When did it become acceptable to allowdogs to run free across other peoples land?

Snitch

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i didn’t say it was ok, but I doubt anyone with dogs had never had them chase something and suddenly go deaf. No harm was done, to say it’s illegal is like saying you saw someone driving over 30 mph in a town, that’s illegal too !
What an odd analogy.... The person driving the car over 30mph in a town is responsible for breaking the law, much the same as people who allow their dogs to run amongst and worry sheep.
 

Cortez

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I agree but I also think sometimes things that you didn’t foresee happen, in this case no harm was caused apart from the op being annoyed.

Have you ever owned sheep? I have, and if a stranger's dog was in my field uncontrolled I would shoot it. It only takes a second for a dog to start running sheep and that alone is enough to cause deaths and abortions. No harm was done this time, but that's not good enough, and that's why the law is on the farmer's side.
 

bonny

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Have you ever owned sheep? I have, and if a stranger's dog was in my field uncontrolled I would shoot it. It only takes a second for a dog to start running sheep and that alone is enough to cause deaths and abortions. No harm was done this time, but that's not good enough, and that's why the law is on the farmer's side.
I appreciate that, I’ve seen what attacking dogs can do to sheep, I haven’t owned sheep but I’ve lived and worked on a farm, people are numpties, some shouldn’t have dogs, we live in an imperfect world.
 

JFTDWS

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We do live in an over-crowded, imperfect world - but it isn't more tolerance that's needed, it's education, and enforcement. Idiots need to learn why farmers and owners of livestock (and horses) care about loose dogs, and the dangers posed by those animals (and their owners) to the loose dog. Entitled gits who think the rules don't apply to them need the law to be enforced against them, to remind them that the rules DO apply to them.

It's absolutely right to get angry with people who do this - the OP didn't shoot the dog in with her sheep, but the next land owner might. People need to learn, not have excuses made for them. Who knows who is reading this thread, or will stumble across it on google later and be influenced by the OP's comments, and the responses? I'm damn sure I don't want to be making excuses and saying it's no big deal, and encouraging other people to not take care and appropriate control of their dogs, so that the next time it savages a sheep, or gets shot.
 

Pearlsasinger

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The way I read it the sheep weren’t worried, the op just seems to be annoyed about dogs on her land.


Worrying sheep doesn't have to mean getting hold of them, or killing them, it means literally the sheep are worried. On this occasion they were indeed worried, turning away from the rabbits which were racing away from the dog, they knew that the rabbits were frightened, so in turn they were frightened.
 

Blazingsaddles

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i didn’t say it was ok, but I doubt anyone with dogs had never had them chase something and suddenly go deaf. No harm was done, to say it’s illegal is like saying you saw someone driving over 30 mph in a town, that’s illegal too !

Strange analogy. You sound like the type of dog owner who isn’t concerned about the potential damage your dog could cause but would start a riot if damage was done to your dog. The type of dog owner I try to avoid at all costs.
OP, I’d be bloody livid & although I love dogs you’d be well within your rights to shoot them. Appalling examples of dog owners.
 

bonny

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Strange analogy. You sound like the type of dog owner who isn’t concerned about the potential damage your dog could cause but would start a riot if damage was done to your dog. The type of dog owner I try to avoid at all costs.
OP, I’d be bloody livid & although I love dogs you’d be well within your rights to shoot them. Appalling examples of dog owners.
Bit judgemental ! I’ve had dogs all my life and non of them have ever caused damage to anything ....I will probably get accused of all sorts on here but I’ve walked all my dogs in fields with sheep and never even worried one of them ! Before you start, the farmers involved were my landlord and a good friend.
 

Blazingsaddles

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Bit judgemental ! I’ve had dogs all my life and non of them have ever caused damage to anything ....I will probably get accused of all sorts on here but I’ve walked all my dogs in fields with sheep and never even worried one of them ! Before you start, the farmers involved were my landlord and a good friend.

That’s good. But if one of your dogs was loose & charged at by one my horses on private land & booted in the head, I’m pretty sure you would cause a stink. You had permission to walk your dogs on private land, that is an entirely different matter.
 

YorksG

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Bit judgemental ! I’ve had dogs all my life and non of them have ever caused damage to anything ....I will probably get accused of all sorts on here but I’ve walked all my dogs in fields with sheep and never even worried one of them ! Before you start, the farmers involved were my landlord and a good friend.
I presume hat your dogs were under your conrol and you have said that you were on the land with permission. Your dogs were not hunting, which both of these were. My sheep and one of the horses were alarmed by the dogs, which makes me cross. By your answers earlier on I presume that you would be happy for random strangers to come into your garden and have a picnic, that would cause less harm than dogs in with my stock.
 

bonny

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That’s good. But if one of your dogs was loose & charged at by one my horses on private land & booted in the head, I’m pretty sure you would cause a stink. You had permission to walk your dogs on private land, that is an entirely different matter.
I live in Scotland where we don’t have “private land “ my horses are in a field where people walk their dogs, my dogs have always been with horses too, non of them have ever been kicked, and no, in that scenario I wouldn’t cause a stink
 

bonny

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I presume hat your dogs were under your conrol and you have said that you were on the land with permission. Your dogs were not hunting, which both of these were. My sheep and one of the horses were alarmed by the dogs, which makes me cross. By your answers earlier on I presume that you would be happy for random strangers to come into your garden and have a picnic, that would cause less harm than dogs in with my stock.
There is a lot of assumptions going on in this thread !
 

Blazingsaddles

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I live in Scotland where we don’t have “private land “ my horses are in a field where people walk their dogs, my dogs have always been with horses too, non of them have ever been kicked, and no, in that scenario I wouldn’t cause a stink
We are getting off point. These dog/s were running loose on private land with livestock. They weren’t under control & the owners were irresponsible as well as bloody rude.
 

splashgirl45

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if someone's out of control ran through my garden i would be livid....even if "no harm was done" i find this phrase particularly irritating as the owner of the land is the one to decide whether it is or not. we had someone throwing a ball in our field with our horses in and they said oh its alright the horses dont mind......made my blood boil and i let them know exactly what could happen to their darling little pooches if our horses decided to kick them.....if my young terrier goes up to a dog who is on the lead and i havent been quick enough to call him away, i always apologise immediately , that it what these people should have done, not said shut up....
 

Cinnamontoast

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How many sheep died that time a couple of years ago? Wasn’t it the entire flock, piled up against the gate? It made national news due to the sheer amount that died. I’d be fricking fuming if dogs were loose with livestock. The farmer quite rightly went crazy when Bear got into his flock one year (field had been empty for years, middle of the woods). He said he’d have shot him if he’d had his gun.

No harm done is a weird thing for someone who uses this forum to say about dogs running around livestock. One drove the geldings crazy while the owner looked on indulgently at her dog ‘playing‘ with the horses. :rolleyes:
 

bonny

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How many sheep died that time a couple of years ago? Wasn’t it the entire flock, piled up against the gate? It made national news due to the sheer amount that died. I’d be fricking fuming if dogs were loose with livestock. The farmer quite rightly went crazy when Bear got into his flock one year (field had been empty for years, middle of the woods). He said he’d have shot him if he’d had his gun.

No harm done is a weird thing for someone who uses this forum to say about dogs running around livestock. One drove the geldings crazy while the owner looked on indulgently at her dog ‘playing‘ with the horses. :rolleyes:
No one is denying that dogs can do serious harm when they get in with sheep !
 

bonny

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But according to you it's ok if they run in with the sheep, and good luck has it that they don't actually bite them? It's ok for them to upset my young mare and make her more likely to be unsteady to dogs?
I think the word I used is can ! My point was that things happen, we live in an imperfect world that we have to share with others....no harm came to your animals or the dogs.
 

YorksG

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I think the word I used is can ! My point was that things happen, we live in an imperfect world that we have to share with others....no harm came to your animals or the dogs.
And that is the attitude which leads to people allowing their dogs to run in fields of stock, do you share your home with strangers and their dogs, hoping that they will do no damage?
 

bonny

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But just because nothing awful happened this time does not make it OK. By that token it's surely fine to drive home from the pub blind drunk every night if you get away with it, and happen not to kill anyone on the way...
That would be a choice, an unacceptable risk to take, having a dog out on a walk who takes off after a rabbit or whatever is something that occasionally happens to virtually everyone who has a dog that isn’t permanently on a lead.
 

bonny

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And that is the attitude which leads to people allowing their dogs to run in fields of stock, do you share your home with strangers and their dogs, hoping that they will do no damage?
Weirdly yes, I have a house full of strangers and dogs ! What a strange question.
 

JFTDWS

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That would be a choice, an unacceptable risk to take, having a dog out on a walk who takes off after a rabbit or whatever is something that occasionally happens to virtually everyone who has a dog that isn’t permanently on a lead.

I fundamentally disagree with your assessment of risk, and your resistance to the idea that the owner is responsible for the safety of their own animal, and that of those affect by their dog. It is no more unacceptable to risk the lives of people with an out of control car (driven by a drunk driver) than it is to risk their lives with an out of control dog (which could equally bolt onto a road and cause an accident), or to risk the lives of livestock (and the livelihoods of those who depend on them).

If you cannot control your animal, it MUST be on a lead. Anything else is poor training and poor management.
 

bonny

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And do you not care if those dogs harm your own animals, or is that just part of living in an imperfect world?
I’m happy to share the world, lots of dogs go in the field with my horses, lots of dogs I meet when out on walks, non of my animals have come to any harm
 
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