Why would anyone do this?

[ginasevern]

Tie their dog up outside of shops. It worries me to death and makes me so angry. Don't these owners realise that their dog, in the blinking of an eye and so easily, could be taken away by anyone.

Dogs aren't just stolen to be sold, they are also taken for animal experimentation, hare coursing and for animal porn and/or torture websites.

The chances of ever seeing your dog again are negligible and god only knows what unthinkable fate you could be condemning it to.

It's not as if stolen dogs have never been in the news is it. Just why do it?

Yeah, I understand all that - my point is that you're making him incredibly vulnerable by doing what you're doing to him.

Please tell me how. Coz I cant see anything wrong with it

@catelynjane

It doesn't matter if he's friendly, you're putting him in an incredibly vulnerable position by chaining him up and muzzling him and then leaving him alone.

Exactly. It beggars belief really. Not just the comment from this poster but the general consensus. We are supposed to keep our dogs safe from harm as best we can and tying them up unattended in a public place isn't even close.

I'm amazed at the amount of people who seemingly live in places with zero crime and zero bad people.

As for the assertion that no-one would steal their dog because he barks at strangers, looks a bit mean, is too old (or whatever). I can tell you that opportunist dog thieves don't give a damn.

I don’t currently have a dog. I have had a few. I’ve known loads and loads of people who have had them in my lifetime. I’ve never, ever heard of this happening. I mean, animal experimentation?? Really??

I think some people are working for the uk groverment. Health and safety gone mad. The only difference is we from old day and now is we have Internet and TV now so we hear about the whole country/ world and not just where we live. It alot scare Tactics To control people and put people fo getting dog and other animals. It's worked with am for abit. But we will not live in fear.with mind control.

It's nice of you to be concerned about our dogs op

but do me a favour and give us credit for a few brain cells

I'll give credit to those who don't tie their dogs up outside of shops thus leaving them in a vulnerable and defenceless position.

Those who do tie their dogs up and seem to think that it's fine (because nothing ever bad happened did it) don't deserve credit for anything.

Because if someone comes along with bad intentions, you have left your dog alone, defenceless and restricted in place. A dog who is frightened and who cannot escape is potentially going to try and attack - and even if he's muzzled he can still cause damage.

It's also worth pointing out that the law in the UK is that a dog must be under control at all times in public (and private) - by leaving your dog alone and unattended, he's clearly not under your control - even if he is tied up.

If something were to happen and he hurt someone - got in their way or jumped at them or muzzle punched them, you could find yourself in a fair bit of legal trouble for not supervising your dog.

EDIT: a dog doesn't actually need to bite someone to be considered out of control. They can be considered dangerous if they knock someone over, jump up and cause an injury or make someone feel at risk of attack.

We've actually had people parked up in a van at night where I live, waiting to steal cats. It's absolutely sickening and I can't bear to think why they were stealing them. There are some sick, evil people about. I never left my dog tied up outside a shop. If I was desperate for a pint of milk or something whilst out on a walk, I'd wait outside the shop with him and ask someone going in if they could get it for me. It wouldn't bother me at all if I was doing my shopping and someone brought their dog in the shop rather than leave it outside, in fact I'd prefer it if they did.

I mean, if you don't want people to think you're daft, don't do daft things.

Would you leave a toddler tied up alone outside a shop? A dog has a similar IQ to a 3yo, after all.

Yes I would. In Scandinavia it’s very normal to leave a child in a pushchair outside a shop/cafe and very often with a dog attached to the pram. I’m currently looking out the window at the shop opposite where there’s a gorgeous wee baby in a pram chatting away to the dog in the bottom basket of her(?) pram. This is not an unusual sight here.

If I can see my dog the whole time then I will leave her outside. If I can’t then I won’t mainly because she’ll bark until her head falls off if you can’t talk to her the whole time. The ability to do this means she gets an extra 20-30 minutes walk each time which would not be possible otherwise.

The risk is not the same everywhere, that’s not to say there’s no risk but it’s a quantified risk that the owners have thought about. There’s not one single way to care for a dog

I only tie mine up outside the shop where I work when I pop in for something like bread or milk. All the staff know my dog (and a lot of customers too), she’s usually getting cuddles from a fellow staff member while I’m inside.

I tie mine up all the time because I don't have much choice. I've got too many children and too much daily responsibility (which includes walking the dog) to do yet another unnecessary trip out. If I'm on foot with the dog then I'm definitely killing two birds with one stone and popping in to Sainsbury's to pick up a few bits.
I often return from my quick dash around to see a little rescue committee has formed around my very happy dog. She's living for this extra attention and I sometimes get comments like 'you really shouldn't leave you dog tied up outside, you never know what might happen to it'. I point to the CCTV, ask them if they're the dog warden and when they ask negatively I tell them to mind their own fucking business. Honestly, boils my piss!

What do you think the cctv is going to do other than show you a blurred image of someone stealing your dog with their hood up? If you have too much responsibility then don't add to it with a dog.

@NewYearNewPyjamas
You are precisely the type of person I tell to mind their own fucking business. The dog preceded three of my children. I kept her, because she's my responsibility.

Well you're doing a shit job. Hope that helps. If she gets stolen, cctv will do fuck all.

😆 @NewYearNewPyjamas Thanks. Again, mind your own fucking business.

It's weird because when I was a kid I always used to take the family dog to the shops and tie him up outside, never had a single issue in all the time I did it, and it was just completely normal!

Now, I wouldn't DREAM of leaving any of my dogs outside a shop, in fact I've actually covertly waited outside shops when I've seen someone tie their dog up outside to make sure nothing happens to it!

I mention it to people sometimes, where we live around 3 years ago there was a massive spate of dog thefts, especially spaniels, from cars, outside shops, forcefully stealing them off people walking with them, I was quite on edge about it at the time, I remember a woman tying her dog up outside our local shop as I came out and I asked her if she'd heard of the dog thefts.. she just looked at me blank, I gave her some examples of ones that had happened literally streets away the week prior and she just shrugged and said 'I've never had a problem'. It baffles me to be honest, but it's up to people to personally risk assess themselves and their pets.

It's weird because when I was a kid I always used to take the family dog to the shops and tie him up outside, never had a single issue in all the time I did it, and it was just completely normal!

To be fair - and depending on your age - a dog could be bought for about £20 back then, so they just didn't hold the same value they do now.

Even in the 90s I remember campaigns trying to stop latch key dogs, so they were still being let out in the morning when the house wnet to school/work and left to roam as they wanted. if you wanted to take a dog, there were still a few around totally unwatched you could take.

That lack of value along with poor understanding of dog behaviour (science really started studying it in the 90s) meant that dogs that displayed any kind of unwanted behaviour, no matter how minor or understandable now, tended to have a one way ticket to the vet. Not that I am advocating that but it did tend to mean that the 'survivors' were more likely to be temperamentally well rounded.

Again, this is not meant as a 'the good old days' post. Simply that with pros always come cons and with cons there are always pros.