To be so sick of selfish dog owners...The seal pup in London

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It’s in the news that a seal pup has been mauled by an off lead dog. The seal pup now is likely to be put down.

Recent story of an off lead husky attacking lambs and sheep . A few months ago an off lead dog mauled a deer which had to be destroyed.

Numerous stories of swans being mauled by off lead dogs. On top of the numerous stories of children being attacked by off lead dogs.

Ffs why are people so bloody stupid and selfish! Keep your dog on a lead near wildlife!

I feel so sad for the seal pup . AIBU to think laws need to be tightened around off lead dogs?

I say this as a dog lover and owner .

@PandoraP

I haven’t seen Twitter but I think it’s good that she is being publicly shamed. Might make other dog owners think twice about letting their dogs run riot.

Really? The lady in question has expressed how devastated she is about the whole thing. She has also made a donation to the wildlife hospital that treated the seal. What do you want her to do? Self flagellate herself at the scene, and sacrifice her dog? Trial by Twitter, FB, or even the media is a terrible thing to encourage. People have committed suicide over it.

@XenoBitch

I think the dog in question in this scenario should always be muzzled in public and I would tend to think if there is a second case it should be euthanised.

Why euthanised? That is very extreme. It mauled a seal, not a person. I guess I should have my greyhound put to sleep then as she has managed to kill 2 squirrels in her 10 years. And what about cats who kill birds and mice?

This story is sad, but dogs manage to kill wildlife all the time. They have a natural instinct, and sheep, rabbits, a baby seal... they are prey animals. If this dog had caught a rat, it would not be news worthy because rats are vermin and are not cute. A baby seal tugs at the heartstrings.

Exactly.

It's not like the woman was walking the dog through a field of sheep and it attacked one. I'm sure she never expected him to spot a seal in the middle of London, it's just such an unfortunate incident.

because of the ferocity of the attack and the fact that it couldn't be brought back under control

This. The dog attacked a sizable animal to such an extent that animal had to be euthanised. This wasn't a nip-and-run-away situation, but a savage attack - the dog even apparently bit one of the rescuers who tried to drag it off the seal.

As awful as it is, the dog should be put down.

I'm sure she never expected him to spot a seal in the middle of London

The seal is a local celebrity. If she's walking her dog along the riverside, she'd have heard of the seal.

And too many dog owners do get away with their dogs attacking sheep.

Really? The lady in question has expressed how devastated she is about the whole thing. She has also made a donation to the wildlife hospital that treated the seal.
What do you want her to do? Self flagellate herself at the scene, and sacrifice her dog?
Trial by Twitter, FB, or even the media is a terrible thing to encourage. People have committed suicide over it

The problem is her attitude highlights an entitlement which is becoming more and more prevalent in society. She is clearly the type of person who does what she wants, when she wants and people are sick of attitudes like that. Even in the photographs taken at the scene, she looks very unbothered. If that was my doing that I would be beside myself and doing all I could, not leaving it to strangers to sort out.

So yeah, she apologised but the point is that she should have prevented the incident in the first place. Entitlement stinks.

It's disgusting. I love dogs but I think in this day and age it should already be illegal to have your dog off a lead unless in a dog park.

This will be something people will look back on like smoking on trains, it will seem very archaic in our lifetimes.

If there was a petition to support banning dogs off leads in the wake of this I would support it in a heartbeat.

Dogs can still be exercised on leads.

My dog not my doing

@givemesteel not all breeds. Not adequately.
And we don’t have “dogs parks” in most areas of the U.K.

I do think dog parks would be a great idea, though - one bit of the park where you can sit down without sitting on dogshit, and one bit of the park where you can let your dog off the lead, confident that it won't run into traffic, and that it won't run into anyone that was expecting a dog-free space.

Unfortunately @ArcheryAnnie they can attract non trained and poorly socialised dogs.
Thankfully we are quite rural.

I know they can, Wolfie, but better them in the dog park than in the general park.

And rural has it's own problems, as farmers with sheep frightened into aborting can say. Presumably you have to keep your dog on the lead on anyone else's land?

(And I say all this as someone whop ADORES dogs.)

We use footpaths and common land. Plus a local arboretum. I avoid livestock entirely.
My worry is knee jerk reaction leading to me never being allowed to let my dogs off anywhere. They would be unutterably miserable.

@givemesteel

It's disgusting. I love dogs but I think in this day and age it should already be illegal to have your dog off a lead unless in a dog park.

This will be something people will look back on like smoking on trains, it will seem very archaic in our lifetimes.

If there was a petition to support banning dogs off leads in the wake of this I would support it in a heartbeat.

Dogs can still be exercised on leads.

Some breeds cannot be exercised properly on a lead. It would be cruel to keep some dogs on leads all the time, especially ones that have been used to being off lead

@ArcheryAnnie

I do think dog parks would be a great idea, though - one bit of the park where you can sit down without sitting on dogshit, and one bit of the park where you can let your dog off the lead, confident that it won't run into traffic, and that it won't run into anyone that was expecting a dog-free space.

Great if everyone can have local access to one. Say there isn't one close by?

LST there isn't one close by for most people. That's why I was saying they were a good idea. I think they should be a common occurance in every city, town and village.

I saw the one about the lambs. The farmer shot and killed the dog after is killed several of his livestock. The owner took the dog for a walk on private property.

My worst bug bare is dogs up the school. Parents bringing dogs in the car to the school to stand outside while the kids go in. It's stupid and pointless - no one cares that you got a lockdown puppy!
Not to mention one of the parents doesn't clean up poop - right outside the school gate! Disgusting! Some poor mum ran her pram through it.

*All dogs should be a lead in public places. Why is that a problem?

If a dog owner believes their dog has to be off leash for exercise then they should do this on private land. If they have no private land then they shouldn't have the dog in the first place

There are just too many injuries by dog attacks, even just fear of injury. Public safety comes before someones right to exercise their dog off leash*
This won't happen everywhere as we also have animal welfare acts , much land you walk on is actually private anyway and they allow dogs off lead.
Lots of places I walk mine is technically private but public right of way etc etc
Their are laws re: dogs and thats that they should be under control, there are places where a lead is suitable and there are places where off lead is ok for a dog that has good recall etc
Its not a one fits all and you would then have to bring in same rules for cats etc.
People can wish what they like but no way they will say dogs have to be on lead everywhere as dogs need exercise too incl off lead for many.
They can fence off areas on parks and on many beaches dogs are banned from certain times of year etc
There is a need for common sense to be used and an outright ban everywhere with no public areas for dogs just isn't feasible and will never happen in the uk

What's your solution, then, donewithitall? Let things carry on as they are now? Is that really adequate?

@ArcheryAnnie

What's your solution, then, donewithitall? Let things carry on as they are now? Is that really adequate?

How would you police it exactly? Stopping me letting my dog off on a field with only me on it. Who would stop me? It is against the law for people to not pick up their shit and there are fines in place for those caught, but it doesn't stop their being shit everywhere

*there

@Zevia

I really don't like dogs (I've been attacked more than once and have permanent scarring) and frankly would be happy enough to see them banned as pets.

That said, if we're talking death of wildlife, dogs are a trivial problem compared to cats (save for indoor cats obvs).

good luck with that

@Wolfiefan

We use footpaths and common land. Plus a local arboretum. I avoid livestock entirely. My worry is knee jerk reaction leading to me never being allowed to let my dogs off anywhere. They would be unutterably miserable.

Don’t worry, an on lead law will never be passed

@HowAboutAH0tCupOfShutTheHellUp it does worry me. Honestly my dogs would be better PTS than stuck on a lead for the rest of their lives.
I’ve worked bloody hard to make sure they behave. I am responsible. They are trained to stand still with attention on me when asked. They don’t bother anyone.
The hysteria here is mad.