My dog has just done the worst thing

[93sdb]

Hes just chased a sheep into a pond in the snow. Im heartbroken.

When he was younger he chased sheep before and he has ALWAYS been on a lead since then. Sheep or not.

We were walking down a field a walk through daily that has never had sheep in in the 20 years I've lived here. He was on his extendable lead and it was on loose but he was right next to me. I opened the gate to go through and felt him pull on the lead. Saw the sheep and put the clip on so he couldn't get any closer and the lead snapped. He chased the sheep and would not come back. One jumped into a pond and I finally got him back.

Another girl from the house nearby helped me get the sheep out but it went into shock but was still breathing. I put my coat around it and sat with her whilst she called the farmer and another lad came over and said the farmer was going to be furious as this had happened earlier this morning. I gave them my number said I would pay any vet bills etc and left it with my coat wrapped around it.

The farmer has just called and spoken to my dad as I was too upset. He's shouted at my dad (understandably) and is threatening to get the police involved and wants immediate compensation and threatened to come and shoot my dog. The sheep is alive and is warming back up in this man's house and is expected to make a full recovery and I am going to walk up there later (WITHOUT THE DOG) to check on it.

I just wanted somewhere to write and be devestated. Im upset how the farmer spoke to my dad as it was a complete and utter accident but I understand his frustration. I wouldn't of even walked in the field with my dog if I had any clue there was going to be sheep in there. He hasn't got excited around them since the first time but I would never risk it.

@ErrolTheDragon - The hyperbole and misrepresentation on the thread has actually come from posters like you who have conflated this incident involving one sheep which did not die with another involving a flock of sheep which did die.

All we know is what the OP stated - which was the farmer threatened to come to her house and shoot her dog as an act of revenge for chasing the sheep into a pond.

You have decided:

1. The OP was wrong because the farmer probably didn’t say this anyway.
2. If the farmer did say this, he probably didn’t mean it.
3. So what anyway? The farmer was ‘angry’ about his sheep.

You’ve misrepresented what the OP stated, not me. I’ve already agreed that the farmer had the right to be angry for the financial loss incurred. But no way can his appalling threats be justified.

Sorry but I would call the police!

He's threatened to shoot a dog? In a residential area I presume? So he's effectively threatening extreme violence with a fire arm? No no no.

You did the right thing. Yes your dog didn't answer to recall, but you did make every effort to ensure the dog was under control. You can't help the lead snapped. You also left your details and coat so you're not some nasty, lax person who just walked away. The sheep is fine considering.
He sounds like a bully, why put your sheep near a public footpath with a sodding pond on it? Especially as you say the lad ran down and said it had already happened earlier the same day. If anyone is negligent it's him.

Seriously, I would call the police.

@93sdb

• 1. The OP was wrong because the farmer probably didn’t say this anyway.

1. If the farmer did say this, he probably didn’t mean it.
2. So what anyway? The farmer was ‘angry’ about his sheep.*

1...I don't think I said that, or anything like it. 2... he hasn't done it, so it turns out clearly he didnt mean it. 3...And I didn't say 'so what' , or anything like it.

There is a link between this incident and and others, unfortunately. If the only incidents of sheep worrying were caused by once in a blue moon freak events such as happened to the OP, its my opinion that the extreme, and unacceptable overreaction of the farmer would be unlikely to have happened. Maybe it would, but this didn't happen in a vacuum.

@ErrolTheDragon

* 1. The OP was wrong because the farmer probably didn’t say this anyway.

1. If the farmer did say this, he probably didn’t mean it.
2. So what anyway? The farmer was ‘angry’ about his sheep.*

1...I don't think I said that, or anything like it. 2... he hasn't done it, so it turns out clearly he didnt mean it. 3...And I didn't say 'so what' , or anything like it.

There is a link between this incident and and others, unfortunately. If the only incidents of sheep worrying were caused by once in a blue moon freak events such as happened to the OP, its my opinion that the extreme, and unacceptable overreaction of the farmer would be unlikely to have happened. Maybe it would, but this didn't happen in a vacuum.

So, to clarify

(i) if multiple sheep get cold and wet, you can expect a man round your house with a gun. of course it's not acceptable but at the same time it's partly your fault.

(ii) in the absence of information about how many cold/wet sheep there have been, the angry gunman should be given the benefit of the doubt.

No, and no; and this continued ridiculous misrepresentation is getting beyond tedious now.

@EYProvider nowhere did I say it was acceptable and no one has said that, I was trying to explain why I thought he reacted how he did. I never once condoned it. Now, you are making stuff up. As someone who lives in the rural community I know how devastating incidents like this can be to a flick of sheep. It can literally upset the whole flock and cause miscarriages. All this crap about farmers not caring about their livestock is not true, not for the farmers I know. They have a right to be angry, they should threaten anyone though. Like I said keep your dogs on a short lead close to sheep snd nothing like this will happen. It’s not rocket science.

*flock

[quote Poorlykitten]@EYProvider nowhere did I say it was acceptable and no one has said that, I was trying to explain why I thought he reacted how he did. I never once condoned it. Now, you are making stuff up. As someone who lives in the rural community I know how devastating incidents like this can be to a flick of sheep. It can literally upset the whole flock and cause miscarriages. All this crap about farmers not caring about their livestock is not true, not for the farmers I know. They have a right to be angry, they should threaten anyone though. Like I said keep your dogs on a short lead close to sheep snd nothing like this will happen. It’s not rocket science.[/quote]
That last sentence reads like a threat.

'Keep your dogs on a lead or my farmer mates won't be responsible for their own actions'.

Fucking shocking that you're more concerned about a wet sheep than a woman being threatened with a gun.

@Poorlykitten - So to clarify, you provided an explanation to justify his reaction. How is that any different to condoning what he did then?

I get the bit about the sheep, I’ve already said that. What I’m struggling with is how this particular occupational hazard gives the farmer the right to act with impunity in the view of everyone on here who lives in a farming community.

Let’s be honest @thedancingbear, they are concerned about the VALUE of the sheep, not its welfare.

If they cared about that, they wouldn’t be able to send it off to the abettoir, would they?

Personally, if I was the sheep, I’d rather drown in the pond than get my throat slit in the slaughterhouse.

Oh ffs. I don’t have to explain anything to you, read the thread. And @thedancingbear , that’s frankly the most ridiculous twist anyone could put on a post. Talk about twisting stuff. Just bonkers. I am stating, for the record, if you keep your dogs ON A SHORT LEAD, like you are supposed to, then situations like this can not happen. No one gets upset, no one gets threatened, no one gets to jump in a pond. I don’t have to clarify again that I don’t bloody agree with being threatened. Over and out.

@Poorlykitten

Oh ffs. I don’t have to explain anything to you, read the thread. And *@thedancingbear* , that’s frankly the most ridiculous twist anyone could put on a post. Talk about twisting stuff. Just bonkers. I am stating, for the record, if you keep your dogs ON A SHORT LEAD, like you are supposed to, then situations like this can not happen. No one gets upset, no one gets threatened, no one gets to jump in a pond. I don’t have to clarify again that I don’t bloody agree with being threatened. Over and out.

So you still think that the OP is partially responsible for someone threatening to come round her house with a gun.

Victim blaming nonsense.

Over and out.

Victim blaming nonsense.

Victim? What victim?

The OP isn't a victim of anything .

@SofiaMichelle

Victim blaming nonsense.

Victim? What victim?

The OP isn't a victim of anything .

The farmer threatened to come round to her house with a gun and shoot her dog in her house.

In the real world - not in the fantasy world where farmers can scoot round and shoot whatever the fuck they like - that's a pretty serious crime.

So yep, the OP is a victim. The worst thing she's done is be unlucky enough to have her lead snap and her dog to shoot off after a sheep. She doesn't deserve to have angry men threaten to come round her house with firearms fgs.

@SofiaMichelle

Victim blaming nonsense.

Victim? What victim?

The OP isn't a victim of anything .

You dont think someone phoning her house and threatening to come around and shoot her dog makes her a victim?

As i've said previously, the accident she caused by way her her dogs lead snapping doesn't absolve the Farmer of what he did.

They can BOTH be victims here, and in all honestly, one sheep getting a dunking is a lot less bad that phoning someones house and threatening them with a gun.

This thread has got rowdy.

Jesus this thread gives dog owners a bad name - not the OP really who did more than many would, but all the others who seek to make light of sheep worrying. One sheep getting a dunking? Seriously?

@Apachepony - Let’s look at it another way.

If I was owner of the dog in the article below (assuming I survived), would I have the right to threaten to shoot the cow?:

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/cows-trampled-woman-injured-dog-dead-sheldon-peak-district-cow-attack-a9100931.html%3famp

If not, why not?

What is the difference?

What some of us find so egregious is the idea that this somehow makes it acceptable for the farmer to threaten to charge round to the OP’s house with a gun.

I own a business, as do millions of other people. If I tried to resolve a business dispute with a gun, I would go to prison for a very long time. A farmer is a business owner, not a cowboy or a gangster. He should be held to account in the same way any other business owner would be.

Violent people like this should not have access to guns.

@EYProvider
I somehow think the OP will be very careful about keeping her dog on a very short and strong lead (as she is legally obliged to) when using other people's business premises for exercise from now on.

Which do you feel is more likely to produce the effect desired by the farmer - i.e. the safety of his animals and his income - a notice tacked to a gate urging consideration for the fact that this is a working farm, or the threat of the dog being shot?

This wasn't a 'business dispute'. This was a case analogous to an actual bull in a china shop. Or someone letting a large and completely unsocialised dog loose in an early years facility.

If in your upset, you threatened to shoot the cow and then did absolutely nothing to follow up on this threat, then I don’t think you would get in a lot of trouble, no.

@EYProvider

Agricultural use of land trumps recreational use, and no, she couldn't have shot the cows without being held liable for damages, or a machine gun.

From your link:
Walkers are regularly warned to be careful among cattle in the Peak District with several incidents being reported every year.
Ignorance of the nature of cows seems to be a problem. It is up to walkers to educate themselves on the animals, wild or domesticated, which they are likely to encounter while out walking.

If your dog is being charged by cows, that is the only time you are allowed to release it and allow it to run free.

injuryprevention.bmj.com/content/22/6/437
Most cow attacks that are reported feature dogs.
Women more likely to protect their dog.
Men more likely to let their dog loose to flee.

Conclusion - check for cows and in particular check for cows plus calves before you enter a field. Also, bulls, though fields with bulls are often noticed.

*Let your dog loose and head for an exit as fast as you can if charged by cows.

@Apachepony - OK, let me put it another way. If I was in that situation and happened to have a gun, would I be justified in using it to save my dog?

If not, why not?

@mathanxiety - We’re talking about damage to business assets here, not to people, and especially not to children.

So suppose I owned the china shop. I would be mightily pissed off that the bull had smashed all my china, but even if I had a gun, I wouldn’t shoot the bull to stop it rampaging, and I most certainly wouldn’t march round to the field the next day to take revenge. I would take the farmer to court to recover the costs.

Maybe agricultural use of land does trump recreational use, but accidents happen. We don’t have to act like thugs when we get upset.

@EYProvider, I’m not an expert in English law, but I understand that there is no law that would allow you to do so. I’ve actually been in the situation where a bunch of cows surrounded me and my dog, it was a bit scary. Definitely they go after dogs. However there are always cows on the beach in question, clearly the farmer has grazing rights there so no, I don’t think the dog walkers could pull a gun on them! In the case of the death of a person from a cow I could see how there might be a negligence case against the farmer potentially but negligence would need to be proved. In the case of the death of the dog, I really can’t see a negligence case succeeding as the dog owner should have been aware of the risk from cows.