Wee rant about loose/stray dogs...

Fiona

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I just need to get this out this evening, and can't use fb as I'd probably offend the neighbours. .

Since Tuesday, I have retrieved 4 dogs wandering on the road close to my house and brought them back to their owners :(

1. Coming home from work at 6 so pitch black. Black lab coming towards me up the road. Not even a collar. Managed to stop car, grab dog and take him to nearest house, where fortunately they recognised him as a habitual offender, and telephoned his owner.

The rest were all today..

2. Our dog barks and there is a bc just outside our gate. Has collar but no tag. Get a lead and start walking him up the road, and met his owner coming to look for him. Had followed her hubby on tractor?..

3. On way back home I get followed by another dog, but fortunately I recognise her and she has a collar and tag. Bring her home.

4. Heading out in car with oh this afternoon. About 2 miles away. Wee jrt wandering up the road. No collar. Oh catches him and we start driving about. The third house we stop at recognised him and directed us to his home.. At least a mile away from where we found him.

Now I accept I'm over sensitive about dogs on the road, as my much loved jrt was run over last year, and I will never ever forgive myself for that.

But how come everyone else's dog seems to wander freely without their owner being too bothered and never comes to any harm :( :(

I'm really quite stressed and cross, and wish I had the guts to say to them...'why the heck has your dog not got a collar and tag on, and be fenced securely within your premises...'

I live way out in the country, but that doesn't stop idiots driving like maniacs sadly, and our road is full of blind corners :(

Am cuddling lily the lakeland now, and hoping there aren't any more wee dogs out there tonight :(

Do I need a hug, a kick up the bum, or a stiff gin, or all three ;)


Fiona
 
i think you need a hug and a well done for caring and getting those dogs out of danger......it drives me nuts as well when they dont have a tag...it is so much easier to phone the owner and get the dog home...i found an airedale wandering up the main road, the cars were carefully driving round him and no one but me stopped, he had a collar and no tag so i went out of my way to call at the vets and luckily he was microchipped so they phoned the owner to collect him. the owner phoned and thanked me but he doesnt think it necessary to have a tag on as he is microchipped...i did tell him it was law to have dog tag and it would make it much easier for the finder to return him...saw him yesterday and he still doesnt have a tag!!!!!!!!!
 
A top of the range tag only cost about a fiver :( Hardly a fortune...

I agree completely, returning dog would be 100 times easier if you knew where they lived.

And today especially in the afternoon , I wasn't even sure if the vets would even be open to scan a chip :(

Fiona
 
I have had a physical altercation with a man in our small town/large village who habitually "exercises" his greyhound by letting it out of his tiny garden and letting it roam around the town. It is a matter of time before it is killed/injured or causes a major car accident as people are forever posting on our local FB page that they have nearly hit it with their car.....

One time I caught the dog and was about to take it home (to be then taken to the local dog warden) when the owner turned up on his mobility scooter, hopped out PDQ and physically seized the dog back from me - the dog was terrified (it had been incredibly friendly and lovely to me) and clearly was scared of the owner. The local dog warden is aware, but misguided people keep taking the dog home instead of taking it to the local pound - I can bet money he wouldn't pay to reclaim the dog, so it would have the chance of going to a lovely caring home.

I have zero tolerance of anyone who lets their dog stray, it is illegal and unforgivable :(
 
Is it actually illegal? I suppose it is, even in the country...

Just p**ses me off so much that people are so cavalier with their pets, and nothing ever seems to happen to them ...

I've another neighbour as well who lives on the same blind corner as us, whose whippet is regularly down on the road :(

Fiona
 
Yes it is apparently, although our police are as much use as a chocolate teapot and won't take any action...just for the HHO keyboard warriors, I have googled it to quote the relevant legislation :D

"A stray dog is any dog which is running free in a public place without its owner being present. Legally it makes no difference if the dog is loose accidentally, has been released without authority of the owner, or has been deliberately allowed to roam.

The law requires, under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, local councils to treat all unaccompanied dogs on public land as strays, regardless of whether they are wearing a collar and disc or have been microchipped. The council must seize such dogs and if they cannot be returned immediately to their owner they must be taken to the council stray pounds where they are held for a mandatory period of 7 days. After the 7-day period, the dog legally becomes the property of the kennels and the kennels can either rehome the dog to a new owner, keep the dog at the kennels or, following veterinary advice, put the dog to sleep.

Please note, it is no longer the responsibility of the police to accept stray dogs, and they should not be taken to police stations.

It is also an offence under the Control of Dogs Order 1992 for a dog to be in a public place without a collar and tag with the owner's name and address on it, even when the owner is in charge of the dog. If your dog does not have a collar and tag, you can be prosecuted and fined up to £5,000. The owner commits this offence even if a dog has been microchipped"

I was going to say you should catch the whippet and re-home it to me until I saw your location :o Maybe rehome it to Rowreach instead.... :) :)
 
Well there you are then.... That's quite clear :)

Mind you I hold my hands up for ours not being microchipped yet.. She will be done when she is spayed in the next month or so, and she never leaves her crate without having her collar and tag put on.....

Fiona
 
I must admit mine are easy as they are all rescues, so they are microchipped and neutered as a matter of course before they are re-homed :) I've seen a few dogs being done and they didn't bat an eyelid :)
 
Lévrier;13407210 said:
I must admit mine are easy as they are all rescues, so they are microchipped and neutered as a matter of course before they are re-homed :) I've seen a few dogs being done and they didn't bat an eyelid :)

I'm just a wuss, much happier about it being done when she is out of it lol...

The needle and the chip look huge :o

Fiona
 
I was a bit shocked when I saw my lurcher being done (2004)- the guy at the rescue kennels simply said 'oh yes he needs this before he goes' and fired the microchip into the scruff of Talisker's neck! Since then I have seen quite a few dogs done and none of them have bothered, which surprised me initially but has also reassured me :)
 
Lévrier;13407222 said:
I was a bit shocked when I saw my lurcher being done (2004)- the guy at the rescue kennels simply said 'oh yes he needs this before he goes' and fired the microchip into the scruff of Talisker's neck! Since then I have seen quite a few dogs done and none of them have bothered, which surprised me initially but has also reassured me :)

I'm sure you're right :)

Thankfully she is about 8 weeks past her last heat, so I can get her booked into vets soon for her op well before Christmas :)

Fiona
 
*Shamefaced*. At least twice, we went looking for our escape artists who had gone across the main road to go play in the park! At least they're chipped, but they don't wear collars if we're not put with them. We've beefed up the security, but I have no doubt they would go if they could. Bear chased a cat as I was leaving for my first day at my new job and I arrived all flustered having probably woken the whole street shouting for him.

I don't find it a problem bar in the woods, caught a couple and phoned the owners who had lost them and were searching desperately.
 
After the way my dog has reacted to fireworks this year I am not surprised,
Twice she has tried darting out the front door in a blind panic, luckily we are on the ball and stopped her both times.
 
My dogs don't often wear collars. At home, multiple dogs, often playing, all too easy to get a jaw caught in a collar resulting in a broken jaw or a dead dog (don't mock, this happened to a friend)

When out the gundogs are either working or training, too much risk of them getting caught up. (law allows for this)

They wear collars for visits to public places, vets, pub, traffic and people training in local town etc.
 
We had a collar playing accident years ago Thistle. Dog grabbed collar of other dog who flipped over twisting the collar round the lower jaw of dog grabbing the collar.
Luckily there were three of us in the garden. Two of us held the dogs still while the third ran for scissors, we had to cut through a rolled leather collar, no easy feat.
The released dog's jaw was fine but the other was by now unconscious.
We did get her breathing again and she suffered no long term affects. So lucky.
We didn't recover from the trauma for a while!
 
After the way my dog has reacted to fireworks this year I am not surprised,
Twice she has tried darting out the front door in a blind panic, luckily we are on the ball and stopped her both times.

I really can't blame fireworks, as they are all finished over here.... I haven't heard one single bang since last week...

Can't imagine ever taking the risk of letting L out without a collar, even if someone picked her up safely, there would be no way of scanning for a microchip outside vet office hours. A nice collar tag means owner can be contacted immediately. ..

Fiona
 
Councils can and do take people to court for permitting a dog to stray and permitting a dog to have no licence (and in NI you need a microchip # to apply for a licence).
AFAIK they have done away with the tag and the licence is now linked to the MCN.
 
The incident I know about was also a Flattie, perhaps they are particularly prone to it.

I have heard of GSDs getting caught, and I am pretty sure in at least one instance one dying, so I think it is something that could happen in any breed.
Mine never wear collars at home , but they are tattooed and /or microchipped.
 
We live on a farm which has a dead end road through it. Our jrt has always free ranged around the farm and will take herself up to our sheep shed 1/4 mile up the road. She is incredibly traffic wise. We have a tag on her collar saying 'please leave me I know where I'm going' plus our phone number. We still have the odd person pick her up and ring us 'I have your dog, it says on her collar 'please leave me I know where I'm going' what shall I do with her?'. She is also microchipped.
 
I call the dog warden for anything unidentifiable (no tag or microchip) and for repeat offenders. If collected on the same day it's around £30 to get them back, they add £18 for every additional day up to day seven. A drive to the pound and a financial hit sometimes makes owners take it a little more seriously.
 
This bothers me too!

I am very protective of Tamriel and was with Annie, not that she'd really ever leave my side!

Our neighbour frequently lets his dog out and it runs around in the road and if I leave the house with Tam, she'll get savaged by it!! The 6th attack happened on monday :\

I've found a number of dogs over the years, the owners never seem that bothered!
 
I live on a shooting estate and we sometimes have the odd gamekeepers dog roaming free, but not that often to make it a real problem.

My dogs don't wear collars in the house or on our local walks but are all microchipped and my working shepherd is also tattooed. They do wear collars if we go away from home, to the vet, when on holiday etc.
 
I'm just a wuss, much happier about it being done when she is out of it lol...

The needle and the chip look huge :o

Fiona

We had the puppy done at 8 weeks and he was a tiny 2kgs, he didnt even blink. I was surprised as it looked horrific!

This bothers me too!

I am very protective of Tamriel and was with Annie, not that she'd really ever leave my side!

Our neighbour frequently lets his dog out and it runs around in the road and if I leave the house with Tam, she'll get savaged by it!! The 6th attack happened on monday :\

I've found a number of dogs over the years, the owners never seem that bothered!

Call the dog warden. They will go and have a chat and if it still doesnt stop they will intervene
 
Bleddi "stray" dogs makes my blood boil.

There are two terriers who regularly roam the district, they've been seen at a local industrial estate, where the owner has been notified and where she takes 4 hrs plus to be bothered to collect them although she lives only yards down the road.

They're a flaming nuisance if you're riding past the owner's property; they attach themselves to you and get under the horse's feet, and will follow you for ages. Fine if your horses are like mine and well used to dogs, a potential danger to horses that aren't. Owner is a horse-owner themselves and couldn't give a *****e. One is a JRT the other is a Snauzer.

Recently the sheep farmer who rents fields from us, caught these two terriers in the act of worrying his sheep. Previously he's lost sheep when a dog or dog(s) worried them, and chased them into some wire in a corner. This time he caught them red handed and in the act and luckily although the sheep needed some vet attention, they were all OK.

Owner duly reported. Apparently this isn't the first time, she's been done for it before. Hopefully this time something constructive WILL be done (which should frankly be the dogs PTS, sad but very necessary if the owner cannot and will not control them) ....... tho' why the correct action wasn't taken the first time around frankly beggars belief. It shouldn't have been allowed to happen again.
 
Bleddi "stray" dogs makes my blood boil.

There are two terriers who regularly roam the district, they've been seen at a local industrial estate, where the owner has been notified and where she takes 4 hrs plus to be bothered to collect them although she lives only yards down the road.

They're a flaming nuisance if you're riding past the owner's property; they attach themselves to you and get under the horse's feet, and will follow you for ages. Fine if your horses are like mine and well used to dogs, a potential danger to horses that aren't. Owner is a horse-owner themselves and couldn't give a *****e. One is a JRT the other is a Snauzer.

Recently the sheep farmer who rents fields from us, caught these two terriers in the act of worrying his sheep. Previously he's lost sheep when a dog or dog(s) worried them, and chased them into some wire in a corner. This time he caught them red handed and in the act and luckily although the sheep needed some vet attention, they were all OK.

Owner duly reported. Apparently this isn't the first time, she's been done for it before. Hopefully this time something constructive WILL be done (which should frankly be the dogs PTS, sad but very necessary if the owner cannot and will not control them) ....... tho' why the correct action wasn't taken the first time around frankly beggars belief. It shouldn't have been allowed to happen again.
Appallin g. Trouble is if they shoot the dogs she will just get another two and it will start again. Except the farmer will probably just quietly shoot them himself next time.
 
My dogs don't often wear collars. At home, multiple dogs, often playing, all too easy to get a jaw caught in a collar resulting in a broken jaw or a dead dog (don't mock, this happened to a friend)

When out the gundogs are either working or training, too much risk of them getting caught up. (law allows for this)

They wear collars for visits to public places, vets, pub, traffic and people training in local town etc.

I feel the same and my goldie almost never wears a collar, although obviously she is chipped.

We have a basset cross springer live about a mile away that used to quite frequently wander over to ours. I became frustrated because it was an entire dog and it was knocking the game covers about, I returned it on two or three occasions, the owners were so uninterested. I then took it to the local kennels 4 or 5 times, at £30 a pop release fee they soon remedied their "dog proof" garden. Morons.
 
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