Loose dog in housing estate

teagan

Are dog owners supposed to have their dogs on a lesh in a housing estate??

There is a black and white sheep dog three doors down from me, and this evening it came tearing out of it's yard and across the street towards my 20 month old little girl. I yelled at it and jumped infront of my little girl and swung her little dolls buggie at it and it went back. I was shaking when I got back to my house.
This isn't the first time this has happened, the same dog ran towards my sister on another occasion. She rang the dog warden that time which was a year ago but the dog has always been loose on the estate. Is this allowed???
I'm afraid now to go for a walk with my little girl. I really don't know what the law is but I can't imagine that dog should be out loose ont he road???

franksm

teagan wrote:

Are dog owners supposed to have their dogs on a lesh in a housing estate??

There is a black and white sheep dog three doors down from me, and this evening it came tearing out of it's yard and across the street towards my 20 month old little girl. I yelled at it and jumped infront of my little girl and swung her little dolls buggie at it and it went back. I was shaking when I got back to my house.
This isn't the first time this has happened, the same dog ran towards my sister on another occasion. She rang the dog warden that time which was a year ago but the dog has always been loose on the estate. Is this allowed???
I'm afraid now to go for a walk with my little girl. I really don't know what the law is but I can't imagine that dog should be out loose ont he road???

Hi Teagan,

Have a read of the other thread here on dangerous/banned dogs, the info is relevant. To summarise: call dog warden, then call the Gardai if the dog warden isn't solving the problem.

Frank

lightening

teagan wrote:

this evening it came tearing out of it's yard and across the street towards my 20 month old little girl. I yelled at it and jumped infront of my little girl and swung her little dolls buggie at it and it went back.

The Dog certainly should not be out. Did it tear up to you barking and snarling, or with its tail wagging? (not that it makes any difference, but you don't want to instill unnecessary fear of dogs in your little daughter)

teagan

It certainly didn't have it's tail wagging. It bent down and came creeping out of it's yard and then came tearing across the road, and not in a friendly manner. But it wasn't snarling.
My daughter doesn't have any fear of dogs at all, she loves them, both sets of her grandparents have dogs which she loves playing with.
I don't have a fear of dogs but I do of this one ever since it tore up the road after my sister. The dog warden was called that time, but I don't if he did anything about it.
The way it is now, there is no way I'd bring my daughter out for a walk again.
Find it hard to believe that the dog is allowed to be loose on the estate.

johnnyrotten

Have a read of this:
Control of Dogs act 1986

TequilaMockingBird

Know how you feel Teagan,
It won't be any consolation, but I've had this problem and the dog warden wasn't interested. I believe there is only one warden per county, so they are massively over-stretched. When I couldn't get the dog warden, I went to the guards, who said it was down to the dog warden. (Seething!) In the end my Mum went to the owners and ripped shreds out of them! (Yes, I'm a 35 year old mother of one. And I got my Mammy!) Don't mean to sound flippant at all, and I think legally dogs can't be out without a leash, so legally the guards have to act on this. Isn't it unreal that people will let dogs loose around kids...madness.
Good luck.

SuzyS1972

It's a sorry state of affairs in this country that dogs are out loose at all - regardless of kids.
They pose a threat to motorists , cyclists etc.
People simply should NOT have dogs if they cannot provide a safe secure environment for them.
Under the Control of Dogs Act they are required to be on a leash accompanied by a person and under control at all times !

Keep ringing the warden - loose dogs are to be picked up and taken the the local pound and put to sleep if not reclaimed by the owner after 5 days.
That's the law.
It does not really fall into the remit of the Gardai in fairness.

You could ask the warden to speak to the owners considering he is technically not a " stray " dog

Why can't you talk to the owners if you know the house ?
If you don't feel able / willing a short nice note explaining your fears and their responsibilities would do ?

MarkR

I hate when people leave their dogs roam. When i was driving the mrs' car around halloween a dog (prob scared by fireworks) ran broadside into the car while we were moving. She nearly shat herself as she hadn't even seen him coming.

I know I should call the warden on the repeat offenders but they are pretty stretched I suppose.

I'd bet if they are loose they are also unliscenced.

SuzyS1972

Unlicensed and un-neutered
Hence the dreadful problem we have of unwanted dogs in Ireland.

I used to feel so bad for reporting dogs to the warden as I KNOW what will happen to them in most cases but the older and wiser ( some might disagree ! ) I get - I actually think in some cases it is better for a dog to be put to sleep by a trained vet than to die screaming under the wheels of a car , than to be thrown on a bonfire or be abused by scumbags with nothing better to do - we've all seen these cases in the media.]
If dogs were not out wandering a lot of this random cruelty would stop.
An old neighbour of mine let their dog out all the time and I often seen him 5 miles from home wandering.
He died a horrendous death from Parvo - thank god they have never replaced him.

FranknFurter

The dog should not be off his owners property unsupervised.
The dog is becoming a nuisance and potentially dangerous to residents.
If the dog warden is not dealing with the problem, phone the local guards, make sure to let them know the dog warden was contacted and made no difference and that this dog is and has been potentially dangerous to your familly members.

*Insist* they do somthing, do *not* let them fob you off with "this has to be dealt with by the warden" etc, tell them then to get the warden to call as a matter of urgency... they have a obligation to protect public safety.

B

teagan

I have talked to the guards and they said unfortunatley there is nothing they can do, that the have no say here, it is up tp the dog warden. Nothing has been done so far and nothing was done a year ago when my sister rang the warden.

MarkR

Get their names and advise them that if someone is savaged by that dog you'll be reporting their failure to protect.

Was it just someone on the desk, can you speak to someone more senior about your concerns?

FranknFurter

The job of the guards is to "protect and ensure (in as much as possible), the public safety".
If this dog is causing a danger to the public, the guards can get the dog warden to deal with this immediately. Tell them (dont ask), that this has to be done or they will be coming out to an incident of attacked children and / adults.
I know they will often think of a "dangerous dog" report as being an over-reaction or neighbour quarrel, but the point has to be made extremely clear that this is not the case. Maybe have other neighbours complain about it each day if they still refuse to do their duty.

A friend of mine (after pleading their case endlessly with the guards & warden), ended up asking her local vet to phone the warden and the guards to tell them a dog was causing injury to local pets and animals. Once he did, it was amazing how quickly it was dealt with. Its amazing how you seem to get nowhere with these issues unless you have letters after your name and wont shut up.

B