If you were chased by a dog would you call the police?

Do not leave the reporting of out of control dogs until there is a serious incident, as it will go down as a first report. As a friend learned to her cost when a bull terrier, which had been causing some concern for weeks, got hold of a horses muzzle an refused to let go.... and the owners had been aware of it's previous worrying behavior.
 
Oh dear lord what is the world coming to. The poxy pony may well have spooked without the dog even being there- its an animal, they are unpredictable. As are dogs- this dog did NOT attack said pony, merely ran up to it (we do not even have any idea how close it got), so maybe ran near it is a better description- no police force in their right mind would be taking the dog owner to court over this.
The title of this thread is all wrong too, as the pony was not chased.
 
Pedantic said:
Seems rather harsh, especially if the dog was as described, I take the "occasional" running barky dog with an apologetic owner as par for the course when out riding, the blatantly nasty viscious dogs off the lead with ignorant nasty owners are a different thing.
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I agree, I have had THREE different dogs on separate occasions run up to us barking just in the last week! All three were harmless types and the big hairy is used to the two border collies at the yard zooming about and barking so doesn't pay much attention! I have now taken to stopping him and saying to the dog 'what's all the noise about huh?' most are so surprised to hear a human voice they stop instantly!

If it was a vicious dog or a very persistent one however then I think there is a place for the police to get involved.
 
If that story is true then poor old lady :( I would be devestated to have to rehome a dog over something as trivial as that.
But unfortunately it sounds like a bully against a little old lady.
The thing is that sometimes $hit just happens. No one ment to cause any harm, no one intended it to happen. The dog came back when called and was put on a lead.
Sometimes we have to accept that it just happened and to move on.. :rolleyes:
 
I'm a serving police officer. We have absolutely no power to force anyone to rehome their dog. We could advise it but up to courts not us. A dog dangerously out of control in a public place is a nuisance however on the facts here - which is only one side of the story and you would need to know more - it seems the dog did recall. Horses spook it's a fact of life. Personally on what's been said I would issue words of advice to the owner but again need to know whole story first - and both sides!
 
Unable to Quote on BB but @ Spook "Do not leave the reporting of out of control dogs until there is a serious incident, as it will go down as a first report"

If this is in relation to this particular instance: this dog hardly sounds "out of control". It was recalled!
If I reported every inquisitive dog that ran up to me to me before being recalled by owners, or being told firmly to simply go away, I'd be spending quite a lot of time "reporting"....

Why oh why doesn't COMMON SENSE prevail???
 
I have both dogs and a horse, I walk my dogs whilst my friend rides so horse fortunately is very used to dogs. We also have to pass 3 houses within 5 mins of leaving the yard whos dogs run up to the gate barking, which in a way has worked in our favor as when we meet dogs off the lead who run up to us barking my horse is pretty unphased (they have never come too close though) BUT if one came right up to us barking around his legs or chased viciously that would be a completely different story and I would report it!
 
Well my horse was chased and badly bitten and clawed by a Staffordshire x and when I rang the police they were so disinterested they wouldn't even take down my contact details. I pointed out to them that I was on an obedient horse which until then was very tolerant of dogs, and had 30+ years riding experience, but I could have been a 10 year old on a pony with only 2 years experience, and probably would have ended up in the river a few yards away, and they still didn't see what the problem really was. I suspect this is a case of Chinese Whispers and the story has been rather embellished in several retellings. IF the police were involved at all, they would probably have simply spoken to the owner and told her to keep the dog under proper control in future.
 
POLLDARK said:
It is very sad that the lady (whether she is elderley or not doesn't enter into it) didn't understand that a bridlepath is a public highway & the dog should have been on a lead legally. Whether you agree that is a good thing I'm afraid doesn't count in law. From a personal point of view I wouldn't have been happy riding along with a child & being confronted by a loose dog around the horses legs having heard of so many bad outcomes from such encounters. I feel a warning from the police for a first reported offence should have been enough, if the incident was repeated then that's different.
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Sorry, don't mean to nitpick but there is no legal requirement for any dog (except for the 4 breeds named in the DDA ) to be on a lead. However all dogs must be under control at all times in a public place. And a bridleway isn't a highway as cars don't travel on it, it's a public right of way with restrictions!

I think that as riders we have to accept that we have to share our public riding spaces with everyone else and yes, it is a pain if a dog runs up to your horse but what can you do? Demand that we have exclusive use of bridleways - how likely is that?

If a horse I was riding was chased by a dog acting aggressively I would call the dog warden, otherwise I'd swear a bit and if it got kicked wouldn't be overly upset...
 
cbmcts said:
Sorry, don't mean to nitpick but there is no legal requirement for any dog (except for the 4 breeds named in the DDA ) to be on a lead. However all dogs must be under control at all times in a public place. And a bridleway isn't a highway as cars don't travel on it, it's a public right of way with restrictions!

I think that as riders we have to accept that we have to share our public riding spaces with everyone else and yes, it is a pain if a dog runs up to your horse but what can you do? Demand that we have exclusive use of bridleways - how likely is that?

If a horse I was riding was chased by a dog acting aggressively I would call the dog warden, otherwise I'd swear a bit and if it got kicked wouldn't be overly upset...
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I agree with this. Round here we actually have set aside which is specifically for horses, but the dog walkers use it too, the only person who worries is the gamekeeper coming up to release time. So invariably we meet dog walkers around and about. I would class a dog that came on recall as under control. Quite often I encourage people to introduce their dogs to my horses because mine are good with dogs, and until a dog has first hand experience of a horse they will get over excited and be more likely to react.
Share and share a like. BTW woman on horse sounds charming. Not!
 
How would this be panning out if it had been a horse- bolting out of control- that nearly ran someone over?

They are animals for goodness sake, unpredictable, with minds of their own.
 
amage said:
If pony had a previous history of having been worried/attacked/upset by a dog then it would be quite understandable.
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Then quite frankly the mother should have done one of two things...a) refrain from taking the pony anywhere there may be dogs present, or b) keep it on a leadrein.
However as already stated, ponies are not machines, it may have spooked at a carrierbag in the hedge had there been one there. The dog was not out of control, it came back when called by its owner.
 
To answer the title question: Yes I would, I have and I would do it again! The police were fabulous, put it down as the reasonably serious "allowing the dogs to be dangerously out of control" and had I been able to identify the bloke they would've been round there. As it is, they have a bloody good description of him and his 3 Hungarian Viszlas as he got very much in my face when I asked him to keep his dogs under control. I give Thames Valley Police all credit, they were awesome!

For the ACTUAL OP, that sounds rather OTT. It is true though, she should've had greater control over the dog in the first place, but you'd have thought a warning would have been plenty. That said, there's no way of knowing what ACTUALLY happened as it'll be a serious case of Chinese whispers by now.

Besides...I've learned over the years that there's always 3 sides to any story...person a's, person b's and the truth! ;) So what the old lady saw as a bit of bouncing up may have seemed very different indeed to the other party, especially if they are not dog owners themselves.
 
No matter what the horse owner is like, she has had a scare with her daughter on a pony which she couldn't control, I cannot say how I would react but I would be furious with myself for not giving my daughter the support she needed if she was still on the lead rein but personally I would only take my angry out on myself.

With regards to the dog owner, it could be seen that her dog was out of control, this is then a case of her word against the rider's mother... the police 'may have' offered some friendly advice to keep the peace but I would be looking at having the dog assessed by a registered dog trainer, our local one would be willing to do this for next to nothing to keep the dog in the right home, this detail can then be passed on if needed.

It sounds like a hard lesson has been learnt in today's society and I hope that the good owners do not get punished for all those who disregard the law :(
 
Think you will find that a bridleway is a public highway a thoroughfare open to the public. The only way to PROVE control is to have the dog on a lead.
 
Might it be a good idea to have another post to discuss what is and is not responsible access use for all users?
 
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