Dangerous Dog?

SeaVixen

Hi all!  This isn't money saving, but you're all such a knowledgeable bunch I thought I'd give it a go. 

I'll start by saying that I am a dog person. However, there is a dog which lives on my street, that I would deem potentially dangerous. It is quite a large dog – possibly a rottweiler/boxer cross with a docked tail.

It is taken collar-less and lead-less to the local shop and back on a daily basis. Owner carries a choker lead, but I've never seen him use this, I think it's just to tether outside the shop. Every day the dog runs up driveways to bark loudly at people inside their homes, and runs into the road, the owner trying to call him back. Twice this month the dog has stopped traffic and ignored the owners shouts to return to their side. I’ve also witnessed the dog run up to another dog walker with a smaller dog and bark aggressively until they were actually dragged away.

I'm working at home (like many people), and much of this has happened right outside my house. The way the dog runs around might suggest that it's not getting much outdoor time aside from this 10 minute outing, but there's a field at the other end of the street, so I couldn't be sure. 

I’m concerned the lack of control will end up injuring the dog in a traffic accident, or the barking may actually be aggressive and someone might get injured. It's also discouraging me from getting pets, lest they run afoul of this dog.

The street is not within a Public Space Protection Order, so while there is no legal obligation to have the dog on a lead, I don’t believe the dog could be described as “under control”. There is of course still an obligation to have a collar on the dog, which it does not. I could easily get video/photos of this but would be wary of doing so if they would be shown to the owner – the position of my house means I would be immediately identifiable from the images/videos. I'm not too keen on leaving the house when the dog is around so that I could get evidence from another angle. 

Following advice on my local council's website I've reported it to the police using an online form to seek advice. 

Does anyone have any experience of something similar? Is anything likely to happen? 

Has anyone ever been in the opposite position and had their dog accused of being dangerous? 

I've not ruled out trying to speak to the owner and asking them to leash their dog, but having heard the owners attitude when the other dog walker was on "his" street I don't expect this will go down too well.

Soot2006

This sounds unpleasant.  My former dog was once in a serious fight because she was approached like this in the street and panicked (she was on a short lead) and my current dog was freak out and scream his head off, potentially escalating things!

The Police might have a chat with the owner. The Dog Warden would probably be interested in this as well.  The best outcomes I've had for this sort of thing is actually through the RSPCA, but we do have a fantastic local officer who is very willing to pop in to talk to owners and remind them of their responsibilities.

Responsible dog ownership means keeping your dog on a lead, and I think with a big dog like this there is a good chance the police will follow up when they have a moment  or are in the area.

sheramber

Depending on availability the community police may call  on the owner but the more appropriate person to contact would be the dog warden.
You may find the police will direct you to the dog warden.
Again, it depends on the dog warden you have. Where I lived until last year we had an excellent one who would call on  such owners and give advice.

SeaVixen

Thanks both! 
I'll admit I was hoping for a dog warden contact when I started researching this, it feels very odd to be contacting the police about such matters! From the info on my council's website it seems that our dog warden only deals with lost or stray dogs, and that other matters should be directed at the police.

I've since reported it to the police using their online form, and they have replied to ask some further questions, including the address of the dog. Understandably they can't do anything without the address. 
I've narrowed it down to 4 houses, but will have to go outside when they next walk past and follow at a distance until I see them go home. I didn't want to do this if there was a chance the instant reply would be "we can't do anything", so now I know I'm on the right track I'll work it out. 

elsien

The dog may not be aggressive - barking can be excitement rather than aggressive, but that makes no odds to the person or dog who is scared of it and whose face it's barking into. It would certainly appear to be out of control when out and about. And that's the owner's fault, not the dogs.

Under the DDA (I'm not a fan of the legislation, but it is what it is at the moment) an owner, or a person in charge of a dog, commits an offence if the dog causes reasonable apprehension to a person that they will be injured, whether or not they actually are injured.  That's open to a wide variety of interpretations but its a factor the police can take into account. Plus by law it should have a collar with the name and address on it. 
The best case scenario is that the idiot owner is spoken to, without having to be prosecuted, and starts looking after his dog properly. Would the shop owner or anyone else be able to tell you where the dogs lives?
When I was trying to track down a collie that attacked my dog, I managed to find out where it lived from my window cleaner. 
RSPCA round this way wouldn't touch this at all, but our dog warden is fairly pro-active - shame yours is less so. 

lcc86

elsien said:

The dog may not be aggressive - barking can be excitement rather than aggressive, but that makes no odds to the person or dog who is scared of it and whose face it's barking into. It would certainly appear to be out of control when out and about. And that's the owner's fault, not the dogs.

Under the DDA (I'm not a fan of the legislation, but it is what it is at the moment) an owner, or a person in charge of a dog, commits an offence if the dog causes reasonable apprehension to a person that they will be injured, whether or not they actually are injured.  That's open to a wide variety of interpretations but its a factor the police can take into account. Plus by law it should have a collar with the name and address on it. 
The best case scenario is that the idiot owner is spoken to, without having to be prosecuted, and starts looking after his dog properly. Would the shop owner or anyone else be able to tell you where the dogs lives?
When I was trying to track down a collie that attacked my dog, I managed to find out where it lived from my window cleaner. 
RSPCA round this way wouldn't touch this at all, but our dog warden is fairly pro-active - shame yours is less so. 

Would agree with this, some dogs do show their excitement through barking, but regardless it's not acceptable and if you have a dog like that with seemingly poor recall it should be on a lead. As you say the dog could cause an accident which could lead to it or someone else being harmed. Hopefully it's something that can be addressed with some education for the owner, the dog is not under control, and it doesn't sound like the owner is doing much to ensure its safety and that of others.

SootySweep1

Hi
Am I right thinking that if this dog causes an accident then the owner will be liable ?
Jen

coffeehound

The local hardman in this street is the same with his x2 dogs.  I suspect part of it is allowing the dogs to mess (anywhere) with the owner being able to claim ignorance

SeaVixen

elsien said:

The dog may not be aggressive - barking can be excitement rather than aggressive, but that makes no odds to the person or dog who is scared of it and whose face it's barking into. It would certainly appear to be out of control when out and about. And that's the owner's fault, not the dogs.

Absolutely agree with this. I'm trying not to jump to the conclusion that it's aggressive, though it's difficult for me to make a proper judgement as the dog's tail has been docked. As you go on to say, it's the perception that's more important under current law.

The way the dog seems to be quite happily exploring while running up and down the road does suggest to me that the dog isn't actually taken outside very much, and the owner possibly doesn't put a lead on so that the dog can get as much running about done as possible within the 10 minute walk. Though, as I said before, this is all speculation as there is a field at the other end of the street which dog and owner could get to without passing my house. 

It seems a shame that the only legally enforceable thing here is that the dog isn't wearing a collar. I'm hoping that if the owner is contacted to remind them of the collar-wearing duties, this might encourage them to leash the dog as well.... but we shall see. 

SeaVixen

In case anyone is interested.... a PCSO called me to say they would pop around to the house to have a word with the owner and remind them of the laws. I don't know if they ever got around to doing this. Two weeks after I had that phone call with them, the dog ran into the main road and was killed by a car. 
Really had to bite my tongue when the owner was posting on our local Facebook group that "the dog is always on a lead, but he slipped it". Such a shame the dog died as a result of stupid owners.... 

elsien

That’s very sad for the dog.
I don’t think I’d have bitten my tongue though, I’d have said what I saw.