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 .

PS In the photos she is holding an intact lead with the metal clip still on the end so it seems unlikely that the leash broke.

She is wearing very distinctive clothing so I imagine has already been ID’d.

Dogs 'go for things' even if not aggressive. They ate hunters, and hunting is fun for them. Even as a dog owner i think all dogs should be on leads when in public areas, only offlead in dedicated dog areas. Your dog can exercise offlead in your garden, and if you dont have a garden, question whether you should have a dog.

Did I say that?

No

Yes, you did when you said that this dog shouldn't be pts and that a dog that attacks animals won't attack kids

Your assertion that a dog that would attack something the size of this seal wouldn't attack a child is quite frankly bollocks.

@Soubriquet

I feel sorry for the owner and I hope her dog doesn’t get put down

I mean he was on a lead and it broke. Accident

Dogs attacking animals doesn’t mean it will attack kifs

Just so your actual comments don't get lost...

My nans dog once chased a rabbit and caught it

It darted out of the bush.

Was we worried that the dog was going to start attacking children? No

Animals are different from humans

@Soubriquet

Unfortunately it’s a natural part of nature

Yes it’s upsetting that the poor seal had to go through that, but it’s animals

You can not 100% control animals

Can't be expected to control your dog

@Soubriquet

My nans dog once chased a rabbit and caught it

It darted out of the bush.

Was we worried that the dog was going to start attacking children? No

Animals are different from humans

Yes, but you were referring to the dog in the story. The one that attacked a seal that is bigger than a young child.

@Soubriquet

No argument then. Thought so.

No because I can’t be bothered to argue with dog haters

You always have the same lone

All dogs on lead and muzzled

No. It’s cruel

@Soubriquet

But letting dogs maul seals and rabbits isn't cruel it's fair game, and we should sympathise with the irresponsible owners like the women and you.

@Soubriquet

No because I can’t be bothered to argue with dog haters

You always have the same lone

All dogs on lead and muzzled

No. It’s cruel

Now you're just making shit up.

Its not being a "dog hater" to say that a dog that has mauled another animal isn't safe to be around kids ffs 🤣

I had an off lead teeny dog (I mean teeny) run up, under my horses belly and then sit behind her back hoof. Owners ambled across, no urgency at all. Hot day, loads of flies and dog was about the same size as her hoof
Didn't even get an apology. My horse stood like a rock and didn't even swish her tail at the flies, I was petrified she would kick it

@HeddaGarbled

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.

You could say the same about some humans. Where I live it's not dogs attacking the wildlife, it's the feral little shits with catapults who think it's OK to attack geese, swans, cats, basically anything smaller than themselves. The sooner they are banned from being out in public the better.

Originally I thought the owner deserved a bit of compassion if she had had the lead break as she was wearing a running harness with it dangling on the ground on the photo but that article linked below seems to suggest she had it off the lead and knew it had issues with other animals and that's where my sympathy ends.

@Soubriquet

Unfortunately it’s a natural part of nature

Yes it’s upsetting that the poor seal had to go through that, but it’s animals

You can not 100% control animals

So you'd be ok with another dog mauling one of yours? Cos it's just animals, right? And you can't 100% control them?

I hope the dog that attacked the seal is destroyed and the owner prosecuted.

YANBU!! I have lost track of the number of times I've come across irresponsible dog owners. As a result, my eldest DS is petrified of dogs. A few examples:

• our next door neighbours allowing their dogs to run into our house
• When he was a toddler, someone letting their dog jump up at DS's pushchair while he was strapped in
• a dog running out of its house to leap up and sniff DS, the owner made a half-hearted attempt at calling it off and then laughed and said "sorry babe!" to me
• numerous other examples of him being chased by off lead dogs
• as a result he is quite wary of dogs, he came up to me and held my hand when he saw an owner walk an off-lead dog and the owner rolled his eyes at me and told him to "cheer up". Recently we were walking down a narrow path and we moved onto the grass to allow a dog owner with their 2 large dogs to walk past, partly because of social distancing but also cos DS is wary. Owner rolled her eyes and said "my dogs won't hurt you"
• my favourite example is when we were coming home from school and there was a dog running around in the small toddler park near us, despite there being a "no dogs" sign. DS said loudly so everyone could hear, "dogs are NOT allowed in playgrounds"
• One time when i was running i saw a man ahead of me on the path so slowed down to a walk (it was narrow), I didn't see that he had a dog with him because the dog was some distance away and also off lead, but I gave it a bit of space and carried on walking, the owner scolded me for "not giving his dog enough space" I told him it should be on a lead if he was so concerned

IMO all dogs should be on a lead in public places apart from large parks/fields etc and even then they should be on a lead unless they have good recall. And train your dogs not to approach young kids FFS!!!

I've always had the opinion that because dog owners are comfortable with their dog they assume that others are too

I encountered a woman with four dogs off the lead, twice, when pushing DD1 in the pram. I no longer go on that walk. They were nowhere near the owner and therefore not in control. It should be law that dogs have to be on a lead when in public

@Soubriquet

No because I can’t be bothered to argue with dog haters

You always have the same lone

All dogs on lead and muzzled

No. It’s cruel

Pretty cruel to the seal mauled to death.

Pretty cruel to the dog being put down.

Having read the Chiswick Calendar article, I’m afraid the dog does need to be found and put to sleep. There’s a suggestion the owner knew it was going for the seal, next time it could be another dog, sheep or other animal depending where the owners walk it. I also think the owner should be fined. I’d also be for a dog license system and owners required to go through compulsory training with their dog. Dog ownership should not be accessible to all I’m afraid because some people are not responding enough to own a dog.

@Totallydefeated

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 confused

Genuine question: do you think your dog’s right to run about enjoying itself off lead in a public place trumps the right of people and other animals not to be mauled?

So by your logic because 'some' men attack women all men should be subjected to restrictions? Surely it's the same thing taken to extremes?

Apologies for derailing things though. That poor seal

So by your logic because 'some' men attack women all men should be subjected to restrictions?
I do think this, actually. To think otherwise is to think “not all men”. The way this thread is “not all dogs” or people responding to BLM with “all lives matter”.

It’s not a perfect analogy, though. Because ultimately, all dogs can and all dogs ^might*. That’s why they all need to be on lead in public spaces at all times, no exceptions; and all owners should need to go through training to acquire a licence. Surely all responsible dog-owners and dog-lovers would happily acquiesce to licensing and controls as it would keep their own dogs safe and make stricter controls and punishments less likely?

So by your logic because 'some' men attack women all men should be subjected to restrictions

Good god yes. Someone please implement this!

Ok that surprises me, I expected a barrage of NAMALT responses.

@Soubriquet

No because I can’t be bothered to argue with dog haters

You always have the same lone

All dogs on lead and muzzled

No. It’s cruel

I think the innocent death of sheep, swans, ducks and now seals is pretty cruel too, especially when it could of been avoided.

The UK has so many dedicated off lead areas so dogs can exercise off lead, wildlife habitats is not one of these....