garda stopped me with my dog!

jockeyboard

Hi guys, just looking for some info about something that happened this morning with my dog

I was at deserted beach when out of no where came a gard, I had my dog off lead and my 2 year old son was walking with me. (just setting the scene!:P)

The gard called over to me to ask what bread my dog was, I answered she was a belguim sheppard cross (possibly with a lab-I can post photo if necessary). Our dog is a rescue dog and we were told she was a Belguim Sheppard. This is what was on form when we rescued her and also what she is listed as on her dog licence. It was the vet that said she may have been crossed with a black lab.

Anyway he proceeded to tell me the dog should be on lead as she is a Shepard and I told him I was was under the impression that it was only German Shepard that should be on lead+muzzle (please can we not get into the debate about muzzling etc) and that the Belguim Shepard was not a restricted bred. He said any type of shepard should be but then kind of contradicted himself by saying he wouldn't go so far as muzzling.

Just as a note (I didn't know this) he said while the dog can be off lead on the beach she must be on lead within 200 meters of the life guard!

So anyway was he right? should my dog be on lead? should she be muzzled? there were loads of other dog walkers on the beach and none of them had leads or muzzles.

Kukey

I am surprised a Garda stopped you and knew your dog was a Belgian Shepherd!
Yes he was right unfortunately Belgians are considered a TYPE of Shepherd.Have a read of this thread http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=84919134

Gran Hermano

Sounds like he was all set to bust you for having a German Shep off lead but once he realised it was a Belgian Shep rather than admit his mistake
started to waffle about how all shepherds are restricted.

JP85

Obviously a quiet day for that garda

muddypaws

Kukey wrote: »

I am surprised a Garda stopped you and knew your dog was a Belgian Shepherd!
Yes he was right unfortunately Belgians are considered a TYPE of Shepherd.Have a read of this thread http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=84919134

No, they are not considered a type of German Shepherd, and that thread backs that up.

so are Australian shepherds the same?

OP, are there any byelaws posted anywhere on the beach about what hours are allowed off lead etc, and about the lifeguard thing?

I think the other poster is right, he thought it was a GSD, and then didn't want to lose face when he was wrong. Always be polite, explain that your dog is a BSD, and not covered by the legislation, and you should be fine

jockeyboard

thanks for taking the time for replying guys, will have a look at that link now. think when he originally called out he didn't see me and that I had a small child walking right beside the dog....when he got up close he could see my dog was old and fat....hehe no danger to anyone.... he was actually very nice about it all but I got a fright!

hollysf

pretty sure all dogs have to be on leads in public areas

westies4ever

hollysf wrote: »

pretty sure all dogs have to be on leads in public areas

nope. wrong.

jockeyboard

he told me dogs don't need to be on lead except within 200 meters of lifeguard.

didn't notice any signs when I came in bout dogs on lead either but to be honest I wasn't looking as would always let my dog for a run unless beach very busy or near children.

after reading that thread am more confused! I can see belguim shepard not on the list however as she is not 'pure bred' some one could argue there may be german shepard in her mix! lol that means in theory all mixed breds should be muzzled 'incase' of any restricted bred genes.....

on another side note my dog is epileptic (which is commen with belguim shepards) so I wont be muzzling her.

TooManyDogs

With mix breeds it always comes down to a guessing game, so if the rescue said she's belgian x and her licence says similar then she's not a restricted breed. If it was easy to simply lump all shepherds in together there would be a huge number of dogs on the restricted breed list simply cos they have shepherd in their name, everything from german, belgian, dutch, swiss and australian shepherd!

I had on the other hand a garda tell me that cos my gsd is only a crossbreed that she didn't need to be muzzled! Suffice to say they don't always know what they're talking about and make it up as they go along. I never heard about being on a lead within 200m of a lifeguard hut either

You should have told him that his question was a civil matter and nothing to do with the Garda .

OldNotWIse

JP85 wrote: »

Obviously a quiet day for that garda

He must have already moved on the dangerous buskers and was ready to tackle the even more dangerous family pets.

DBB

Kukey wrote: »

I am surprised a Garda stopped you and knew your dog was a Belgian Shepherd!
Yes he was right unfortunately Belgians are considered a TYPE of Shepherd.Have a read of this thread http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=84919134

This point needs to be clarified. There is one county council, that I know of having done some searching, which interprets the legislation as meaning that all "shepherds", and crosses thereof, are restricted. That is Dublin City Council.
No other council interprets it this way, they read the law exactly as it reads, rather than attempting to convolute it and read elements into it that are not there.
That is, that Belgian Shepherds and their crosses are NOT subject to RB legislation.
Critically, Dublin City Council have never tested their theory... Bizarrely, they have never brought the owner of a Belgian Shepherd to court under the RB legislation. I wonder why? I know when I wrote to them on it, they could not explain their stance.
If the law related to all shepherds, why does it just mention "German Shepherds" and not simply "all shepherds"? Their interpretation is bizarre.

Deleted User wrote: »

You should have told him that his question was a civil matter and nothing to do with the Garda .

That would be wrong. Any guard is perfectly entitled to stop a dog owner if he believes the owner is in breach of any legislation, and can prosecute the owner.
In any case, I think deliberately trying to nitpick at a guard is just asking for trouble.

Kukey

Fingalcoco are of the same opinion as Dublin CoCo regards Belgian Shepherds.On another note my Sister was telling me a Guard and a Warden were going around her park one night,they were going over to people with RB who were off lead & unmuzzled.

endacl

Kukey wrote: »

Fingalcoco Co Co

That's a lot of coco!