Rules of Dulwich Park

[Marie81]

Saying all dogs over a certain size should be muzzled is ridiculous and as said in previous responses it will only be adhered to by good owners. Also some breeds are very difficult to muzzle, I purchased three different muzzles before finding the right size for mine to wear and in the end had to get one custom made from the US!

I believe that well behaved dogs who have perfect recall should be allowed to run freely off lead in the park as long as their owners are close by and don't allow them to run up to other dogs on leads.

Dulwichdogman - I have this problem all the time as I have an aggressive dog (fear based) who is muzzled and I walk on a double ended lead, however other dog owners allow their dogs to run up to mine all the time which gets him into a right state and although the owner calls their dog back 9 times out of 10 the dog ignores and carries on charging towards us whilst it's owner usually just stands there watching! I too believe if your dog does not have good recall everytime then don't let it off lead. Also my other dog who I also keep on the lead cos her recall is bad has been bitten several times by dogs charging over off lead whose owners tell me oh my dog is friendly and never bites! This really annoys me, what people see in their dogs behaviour may be different to what another dogs see's!

[first mate]

marie,

so many dog owners seem to have a blind spot when it comes to lead etiquette. If a dog is on the lead in a park it is for a good reason and other dog owners need to ensure their own dog is kept at bay. Unfortunately some dog owners, like some parents, want to take their charge out to run around freely while they chat on their mobile or to other dog owners, oblivious to what is going on around them.

I also do wish that certain people would not let their in- season bitches run around the park offlead- simply bonkers and so irresponsible.

Whinge over.

[ianr]

peckhamboy Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Surely by definition, nobody could ever be guilty of "being in control" of a dog that is dangerously

> "out of control"? The concepts must be mutually exclusive?

I'd assume the writer had a momentary lapse of attention and meant to type "being in charge". The Act's easily checkable online.

[ianr]

ianr Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I had a look in the library at the report in the print version of Southwark News, but didn't bother to copy

> it or make notes. I'll try to summarise it from memory later today unless anyone else does better.

Very much a second best but AFAIR, and with my own comments in square brackets:

Reporter spoke with Sgt Kristian Leighton.

[Not clear in what capacity he spoke. He's currently shown assigned to the Camberwell Green SNT]

Initiative arising from Southwark's position on some league table of dog incidents.

The initiative information-led and ongoing.

Five times more dogs seized in August than in July.

[No indication of whether information input had increased, whether any referred to organised crime, or what kind of information it was.]

Mainly prohibited dogs and/or dangerously out of control.

Prohibited dogs can be returned to owners subject to conditions such as muzzling, chipping, tattooing, ?keeping on lead, ...

[i guess the conditions bit refers to a magistrates court order under the Dogs Act 1871. That's a civil action not a criminal process, and is applicable to any "complaint that a dog is dangerous, and not kept under proper control."]

[surely they can't really mean 'prohibited' dogs? When I read that I suspected some garbled reporting.]

Action can be taken to prevent dogs that ?bite/?injure a person from doing so again.

[is that an indication that, in the case of at least an unprohibited breed, the police/whoever will only take action on evidence of injury to a person?]

[expat]

AFAIK the followin dogs are prohibited in the UK

Banned dogs

There are four types of dogs that are banned in the UK, the:

?Pit Bull Terrier

?Japanese Tosa

?Dogo Argentino

?Fila Braziliero

None of these dogs are recognised by the government as breeds in the UK. It is illegal to breed from, sell, abandon or give away a banned dog.

The legislation that covers banned dogs is section 1 and section 4b of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991. The Act also covers dangerous dogs of any breed.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/HomeAndCommunity/InYourHome/AnimalsAndPets/DG_180098

[Toddinator]

First mate: "I also do wish that certain people would not let their in- season bitches run around the park offlead- simply bonkers and so irresponsible."

I agree that I should be kept a lead in the park at all times ;-)

And I have to say going round the park at full speed on one of those two-seater tricycles is incredibly fun! Everyone should try it!

[Neil_Howie]

I had a dream last night that every dog in London died peacefully in its sleep. There was no more sh*t on the streets, no p*iss-stinking trees, no parent had to pick poison from their children's shoes, no toddler was bitten or licked by a tongue recently to be found cleaning a pair of testicles, no half-wits wandered around with attack beasts on bits of rope. it was kind of amazing, tbh.

[first mate]

Neil,

Guess you think all other animals don't defecate/piss too - rats, foxes, squirrels, birds.....oh and humans occasionally. By far the stinkiest widdle I have ever smelt on the odd street corner is from human males. But hey, I guess dreams are always less than rational.

[Alec John Moore]

The dreams may always be less than rational but the telling of them isn't always as funny.

[Southwark Council]

Hi All,

Firstly, AliPali, I'd like to say how sorry I am about your experience and I'm glad to hear both of you are okay.

We do have an ongoing and rising issue with dogs, especially those classed as 'dangerous' i.e. pit bulls or pit-bull crosses. They are often kept as trophies to be seen with but equally, some are very precious pets.

There are dog restricted areas in most parks in the borough i.e. children's playgrounds, and some have walking areas that insist on dogs being under control. Wardens do patrol the parks and advise, where appropriate, that dogs must be kept on leads or removed from the area.

If a dog bites then the first port of call (aside from hospital) should be the police. If you feel there is a potential risk from what you believe to be a dangerous dog of any breed then you can call our Warden Control Room on 0207 525 5846 where it will be passed to me for action.

I currently sit on the Dog Action Group which is a large group of partners that meet once every month (police, RSPCA, Community Safety, SASBU, Battersea, Housing etc etc) and discuss and deal with any current issues or projects for the future.

I am also part of the BARK project (Borough Action for Responsible Kanines). We meet once a month also to pick out the dogs that have been highlighted to us. We then go out with police, my chipping team, RSPCA and SASBU to visit properties and assess the dogs. If needed, there's a variety of actions we can take from free micro chipping to, in some cases, free neutering / spaying. If a dog is a pure breed, it can also be referred to the Status Dogs Police unit for further investigation/ removal.

As you can see we are very focused on actions with dogs and we welcome information from residents. We also appreciate that the majority of dog owners do act in a proper and responsible manner.

If you have any further questions, you can reach me at [email protected]

Susan Hunter

Area manager

Southwark community warden service

[Toddinator]

Neil,

It's sad that you feel that way, and it's sad that you've never had the pleasure of enjoying the unique companionship and loyalty that a dog can give you - they really are good for the soul. Perhaps you don't have a soul in which case you're probably pretty unhappy. It's also a shame that you could wish that kind of loss on anyone that does love their family dog - how traumatic it would be! And that's an amazing thought for you? How awful...

[Marie81]

Neil Howie you're a twat!

[cate]

Susan Hunter,

How do you know where the dogs you have 'picked out' live? Does someone follow them home first? What is SASBU? Do you DNA test dogs to see if they are pit-bull, or part pit or any of the other banned breeds?

[cate]

Marie81 Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Neil Howie you're a @#$%&!

He's a troll Marie. Ignore him.

[puzzled]

someone above called for dogs to be muzzled. that would leave the overwhelming majority of nice, peaceful dogs vulnerable if they were attacked by one of the monsters mentioned above, for they would not be obeying the rules. sadly, there is a big dog-hating lobby on this board.

[Applespider]

Puzzled, I wouldn't take it personally.

Think of almost any topic and you'll probably find a 'lobby' for each side on EDF or other forums (cyclists, dogs, kids in restaurants, kids on transport, late licenses). There's a statistic used in customer services that for every 10 negative comments you get just one positive - I suspect it's a similar posting ratio online with many of these controversial subject. The majority probably just live and let live.

[Pearson]

Marie81 Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Neil Howie you're a @#$%&!

----------------------------

^ Marie81 I think you've spelt @#$%& wrong.

Usually just four symbols, Innit?

[Marie81]

Pearson: it was just four letters, I had no idea that word would be blocked by admin and changed into symbols but I'm sure he understood what I meant :)

[Pearson]

Hahaha, so it's Admin that can't spell

My apologies to you :)

[Administrator]

Not all swear words have four letters, eg fucker. Please stay on topic.

[VALFR59]

Hello,

I was terrified by your bad experience in the park. You were lucky to not beeing hurted by these dog!!!

I often go to the park with my baby, when the weather is good and i'm not feeling good when these typeof dog ran alone near to my purchair...

I fear also for my dog ...he's again in France and will arrive only in November (because of the English Law of protection desease)

We arrived in August in Dulwich and we came from France.

We're very surprised by the number of pit bull or american Staff in England... it seem to depend on area, and i find there no so many pit bull in dulwich.

In France , these type of dog and some others are strictly controled .The governement forbidden their birth in order to stop the progress on their number,.It's beccause we had some terrible attaks on children during these last 3 years(who were killed by pit bull, Bauceron or Rotweiler). Owner of these dogs have to be registred by the Police and owners are obliged to keep attached their dog in public and muzzled (people call easy the police when they observe that the owner not respected the rules). If they don't do that, after several penalities, the dog can be placed on a center or unfortunatly killed by a vet.

We love animals (we have a cat, a dog Golden retriever) and i find the English dog very well educate in public rather in my country. It's just unbelievable that "fight type dogs" are not obliged to be muzzled ...

All dogs not have to be placed in the same basket than these dangerous exeptions...if you love animals, you love peole according to me.

The police don't often come to see if law was respected and if families were in safety in the park?

After that i'll be not quiet at the park...

Sorry for my English, i'm not fluent again!!

[Marie81]

VALFR59: My dog who was muzzled and walking nicely on a short lead yesterday was set upon by a Golden Retriever! It came charging over and started circling my dog barking and showing it?s teeth, at first my dog ignored it then he became really stressed and tried to pull his muzzle off whilst the owner of the Golden Retriever just stood there calling his dog who was ignoring him. It then went for mine but I managed to pull him away and keep walking which took all my strength as he?s a really strong dog but still a puppy. So please don?t stereotype!!

[Southwark Council]

Hi Cate,

Thanks for your questions.

The visits we pay to homes are based on information recieved from any number of sources; direct to us, general chat to people, observation whilst out on the streets etc. We do not follow people home.

SASBU is the Southwark Anti Social Behaviour Unit. Further information is available on the council website.

We do not DNA dogs. If we suspect the breed is of the banned variety we will seek further identification and often involve the RSPCA and the Status Dogs Unit.

Hope this helps,

Susan Hunter

Area manager

Southwark community warden service

[SteveT]

The sooner the parks have a fenced off dogs only area the happier we none dog owners will be.

I never feel safe on any park without a substantial walking stick in my hand.

Why are the majority of normal civilized people controlled by the ever increasinguncontrolled minority?

How many deaths and maulings have to happen before legislation is produced which actually protect the public?

[Applespider]

SteveT, I'm sorry you feel that way but don't speak for all non-dog owners. I'm one and have never felt the need to walk around any park with a cudgel.

There's an irony in your post where you ask why the majority are controlled by the minority... I suspect most dog-owners feel the same. Why should the majority of well behaved dogs and owners be penalised by the actions of a few who would probably ignore any restrictions in any case?