Terrified by shouting, angry farmer .. what to do next?

needaspirin

paddy's_mum wrote: »

"if I catch you up here again, I'll shoot your dogs, and they'll have to carry you out an' all".

If this statement is accurate, the man is clearly unfit to hold a firearms license.

adouglasmhor

needaspirin wrote: »

If this statement is accurate, the man is clearly unfit to hold a firearms license.

Unfortunately it's the OP's word against his and the cowardly bully knows it.

my_gorgeous_ellie-belle

adouglasmhor wrote: »

I have mananged to do a full sumersault under my bergan on Skye with no dogs present at all. The Cuillins are still Beautiful upside down though.

I know i shouldn't laugh at all but that did make me giggle just a little

tiamai_d

If he was so worried about the cows he would have shot the dogs and would have been within his rights too (unless you could actually prove otherwise). But he didn't, he decided to threaten you and he does not have the right to do that.

Report him, perhaps others have done the same.

adouglasmhor

tiamai_d wrote: »

If he was so worried about the cows he would have shot the dogs and would have been within his rights too (unless you could actually prove otherwise). But he didn't, he decided to threaten you and he does not have the right to do that.

Report him, perhaps others have done the same.

like I posted earlier a Farmer up here got jailed for just that, he was convinced he was in his rights but as he actualy had not seen the incident he was acting on suposition. Lost his shotgun certificate too. He can shoot a dog that is chasing his livestock, not any dog that happens to be there. If the dog gets away he can't track it off his land and shoot it.

Also a right of way is a highway

Be aware of public highways and paths and never inconvenience or place anyone in danger who is using them. Remember it is an offence to have a firearm in a public place without reasonable excuse.
Do not shoot close to highways where you may cause distress or danger. You can be prosecuted for shooting within 50 feet of the centre of a public highway.
Never trespass with a firearm of any sort, including air weapons, to do so is a serious criminal offence.
© Suffolk Constabulary. All Rights Reversed. Privacy Statement.

from http://www.suffolk.police.uk/Services/Firearms+Licensing/Safe+and+Considerate+Shooting/

Rikki

I suggest you don't walk that way again or if you do put your dogs on a lead.

Redcedar

As the daughter of a beef farmer and having grown up arround cattle and dogs here is how i see it..................

Cattle on the footpath had
1: not noticed the herd had moved away ( often happens when they find a good bit of grass and are happy in thier environment)
2: not noticed the walker or her dogs for the same reason

This would lead to them lolopping back to the herd when startled. Dogs should be kept under close control with cattle and horses but have to agree with the walker here - if cattle choose to chase down a dog - i would rather not be on the end of the lead! I have seen dog hating cows ( we have a few on the farm) and the dogs soon learn to get out the way! ( these cows are never on footpaths BTW)

The farmer sounds pretty harsh in his reaction but mistakenly justified in kicking off at you. It was an idle warning ( how ever scarey at the time ) he must have had allot of problems with walkers worrying his stock before.

I have in the past had to talk to folk who are worrying our stock ( mostly without knowlage of the upset thier animals / themselve are causing) and you do get protective over your stock.

I think you just have to put this down to experiance and move on. He was a rough, angry man who mistakenly thought you may do his living harm ( they could easily have been in calf heffers not steers ) try to not let it get to you and carry a lead in your pocket just in case

Katie-Kat-Kins

adouglasmhor wrote: »

You like so many other people have failed to read the thread's previous posts which show the law and the country code do not say this.

My personal choice is leads on near livestock but there is no legal obligation as long as the dogs are under control.

I know full well that it isn't law or country code, it is however,
a) good practice
b) in many circumstances safest for your dog (I know a dog that was badly injured by a kick from a horse, it was a retired police dog and well trained and the horse was used to dogs, but sometimes things get unpredictable)
c) good manners and considerate to other users of the countryside

Katie-Kat-Kins

My responses:

adouglasmhor wrote: »

There is lots of arguement about whether the dogs need to be on a lead or whether keeping them under close control is sufficient.

Keeping them under close control is fine, but it is very subjective and difficult to prove. Keeping them on the lead is absolute and clear for all to see. It reduces any doubt about whether your dogs are permanently under adequate control.
Or he could ask He sees his cows "skittering" away, he sees two dogs off their leads, of course the owner is going to say they are as good as gold dog owners always do even when it is a slavering gnashing monster!
Anyway I was thinking as much as being able to prove you were under control to the police or in the event of a civil claim being made against you for injury to livestock.
In the OPs situation, the farmer isn't to know that before they rounded the corner/hill or whatever the dogs weren't playing and that wasn't why the cows took fright. He wasn't to know how close the OP could keep the dogs or how reliably they would stay close, he just saw some cattle "skittering" down the hill. He probably assumed the worse because of pervious bad experiences.
he is a fool then, he should have asked but he was to busy being a bully I'm not defending the farmers actions, he behaved disgracefully but the OP could have prevented this incident simply by keeping her dog on the lead around livestock, a sensible precaution. And again if he'd asked no one would admit to worrying his livestock!
This is why we all have a duty as responsible walkers (and cyclists and horse riders) to treat rights of way and the landowners whose land those rights of way cross with the upmost respect and at all times to behave impecably.
True but that does not mean accepting abuse from them No the main thrust of my post is indeed that we should ALL behave responsibly and treat one another with respect. It was about avoiding conflict situations from arising.
Putting the dogs on the lead through livestock fields, when horses or other people approach is simply good practice, and keeps your dogs safe should they behave unpredictably (as all animals have the propensity to do). Not everyone knows your dogs and many users of countryside rights of way have had previous bad experiences and may be frightened.
They should do something about mastering their fear instead of lashing out like children or animals they are adults anfter all Rubbish, you should not be excluded from enjoying the country because you have a fear of loose dogs. The countryside is for all to enjoy and dog walkers do not have priority over others. I'm not suggesting that this farmer was acting out of fear of dogs I am simply saying that *lots* of dog walkers do not appreciate that not everyone loves dogs, and they should be more considerate. Someone who is nervous of dogs, possibly due to a pervious bad experience should not be subjected to loose dogs running up to them. I have had dogs jump up me while out walking high enough to leave muddy paw prinats on my jumper. I don't mind dogs, but that would have terrified my nephew or my mum.
Some horses are terrified of loose dogs, no matter how well behaved and I'm sure some cattle can be the same, and I know that horses can tell the difference between a dog on a lead and a dog that is loose so I bet cattle can too.

It's not my choice to have dogs off the lead where there is livestock, but sometimes on rough tracks or climbing paths you need to do it as a dog's natural movement can pull you over (they climb totaly differently from us). Fair enough, but this was a track through farmers fields, normally on rocky scrambles live stock aren't nearby. I do think that if you are going to let go of your dog it should be responsive to voice commands at a distance though and you should be prepared to call it back if people or livestock come into the area.
Perhaps if the farmer in this story had approached calmly instead of full of bluster it would not have come to this. Quite! Plenty of farmers behave badly towards lawful users of footpaths and are often the worst for having loose dogs running around! I know of at least one farmer in Scotland being jailed for shooting a dog for not being on the lead where he had no justification. Again quite right! [/QUOTE]

gwhizz75

From my personal experience, I have never met a happy, friendly farmer. Every farmer I have ever met has come across as grumpy, rude and aggressive. Many of them seem to think that it is everyone else's fault that they do such a hard job and get paid a pittance by Tesco for their milk.

Anyway, I had a similar experience when I was younger. Me and my boyfriend were flying a kite on a public pathway through a field and this apparantly startled some lambs. There were no animals in the actual field we were in, and none that we could see nearby... I also wasn't aware at the time that a kite would startle sheep.

Next thing we know, some guy is coming at us on his quad bike shouting his face off, swearing like hell and threatening to smash the kite over our heads. I was quite shaken up, but luckily my boyfriend who is very calm and reasonable in these situations was there with me. He asked him why he couldn't just talk to us in a reasonable manner, instead of coming across like a violent thug and the angry farmer didn't really have an answer for that.

Don't get me wrong, I am sorry I startled his sheep. As an animal lover, I would never wish to cause fear or pain to any animal intentionally. However, it was unintentional and there was no need for him to behave like some kind of caveman. Nobody has the right to threaten violence towards another individual. Somehow in his mind, he felt that me unintentionally scaring his sheep gave him the right to intentionally scare me.

I think some people just don't have the intelligence to deal with these situations like rational human beings. We didn't ring the police, on reflection we should have. I was only 17 or something at the time and we certainly didn't look/act like a pair of chavvy menaces - he had no right or reason to think he could talk to us like that. Neither did the farmer in the OP's story. Report him.