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

[TickTockTick21]

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 .

@Fridacaninelo

Yet apparently it’s unthinkable that the dog owner may have really not realised or seen the signs, and make a mistake.

If you need a sign to tell you you should keep your dog on a lead on a crowded path then you're a moron who shouldn't own a dog.

Quite!

I wonder whether we will ever reach ‘peak dog’: the point at which we think what on earth are we doing pretending that it’s OK to allow these potentially dangerous animals free reign in our homes and public spaces.

I have heard dog owners in cities saying they "have" to have their dogs off lead in busy public spaces because otherwise there would be nowhere else to have them off lead.

The solution to that is not to have a dog in a city.

@MaizeBlouse

I agree OP. The amount of dog shit on the pavements in my area is unbelievable. I have to play dodge the poo on the school run every morning. Then there's the owners who let their off lead dogs run through your picnic and give you a look as if you're to blame! I don't have a dog but it would annoying me so much that the minority can give the majority a bad name.

I absolutely hate dog owners letting their dogs come right up to my picnic or coffee and cake stop, they always say 'oh don't worry he's very friendly!' with a tinkly laugh and all the time the damn dog is slobbering on my things. Had one actually take a biscuit the other day, owner didn't even care. I'm not going to put my hand near a strange dog to stop it, I'm actually quite scared of them. I know full well any dog has the potential to snap just like that. If they can't be trusted to walk right at their owners side and not react to a tasty scent (ie no dog ever) they should be on the lead, on the street, on the beach, in the countryside, on the public footpaths or National Trust trails, anywhere except your own private land or one of these designated enclosed fields.

I think people are blind about their dogs' potential to snap like parents are about their children's ability to be bullies.

Dog attacks are rare.

How are we defining "rare"? Fatal attacks on adults, yes fairly rare. Dogs killing babies and children? Actually not that rare, google it. Dogs knocking over/biting/scratching children? It's happened twice to DS, once in a wood (no owner in sight, dog just running free around the wood), and once in a supposedly dog-free playground, just in the past two days. I can't even begin to count how many times it's happened to him over the past three years. Dogs "playfully" chasing and biting cyclists and runners? Again, happens to hundreds of people every single day. Dogs mauling livestock? I dare you to tell our local sheep farmers that that is "rare". Dogs killing ducks, squirrels etc? Also not even remotely rare. And the owners think it is fucking hilarious.

@Changechangychange

Dog attacks are rare.

How are we defining "rare"? Fatal attacks on adults, yes fairly rare. Dogs killing babies and children? Actually not that rare, google it. Dogs knocking over/biting/scratching children? It's happened twice to DS, once in a wood (no owner in sight, dog just running free around the wood), and once in a supposedly dog-free playground, just in the past two days. I can't even begin to count how many times it's happened to him over the past three years. Dogs "playfully" chasing and biting cyclists and runners? Again, happens to hundreds of people every single day. Dogs mauling livestock? I dare you to tell our local sheep farmers that that is "rare". Dogs killing ducks, squirrels etc? Also not even remotely rare. And the owners think it is fucking hilarious.

And yet as a percentage out of the 10million dogs in the U.K., it’s a very very small number involved in those incidents.

Literally millions of dogs are walked off lead every day and never interfere with anyone else.

Literally millions of dogs are walked off lead every day and never interfere with anyone else

You must live in an area with impeccably trained dogs then because not a day goes by in my local park where I don't see multiple dogs chasing squirrels, chasing nesting birds, jumping up at joggers or cyclists, stealing food, bounding up to people apropos of nothing or running miles away from owner ignoring requests to return.

If your dog does those things, any of them, it should be leashed. And I maintain there is no reason, absolutely none, for ANY dog to be unleashed in a busy area.

Yes! I'm so sick of other dogs off lead harassing mine who is always on a lead, while the owner make a half arsed attempt to call it back then laughs and tells me it will not do any harm, while my dog is clearly distressed. If your dog doesn't come back to you straight away when called then don't have it off the lead in a public space.

I let my dog be off lead in our large country park but despite being off lead he’s under control. Occasionally he’ll be a bit stubborn but the first sign of that and he’s on the long lead. We came across an injured calf in the field last week and while we were calling the land owner and waited for the farmer dpup laid down watching a few metres away. He seemed concerned or fascinated. I would trust him not to maul a seal but I know his temperament. On the flip side, at 6 months old he was pinned by a husky whose owner shouted “you need to keep your dog away as he’s viscous with puppies!” Er no you need to keep your dog on a lead you! Dh was furious and came home with scratches and bite marks as he was the one walking pup and has to remove husky from dpup. Dpup now sensibly chooses his playmates but always avoids huskies

The dog owner who assures you that their dog is fine, wouldn't hurt a fly etc is the one to be really cautious of. I've been brought up with dogs all my life and no one can trust their dog 100 percent.
That dog has been let down by its owner, the seal pup has paid with it's life and onlookers will be traumatized.
My local council provides dog parks where the fencing is sufficient to keep dogs in.Many of the won't hurt a fly owners have caused issues but it seems successful. Do we know how many dogs there are now, councils need to do some sort of scoping exercise to see how we can deal with competing demands of parents, dog walkers etc.

I find your post embarrassing @ArcherDog

Like oh these are isolated incidents on disgruntled individuals and not a general problem when the thread is FILLED with posts from people who have encountered nuisance behaviour not because of DOGS but because of selfish OWNERS

And yet here you are "not me, and not my dogs"

Yes you and yes your dogs

People who think its not them and not their dogs are usually the worst offenders and have replaced Morning in their vocabulary with He's Just Being Friendly

Guess what? I'm not obliged to take your word for that. And I don't care. Presume no one wants to be bothered with your dog except you and act accordingly.

I've been brought up with dogs all my life and no one can trust their dog 100 percent

Exactly this.

Likewise I was brought up with dogs and had one till quite recently and I loved her to bits, she was the loveliest, softest thing ever, who never hurt a fly. But would I ever leave her alone with a child? Or let her walk off lead near wildlife? Nope. Never. Because she was a dog, and the best of them can be unpredictable, and it’s just not worth taking the chance.

[quote ArcherDog]@Wolfiefan Dog owners will never win.

Because ValleyClouds has had a dog chase her wheelchair, and because Mummywantsaweewee had a dog jump up and scratch her once whilst pregnant, our completely unrelated dogs have to be penalised and restricted [/quote]
In fact the more I think about it the sniping, childish stroppiness, and lack of empathy for others in this post is quite astonishing actually.

Hiding the thread as I don't engage with unpleasantness on MN anymore I haven't got the headspace for it.

@ArcherDog there are 250000 attendances at A&E each year in the UK, with dog bites. You are seriously saying that that is a tiny, insignificant number of people, hardly worth bothering about? Take your fucking blinkers off.

and lack of empathy for others

Too MUCH empathy for her dogs (to the point of blindness), but too little for anybody or anything else.

This made me so sad, the pictures are horrible.

I was bitten by an off the lead dog a few years ago. It jumped up at me as I passed by on my bike, sunk its teeth into my leg and knocked me off my bike. It could have been worse though as I was with one of my sons who was quite young. If the dog had got him it could have been a lot worse.
The owner came running over, but not to apologise or help me but to yell at me. Apparently it was my fault as the dog is scared of bikes. I was too shocked to reply but what I wanted to say was " Well why the fuck are you letting him roam free on a cycle path then you stupid bitch?!
I don't blame the animal - it was, as is usually the case, the owner's fault

@HikeForward

I’d like a law passed that any dog owner must pay high licensing fees, micro chipping, always keep dog on a leash unless on private land or if the dog has passed extensive training to prove it is safe off lead.

Parks, beaches, fields and woods are being ruined by dogs off leash.

I think the law should ban all bull breeds too as it’s impossible to distinguish a pitbull cross (banned) from a staffie cross (not banned but often dog aggressive). Bull breeds were bred for bear baiting, bull fighting and then dog fighting (which still goes on even though it’s illegal).

Dangerous dogs need a special licence like firearms. And police need greater power to seize and destroy suspected pitbull crosses, along with other banned breeds and their lookalikes!

This would only punish people who do the right thing. Those rules would never be properly enforced, and the idiots would just keep on doing what they do.

@Hohofortherobbers

This is so sad, I hope they prosecute the owner and the dog is pts.

It's not the dog's fault it wasn't under control! And no, hunting behaviours don't mean it would be aggresive to humans. You don't put a cat to sleep for hunting.

I have had a very heated debate about this on social media tonight. For all we know, the owner of this dog is horrified and very upset. Given we don’t know the circs, perhaps we should just hang on a minute before rushing to judgement. It was a horrible, terrible incident that I wish had never happened.

No dogs should be out of control in a public place, especially a crowded city like London. Even if the dog was on a lead and broke it, it just shows that the owner was not in control of their dog. If a dog is powerful enough to break away from its owner's control, they should not be in a public place, especially if it's one that doesn't respond to commands.

There are just so many dogs everywhere now. I'm sure a majority of owners are responsible, but with all those dogs around that still leaves a large number who are not. The "just being friendly" brigade are the worst. I've had my toddler DC knocked down by a "friendly" dog, my legs scratched where a "friendly" dog jumped up at me and my winter coat marked with muddy paws thanks to a "friendly" dog. All while walking along public footpaths. Don't even get me started on the dog poo everywhere. I remember as a child you had to watch where you walked so carefully because of dog mess. Then the public message went out and owners started to clear up after their dogs and the mess was virtually eradicated. Now it's all over the place again.

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).

Poor seal I've avoided the pictures as I know it will upset me.

If you know your dog is likely to be aggressive towards wildlife/farm animals etc, why don't you muzzle it? I can accept it may have broken free rather than being off lead, but at least it wouldn't be able to cause the injuries it did.

I struggle with dogs- I'm just not overly confident with them, though don't dislike them. Once I know they're unlikely to hurt me then I'm ok, and can trust my friends' dogs etc.

But an unknown, loose dog that doesn't respect my personal space frightens me, and the cry of 'don't worry, he's friendly!' doesn't help that.

Pretty much all of it is on the owner, generally people who take the time to train their dog and know it's quirks are the ones that cause no issue when off lead in appropriate areas. So I do feel bad that they get tarred with the same brush as the feckless ones who have no actual control over their pet and let them run riot.

Oh how upsetting. There are too many dogs and I say that as a dog owner,