To tell couple off in park?

[TLOAS]

Walking through the park this morning. It’s a lovely park with lots of woodland but big open grass area in the centre and home to lots of wildlife. The squirrels were running round this morning when I see one couple stopped with their dog who was pulling on the lead while looking at a squirrel. The couple, fully aware of this, lean down and upclip the lead and dog pelts at the squirrel.

I shout over, I say shout but it was a little windy and about 20ft away, and say why would you do that? They asked do what so I said “why would you purposely take the dog off the lead knowing it was going to chase the squirrel?” They shouted back some nonsense about it only being a squirrel and that their dog is only small and to mind my own business.

WIBU to tell them that the size of their dog doesn’t entitle them to purposely release it on a squirrel and terrorise wildlife?

Yes but kids are humans and dogs are animals. There are laws about keeping dogs on a lead in many public places.

I personally am very scared of most dogs and I hate it when people let their dog off the lead and they run at me, I find it terrifying. Dog owners can be so selfish in their way of managing their pets, assuming everyone must love them... And if you ask why I'm scared, well I've had some very scary incidents with large, aggressive dogs with poor recall in my life, both as a child and an adult. You might think your dog is wonderful and great with everyone, but how do I know how it's going to be when a stangers dog comes bounding towards me? I assume that's how the squirrel feels!!!

This thread is obviously going to be divided by those who see their dogs as a human, and those who see them as an animal and treated as such.

They were total twats/

However they were so clearly twats that can't be reasoned with that I wouldnt have wasted my energy having a go at them.

The squirrel would have been fine I'm sure. Though had a scare which wouldnt have been fun for it at all. That said, being chased by a dog will not be unusual at all for the squirrel.

No.

OP is unreasonably bothered about squirrels' feelings; a small minority of dog owners do not control their animals adequately; people who think all dogs should be tied up at all times in public (outside of mythical designated dog areas) are loonies.

@TLOAS "Dogs chasing a squirrel is perfectly normal. Releasing it from its lead so it can intentionally scare one is not normal behaviour imo."

I agree OP. I'm a lifelong dog owner and a country girl and I would never deliberately set my dog on another living creature. And to all those posters who firmly believe a dog cannot catch a squirrel - they definitely can and they definitely do.

Dogs chase squirrels.
cats chase birds.
Tigers chase antelope (probably)

Nature is entirely full of terror, pain and awfulness. Also the dog stood no chance of catching the damned thing.

If they were red squirrels 🐿️ then yes I agree. But grey squirrels are just rats with a bushy tail and outnumber our reds. Some areas cull them and have seen an increase in reds. I know someone who gets them in his garden. He kills them.

A single person killing greys in his garden isn't going to bring back the reds. One of the main reasons red squirrels have few left was because of lack of habitat and food. We cut down all their trees... and they have a narrower diet than the greys.

Victorians too mass culled the Reds, thinking they were a pain.. like people think of the greys now. All your friend is doing is killing for the sake of it. I hope he does it humanely, as it is illegal to let them suffer. Utterly pointless thing to do.

Yes! Just think of all the wildlife killed by cars on roads. It's not cats and dogs driving those cars.

We kill on roads, our windows in buildings kill birds too. We use poison, we kill them for sport, we wear them, we eat them, we remove their habitat, acres of it daily in rainforests etc, to grow food for animals to feed us while all that beautiful wildlife losing their habitat either killed or die because nothing to eat/nowhere to live anymore.

We do so much wrong by animals it is insane. If someone like the OP just doesn't want to see yet another animal in stress 'for fun', I think it makes the OP a nice person.

Ive rehabilitated more than a few greys when I used to have a huge disused aviary and word got out i was some strange bird/mouse/animal lady everyone brought injured wildlife too so hopefully ive made up a bit for that prick!!

No idea what i was doing like 🤣 would just sneakily go to the vet with the little things and he'd give me meds for them and we'd cross our fingers.

Had a couple come back to visit me and they'd take food out my hand 🥰

Unfortunately some people see squirrels as no better than rats. Luckily,it's a very rare dog (or cat!) who can catch a squirrel. They are so damn fast and agile.

Nah it’s fine to let a dog chase a squirrel.
Where we live we are surrounded by squirrels, rabbits, foxes, muntjac, roe, red and fallow deer.
My dog stalks and chases squirrels and rabbits all the time. Other people dogs on our walks even catch and kill the squirrels and rabbits. There are far too many squirrels. They are vermin and damage the habitat they are living in. They are not native to the UK and have decimated our native red squirrel population.
The same with the rabbits. Far too many.
same with muntjac deer. They aren’t native and damage the environment. We don’t let our dog chase the deer and he knows not to.

I wondered if that poster was American- I think designated areas and dog parks are a huge thing over there (though obviously exist here but I think it’s more the norm that a dog is expected to be on lead unless in a specific area there).

We are up in Scotland now though so much more space and fewer people in it - maybe English parks have gone the American way more recently.

Absolutely agree OP and I've always actively discouraged my dog from chasing other animals, wild or domesticated.

I've done exactly the same thing as you when I've seen people encouraging their dogs to chase squirrels.

Many years ago I was on Hampstead Heath in London where the squirrels are fed by so many people that they have become very tame and completely unafraid of humans - well they did then, it could have changed now - so their survival instincts aren't what they might be.

This awful couple, part of a group of people, were encouraging their large dog to chase and attack the squirrels - tbh it was mainly the woman of the couple that was egging the dog on - anyway, I confronted her about it and she became so aggressive - I think she was pretty drunk tbh - that I thought she was going to hit me - the rest of the group were having to hold her back and trying to calm her down.

Thankfully, after a lot of screaming and threatening on her part they managed to persuade her to walk away with them.

Didn't however, stop me doing the same thing again in another place with very tame squirrels, when a woman with a Yorkie, with a ridiculous bow in its hair, was not just encouraging her dog to chase the squirrels but actually chasing them herself as if trying to round them up for her dog to attack.

Having said that, if that particular dog had caught a squirrel I suspect the squirrel would have shown the dog the error of its ways.

I know that the squirrels probably rarely get caught but I think it takes a particularly nasty type of person to enjoy making the poor things lives miserable in order to entertain their dog.

Dogs chase squirrels, that's one thing, but letting your dog off the lead deliberately and specifically so it can chase one is a dick thing to do.
I class them alongside people who watch their kids chasing ducks/pigeons and laugh indulgently as they terrorise the poor things.

No, letting the dog off the lead purposefully knowing it wsa about to chase a squirrel is the unreasonable thing here. Letting it off the lead is fine, just be courteous and aware of wildlife.

Red squirrels have vanished largely because of the human race. Your acquaintance who kills them is performing a pointless act and is most probably a sadist who enjoys inflicting harm. If he isn't ensuring they die instantaneously then he is also breaking the law.

YWNBU There are some sadistic bastards who would love to witness their dog tear an animal to shreds.

The owners are not generally seen out and about walking their cat to take them off the lead and tell them off in the first place you muppet.

I've a large cat who has chased and killed squirrels on several occasions.He's now wearing a clown type collar with bells to try and avoid this but I've no doubt that a dog,.given the right situation, could kill a squirrel.

I think it's absolutely horrible and irresponsible to encourage a dog to chase another animal.

You were right, OP.

Slight difference between a dog already off lead and chasing a squirrel to being on a lead and the owners noticing the dog wanting to chase the squirrel and letting the dog off so it can chase the squirrel… that’s cruel

Driving into a squirrel or other wildlife on the road is not intentional though is it. It’s usually an accident. Letting a dog off to chase a squirrel is intentional

Don't be daft. Just because a dog enjoys chasing squirrels is in no way any indication that they'd chase a kid or injure an old person.