Dogs chasing squirrels

[Livpool]

Walking in the park today with DH and DS , saw 2 lots of dog owners cheering on their dogs chasing squirrels, obviously off lead. Like whooping and cheering - did they think anyone else wanted to see a wild animal potentially be ripped about by someone’s pet?!

I don’t have dogs as I am allergic but is this normal behaviour? Seems unnecessary cruel to the poor squirrel.

You can get a bell for cats and definitely discourage the behaviour when you see it. Mostly the bell thing though. You minimise the chances.

Ugh not loving some of the opinions on this thread. I have a few acres of woodland and don’t ever let my dog of the lead there for the sake of the wildlife so obviously I feel a certain way about this situation. However I can see that your point is mostly being missed, the issue is not the dogs, or the fact they are off lead - in a public park that is to be expected, it’s the very sad individuals getting excited to see them chasing the squirrels. Some are taking the opportunity to boast about what their dog chases/catches and a few have gone way off on a tangent to get emotional about cats 😵‍💫. But op I’m with you 100% on this, it’s very poor behaviour from the dog owners.

@Lexibletheflexible I think we could both, in theory, be right depending on the circumstances.

The law distinguishes between deliberately going out hunting with a dog for that explicit purpose and a dog instinctively chasing wildlife, but where exactly that line falls is open to interpretation.

I suspect this is exactly why trials last days and lawyers make shit tonnes of money! 😂

I definitely see people who use it as a stimulation tool for dogs with a high prey drive. I just wonder what people would say if my lot did that. They'd want cats and small dogs though. Deer if they could.

Someone in this thread said that neither dogs or squirrels have emotions which I found surprising

Thank you! It is the same view as pps delighting in their dogs chasing wildlife.

I hate it - clapped my hands at a dog who was crouching slowly towards a squirrel in the park - the owner was on another planet! I witnessed sadly a whippet run and catch a squirrel - it was horrific! I will never forget it - love dogs but i believe they should be on leads at all times in public areas!

Whooping and cheering is a bit odd but otherwise I'm fine with it, as grey squirrels are invasive species. I wouldn't take the carcass home, as their meat is a bit grey and too tough (and they take ages to skin, unlike a rabbit).

council used to pay a £1 for each dead grey squirrel sent in, so good business to be had if you have a dog that can catch them

In a park I'm sure the rules are different, but my dog never went to a park because we lived near woodlands and moorlands. And if you talked to a farmer who keeps sheep, you'd understand why they shoot and trap rabbits; they eat a lot of grass (it's a crop) and their burrows sometimes collapse -- causing holes that can break a livestock animal's leg, resulting in the (valuable) creature having to be shot.

I abhor the cheap sentiment of urban life. Rats, foxes, squirrels and pigeons are vermin, requiring pest control.

In a Royal Park the rules are different still - they have their own "laws".

In June 2021, MP Danny Kruger was prosecuted after his 11-month-old Jack Russell chased a herd of around 200 wild deer in Richmond Park, London.

However, there's an important distinction:
He was prosecuted under Royal Parks regulations, not the Hunting Act 2004. i.e. It wasn't a prosecution for deliberately hunting deer.

I agree whooping and cheering is odd, though. Some owners will chuckle at their dog for their feeble, poor and wholly unrealistic attempt to catch anything but whooping, cheering and egging on is a bit weird.

Do you feel the same way about chasing mice? Plenty of dogs, particularly terriers and sighthounds, were literally bred to chase and kill small animals including squirrels. There are even AKC sports like Fast CAT and lure coursing built around that natural prey drive. In Fast CAT, some dogs chase the lure enthusiastically, while others need encouragement from their owners who clap, cheer and call their names at the finish line and realistically, most dogs haven't got a hope in hell of catching a squirrel anyway. 😂 Cheering your dog on doesn't mean you're hoping to watch it rip an animal apart. That's quite a ridiculous leap.