| Topic: | Re:Re:Hunting with Dogs | |
| Posted by: | Dan Murphy | |
| Date/Time: | 23/05/15 14:03:00 |
| John, it's a very good question and shows how any such law would have to be considered carefully. By "In public places", I think it would mean anywhere where dogs are likely to come into contact with general members of the public (and their children). So the list might look like: Town centres Public parks Residential streets Open country / coastal areas where the public have free rights of way Pubs, restaurants, hotels... And so on. There are clearly circumstances and places where the chances of coming into contact with the general public are minimal, for example on privately owned farmland, or areas of countryside where no public rights of way exist. In these circumstances, it would seem sensible for those dogs to be exempted, sheep dogs, hunting dogs, and the like. But if you then take your hound into the Fox & Goose, you would have to put a muzzle on it. I seem to recall that many of those dogs did actually wear a muzzle, but I don't remember any of the owners complaining about how unhappy they were. Seemed perfectly sensible to me. I also think that guide dogs would be exempt. But maybe not. But you're quite right, it's not black and white. I also think that very small dogs (Under a few pounds in weight?) might be exempt. I can't imagine a Chihuahua (sp?) could do much damage, but I could be wrong, I have heard a number of people saying that the smaller dogs can often be the most nasty. |