O/T Byelaws and control of dogs.

Already knew that under current legislation if you carry a dog in your car and it's not " restrained",
if the Police stop you, you can face a £1,000 fine. We had our Lhasa Apso in a canvas carrier on the
back seat but we've now bought a seat belt device that fits onto his collar with a normal seat belt clip
that fits into the anchor on the back seat.
Been to Pets Corner at Wyevale Garden Centre Shelley this afternoon, fully intending to buy a new collar
and a five metre extendable lead to give him more freedom when our dog is on his walk. To my surprise
the salesman asked if I was aware of a byelaw that certain local Councils were adhering to regarding the control of dogs in a public place. He told me that Wakefield and Kirklees wardens are now issuing on the
spot fines to any dog owner that uses a flexible lead or lead in excess of 1.5 metres when walking their dogs
in areas used by the public as they are deemed not to be fully under control.! Apparently as well as fines for
dropping tab ends or litter, they can charge £80 as far as the lack of control of your dog is concerned.
Thought I'd flag this up just in case this byelaw is being imposed in other areas. I opted not to buy the new
gear which denied the guy a sale of £30 but thanked him for his help and advice anyway.

 

and yet you see shrieking kids totally out of control as their parents are oblivious to them as they play games on their mobiles.

 

Mobile " zombies" are the bane of my life, that busy texting and staring at their phone they
block your path or worse still ,bang into you, without any apology. Somebody's going to have to
be killed before the " authorities" do something about it.

 

Good luck with that one.... if my dogs on a lead, it’s under control. If I’m near people or other animals, the lead is short. If not he can run his little legs off. If a warden tried to fine me, I would walk away. I could never see it going to court, and that’s where they’d have to take me.

 

I agree with you Austinho. However I do have to say that there are some who are not really in control of their dogs even though they are on a retractor league. The one I refer to are the ' Mobile phone zombies' who Donny Red speaks off. The dog may be on a retractor but if its in the unlocked mode and they are in their 'mobile Trance' then I believe they are not in control. I once saw one in her 'Trance' the dog took a s h I t yet she was totally unaware and was walking on by... I snapped her from her oblivion by sternly saying "I BELIEVE THIS IS YOURS MADAM" she glared at me but did not reply and doggy bagged the turd. "thankyou" I said , got an even stronger glare . Then she went on her way still texting or candy crushing .

 

True mate, the idiots spoil it for many. It’s not the length of the lead, it’s the length of the owners attention span. Which makes me wonder why the by-law mentioned was about lead length... just seems daft.

 

The form of words on the outer packaging for the retractable lead stresses the beauty of giving
your dog more freedom. I don't know how many LA's " nationwide" are imposing the 1.5 metre
restriction, but it's good to know that the rule can exist in some areas. I agree with Austinho. Unless the warden
has video evidence or a witness, it will be a hard rule to impose. Going to do some research into what
is classed as " a public place" in the LA's eyes, ' cos I don't want to fall foul of "Big Brothers" regulations.

 

I believe that if dog licences were reintroduced and insurance made compulsory too then it would to good extent deter a lot of people owning dogs. In this day and age its surely not a difficult task to get some sort of data about the animals included on the chip... a dog warden could scan and see if the animal is insured and licensed. They can do it with vehicles so surely with animals too should not be rocket science. The pet insurance is not just about the animals vet bills and health. It also carries public liability cover too, I cannot see why some do not insure. I pay quite a bit for my 2 dogs but I have gone with Pet Plan who are believed to be the more expensive... but the levels of cover are much higher and deeper than many of the others. The amount of attacks on children and indeed adults has risen. Ok so the compensation does not bring back a life, but it helps with attacks that damage property or even lay people from work .

 

Just found this on Kirklees MC website under Anti- Social behaviour regarding the control of dogs.
Paragraph 4 outlines that the lead the dog is restrained on, must not be more than 2 metres in
length and elsewhere, the fine for non-compliance can be £100. Can't find any reference on Wakefields web page. The order in Kirklees seems to identify specific parks in the borough which seems fair enough because there might be kids running around and the dog might try to " join in."!!


http://www.kirklees.gov.uk/beta/animals/pdf/DogsOnLeadByDirection.pdf

 

Couldn't believe what I saw last week. We were driving past Barnsley General, and this big ******* white people carrier/cross-over drove past and the parent was letting their kid(who could be no more than 5 years old) sit with him backside on the wound down window, and hang out of the car. Daid parent was simply laughing at all the gobsmacked looks she was getting.

 

No dog laws are enforced, unless a dog bites a human.

That is the truth.

 

Not sure about the fine aspect, but some of the leads now are insanely long, and it doesn't take much for a giddy dog to get under your feet and inadvertently wrap the lead around your legs. Not so much an issue for everyone, but anyone unsteady on their legs, it could be.

I can understand their efforts to try and limit the lead length, but know its highly unlikely to work.

 

Don't dislike dogs but never had one and never will. However, dogs need exercise so if all councils ban dogs off lead from public places where can urban dwellers take their pets to run around and let off steam? Most gardens, particularly in modern houses are far to small for that.

 

Kids are bigger nuisance than dogs.

 

Car owners, dog owners.... easy targets. What next?
Surely it has to be drivers who are on their phones, nah.... they've tried that and failed. Then motorbikes doing stupid speeds, overtaking dangerously, nah.... they can't capture their reg. plates on speed cameras or summat like.
Why not fine people for using the word "gay" in it's wrong context !

 

I've had dogs all my life and i totally agree with Dragon Tyke we have to introduce a system where dogs av to be licensed, insured and chipped. A DOG IS FOR LIFE, ITS PART OF THE FAMILY.

 

It's very odd that you keep mentioning this on here...

 

Thought I'd go for a stroll around New Miller dam yesterday morning and they were a fair amount of dogs unleashed and on long lead thingies. Went initially to do a bit of twitching but absolutely no chance of seeing anything in the woods with dogs bounding left right n centre, also the amount of dog siht in bags hung from trees was unreal

 

There's nothing worse than a ridiculously long lead. Cause destruction to everything in between the dog and owner.

Much safer off the lead at that point.

 

As a fairly new dog owner, I'd agree with you on the licencing and chipping, but not so sure on the insurance. Yes, vet bills can be expensive, as can costs if the dog bites someone (although there is a separate argument about whether they should be put down as dangerous at that point), but for the owner it should be a choice to go for insurance, or have to pay the full whack if needed.