People walking cats and rabbits on leads in parks

[AvocadosBeforeMortgages]

Utter fools. Do they not like their pets?

I've come across this at least 4 times now - people (all different!) walking cats and, in one case, a rabbit, on a lead.

In all cases, these are parks where dogs are allowed off lead and the vast majority are off lead. Including everything from ex-racing greyhounds to terriers.

I spoke to rabbit woman and pointed out the dangers. She said she'd just pick the rabbit up - while seemingly failing to account for the fact greyhounds can travel at 40mph and jump higher than she could possibly lift the rabbit.

Yesterday I saw this on-lead cat before my own dog did (a small miracle - from a distance I thought it was a puppy), and warned them my dog wasn't cat friendly. They then decided to stop sitting down in the park and instead FOLLOW US through the park.

Presumably when it goes wrong they'll be whining that the dog was out of control - but presumably they'd also be whining if they wandered out blindfolded onto a 70mph road and got run over. It's asking for trouble.

I'm not convinced cats or rabbits enjoy being walked - and surely the much safer / more pragmatic option would be to walk them somewhere where dogs aren't allowed to be off lead?

Let's pray this doesn't catch on as a trend

@Fatarseflanagan09 exactly this.

@HoppingPavlova

The problem is many dog owners think they are above all rules and let their dogs off-lead whether it’s an off-lead area or not. This makes it difficult for small animals that do enjoy a walk to be kept safe yet these dog-owners seem to think their rights trump all others. That’s the problem, not the small animal owners!

One of my kids used to do a pet minding/dog walking service and like the poster above dealt with a family of ferrets who liked to go for a walk on a harness/lead. It was a nightmare for them due to entitled dog owners even though they only picked areas where dogs were meant to be on lead. It resulted in them having to essentially lose $$ as they would bring them back to our house to walk in the yard (no dogs here at that point) or take them to a remote beach ages away and hope for no arsehole dog owners there to stymie it after the long drive to get there. Ferrets don’t exercise for long it seems (guess they get puffed or something, can’t recall the reason??) but like the mental stimulation and exercise out of cage. What should have been a quick job down local park where off-leash is prohibited turned into a job of a few hours to find suitable location without an entitled dog owner breaking the rules and thinking their animals rights trumped everyone else’s. They didn’t feel they could charge for hours given the ferrets didn’t actually walk for hours but quite a short time, so factoring time in they worked for a considerable loss, but they did it because they genuinely cared about the ferrets interests. There should be places where they could have safely/easily done this and theoretically there was but not in practice.

Equally there are irresponsible ferret owners

There are a pair near me, walked on the lead on a trail where dogs are allowed to be off lead (path leads to an off-lead dog walking park). Path is walled on both sides so no real escape routes.

My dogs are of course well trained and recall well, but not all dogs are - especially when faced with small restricted furry creatures in a space where dogs are allowed off lead. I have chatted with the ferret owners and tactfully suggested it's not the best spot (quite a lot of terriers and hounds nearby) They are adamant that their ferrets could outfight a dog.

Maybe they could, maybe they couldn't. It baffles me why you'd deliberately want to expose your pet to that risk.

The point is that we all have anecdotes of idiotic behaviour - but the OP posted about cats and rabbits being walked in a busy off-lead dog area. To say nothing of the other stressors. It's very difficult to argue that is a suitable walking spot for any small animal - it certainly contradicts the safe cat walking guidelines published by welfare charities.

Im sure there are numerous irresponsible ferret / rabbit owners. In fact I know there are. But they don’t tend to impact on others in the same way irresponsible dog owners do.

@Fatarseflanagan09

If people want to walk a rhinoceros in the park it’s ok as long as it’s legal, if a dog is a chaser then it should be on a lead all the time in public places, attitudes like yours give dog owners a bad name, I have a whippet and he chases everything, I wouldn’t dream of having off his lead.

I guess the difference seems to boil down to those who prioritise them whims of humans and those who prioritise the welfare of animals

That doesn't mean that people shouldn't walk cats, but I believe that they should walk them responsibly and in accordance with welfare guidance. Just as everyone expects dog owners to.

Rabbits I'm not sure benefit from travel and strange environments/smells at all. They should have an appropriate environment at home.

@bunniesanddaisies

Im sure there are numerous irresponsible ferret / rabbit owners. In fact I know there are. But they don’t tend to impact on others in the same way irresponsible dog owners do.

Well it seems they've impacted both the OP and myself as it's an unnecessary source of anxiety and risk.

It would be horrific for a small animal to be attacked, and especially for a child to see it. The ferret walkers near me usually go out around 3pm - they seem to specially like he attention from children leaving school

Walking up to another pet owner and asking them to walk their animal elsewhere is unbelievably arrogant and self-absorbed. Parks are not solely for dog owners.

Yes it would. So don’t have dogs that can’t be trusted not to do that off leads.

@Poorlykitten

Walking up to another pet owner and asking them to walk their animal elsewhere is unbelievably arrogant and self-absorbed. Parks are not solely for dog owners.

No one has done that 🙄

Well, problem would be solved if dog owners kept their dogs on lead in on-lead only designated areas AND ensured they had control of their dog in-lead but it seems that this is not reasonable. I’ve had dogs in the past when capacity permitted (just didn’t replace when died as couldn’t provide commitment needed for new puppies/dogs training etc). I wasn’t an entitled arsehole but seemingly in the minority.

The op has vet

@HoppingPavlova it certainly seems that way. ☹️

@bunniesanddaisies

The op has vet

@bunniesanddaisies Where does she say that? I may have missed it - the OP says I spoke to rabbit woman and pointed out the dangers. But doesn't say that she suggested they should go elsewhere

@HoppingPavlova

Well, problem would be solved if dog owners kept their dogs on lead in on-lead only designated areas AND ensured they had control of their dog in-lead but it seems that this is not reasonable. I’ve had dogs in the past when capacity permitted (just didn’t replace when died as couldn’t provide commitment needed for new puppies/dogs training etc). I wasn’t an entitled arsehole but seemingly in the minority.

As already discussed numerous times on this thread that wouldn't address the stressors or mitigate injury potential for many cats/rabbits

The whole post is saying that other pets shouldn’t be walked somewhere with off leash dogs!

The point of post is being totally ignored.

It's why the guidelines linked earlier recommend not walking cats in areas where there are dogs and specifically states that public parks are unsuitable.

Out of interest why are posters arguing against animal welfare guidelines?

Several posters have taken it upon themselves to ‘tactfully’ suggest the other animal owner should not be walking their pet in the park but at the same time believing they have an entitled right to do so. This just isn’t so I’m afraid. You may not like it and keep harping on about ‘animal welfare’ but that’s missing the point,

@bunniesanddaisies

The whole post is saying that other pets shouldn’t be walked somewhere with off leash dogs!

But this was the accusation: Walking up to another pet owner and asking them to walk their animal elsewhere is unbelievably arrogant and self-absorbed.

And it didn't happen.

Inventing scenarios just so that you can attack the OP is a bit unnecessary

vet I do hear that and I can assure you I’ve never walked my cat or rabbit in a park.

But.

People do. Tbh the fact they are being walked there doesn’t make them fair game for any out of control dog. Frankly I’d be just as upset to see a wild rabbit caught and killed as a pet one. So if your dog is likely to do that he should be on a lead.

Slightly disingenuous vet and you know it.

Just because the OP didn’t explicitly say you should go elsewhere doesn’t mean the meaning wasn’t clear.

@Poorlykitten

Several posters have taken it upon themselves to ‘tactfully’ suggest the other animal owner should not be walking their pet in the park but at the same time believing they have an entitled right to do so. This just isn’t so I’m afraid. You may not like it and keep harping on about ‘animal welfare’ but that’s missing the point,

Umm animal welfare is exactly the point.it's what all of the objections have been based on.

@bunniesanddaisies

Slightly disingenuous vet and you know it.

Just because the OP didn’t explicitly say you should go elsewhere doesn’t mean the meaning wasn’t clear.

You don't think attacking her on here for something she has not done is disingenuous?

I'm not the one inventing scenarios in order to try and call someone names.

@bunniesanddaisies

vet I do hear that and I can assure you I’ve never walked my cat or rabbit in a park.

But.

People do. Tbh the fact they are being walked there doesn’t make them fair game for any out of control dog. Frankly I’d be just as upset to see a wild rabbit caught and killed as a pet one. So if your dog is likely to do that he should be on a lead.

Wild rabbits don't tend to hang out in busy public parks in the middle of the day, but yes I'd agree that and dog likely to savage wildlife in public should be on a lead.

That doesn't negate the welfare issues for walking small animals in unsuitable environments though

That is ridiculous.

Someone walks up to me and says ‘are you aware of the dangers walking home alone?’ And you think they don’t mean ‘you should not be walking home alone’?

And no rabbits don’t tend to hang out in busy parks but are you denying that parks are filled with ducks (at this time of year) ducklings, birds, squirrels? Is it OK for them to be attacked? No. So dogs likely to do so should be on leads.

Or savage wildlife at all really