked it so had to throw away and was all over my kids. The owner said oh sorry with a big grin on his face. Fucking prick.

Our local village fete this year banned dogs even on leads. There's always been a problem with dogshit in the church grounds afterwards, but last year took the (dog) biscuit. Filthy piles of dog mess afterwards
It's very unfair to the organisers and people who accidentally stand in the bits they miss. It caused a bit of bad feeling when people were turned away, but most of them live nearby so they could just take the dogs home. It was brilliant.

I do agree that dog poo needs to be picked up by owners, so should horse poo.

Yabu and a snowflake. It's a dog get a grip..

so should horse poo

Where I live, everybody would be running out with a shovel to put it on their garden. It would be viewed as a windfall. Sort of.

I like the US system of dogs on leads apart from fenced off dog park areas.
I have a dog.

Horse poo? Seriously? Although my gran did used to rush out with a shovel after the milkman’s horse to put it on her roses. There was fierce competition.

I mean those that take their horses on roads and in the woods where people do walk, let them shit everywhere, and don't dismount to get rid of it. Nobody is entitled to ride their horse, that's a completely human thing.

They don’t need to get rid of it in woods, it nourishes the plants, ffs.