WHY don't dog owners keep control of their blasted animals?

[edam]

Had a run-in with a pit bull terrier this morning. Loose in the street, chasing me and then jumping up at me repeatedly and refusing to get off. Only lost interest in me when he spotted someone else to harass - an elderly lady who was nearly knocked flying.

Ds saw it from the window and was frightened - as was I! Just glad he was safe indoors or the dratted thing would have knocked him over, or worse. It was a big, powerful, aggressive dog.

Can't decide whether to go round and complain to the owners OR whether to ask our community safety people (the ones that aren't police officers) to have a word. Have never met the owners AFAIK but apparently they are only a few houses round the corner. Other neighbours tell me they have tried to complain but nothing's been done.

If you owned a dog who had escaped, how would you react if someone you'd never met came round and asked you to keep it under control?

If my dog escaped and someone came round to ask me to keep him under control I would be horrified - at the mere fact that he got out, let alone that he was harrassing the public at large.

If I owned a Pitbull Terrier I probably wouldn't be an approachable person as they are a banned breed and I doubt any of them legitimately exist today.

Yeah, that's why I'm reluctant to go round. I can't guarantee it was a pure pit bull but it looked like one to a non-doggy person.

Wouldn't get involved tbh. People can be so unreasonable and I wouldn't risk my own safety. Contact the dog warden/Police as this shouldn't be allowed to happen in public areas.
Good luck .

I would contact the dog wardens personally - ask for their advice on who would be the best to approach the owners... them or the community wardens.
It's not nice. I love dogs, but I hate ones that aren't controlled (or rather dislike the people who don't/can't control them)

think it depends on what kind of people they are. If my dogs got out and were harrassing the public I would be mortified, but some people, esp those with agressive type dogs that are not under control, just have no respect for other people and would potentially make things worse if you went round to address the issue. If others have said that complaints in the past have been futile, I would ring the police/local dog warden to go round and have a word.

Thanks for the advice, dog wardens it is then.

OK, one more question, have been googling to try to identify the breed. Think it looked like a Staffordshire bull terrier but they appear to be very small. This thing was jumping up to the height of my chest - could a Staff jump that high?

I have a staffie and believe me they can jump very high!!!! I know coz Dh has had to put up 6' gate to stop her jumping.
Is there any chance it got out without the owners knowing. Last week Maisie got out (before the 6' gate was put up) and luckily and thankfully a dog walker took her to the local vets where she was scanned for her microchip and they found our details.

As a dog owner I was so bloody embarrased that she got out and would be hugely apologetic if she was being a pain in the arse towards other people.
If it's a one off there is probably not much point going round to the owners house unless they are pretty friendly people. But if this is a regular thing and they are not prepared to stop there dog getting out then the dog warden should be involved.

Magnolia, several neighbours have told me this dog has been out on its own before a few times - I didn't know anything about it until today. Have heard apparently owners are out at work all day leaving dog on its own, so if it does get out, they aren't around to deal with it, it appears. Not fair on the dog, really, apart from the danger to people.

If thats the case then not only is it unsafe and unfair to the dog and the neigbours what if it runs in the road and causes a car accident!!!

Maisie our staffie has no road sense and the terrifying thought the other day when she got out was what if she causes a road accident. Luckily for her and others she just ran over the back field.

If this dog escapes on a regular basis the dog warden really needs to be informed.

I would just let the police/dog wardens deal with it. If they are the kind of people who don't look after their dog properly then they are unlikely to take very kindly to you coming round to speak to them about it.

if it is happening on a regular basis then the police/dog warden need to be informed every time it happens so they can take some action.

Thanks everyone for your very helpful advice.