Unleashed dogs (i'm venting!)


  • I just got in from a walk with my two dogs, and was followed around by a loose dog with no tags or owner in sight.. its so annoying when i'm trying to walk my dogs and theres a random dog jumping and sniffing mine. Meeka did not like him so she's growling at him and Diego is trying to play with him! I had to pick Diego up and take them home. But since Diego needed to go #2 I have to go back out, and of course the dog is still out there.. a lady driving by told me this dog is always loose and has growled at her daughter before, and the area his owner live in.. so i walked to the area where the owner live and eventually the owner came out and got the dog, while we were trying to catch him, the owner was like i dont know why people are threatening to call the cops on us, hes a really nice dogs, he's just an oversized puppy.. and i was thinking well maybe because he is always running around bothering and scaring people with no tags, he's not neutered, and he probably isnt up to date on shots or meds.. ughh people are so annoying!! sorry i had to let this out!! and this is the second time today a loose dog followed my dogs around! (im not sure if its the same dog bc the first time my roommate was walking them) if this keeps happening is there anything i can do? if i call the dog warden will they do anything about it??


  • I called the dog catcher once for a loose dog, same thing here, no tags, running around. I was afraid it was going to get my B, Sahara to follow him beyond our underground fencing. But being a good dog Sahara just stayed in the yard, but I didn't want this dog running around our neighborhood. He came and picked up the dog after much riding around trying to catch it. Haven't seen the dog since that day, if you have a dog, take care of it and don't let it run around. PERIOD:mad: :mad:


  • What an annoying experience you had. Did you say anything to the owner?

    Don't know about where you live, but it's against the law for a dog to be walkabout where I live. Any unleashed dog can be "confiscated" (so to speak) by animal control.


  • I have seen a few loose dogs in our neighborhood since we have lived here. Normally I try to put a leash on them and then walk around to see if I can find their owners. I would hate for them to get hit by a car. If I can't find their owner's I call Animal Control to pick them up.

    In Chesapeake, VA they have a free ride home program if your dog is loose they will bring him home if he is wearing his tags. I don't know why people don't keep tags on their dogs.

    I just don't feel that some people should be pet owner's if you wouldn't let your kid roam the street naked why let your dog (naked being no collar)? Oh, and to not be neutured how irresponsible! I would add in here that you wouldn't let your kids roam the street alone but I have seen a bit of that in our neighborhood, little kids outside and no parents insight.

    Poor dog, I hope someone picks him up thinks he's a stray and gives him a good home where he will be neutured, given a collar with tags and if he gets out the owner will be immediatly out looking for him.


  • we do have leash laws here, but some people just dont like to follow them.. and i didnt say anything to the owner, you could tell i was annoyed but i didnt want to get too mean so i just didnt say anything.. i just dont understand how you dont have tags on ur dog if there is a chance he can get out, or you know he gets out often! and they dont even look for him for 30 minutes!


  • @DiegosMom:

    sorry i had to let this out!! and this is the second time today a loose dog followed my dogs around! (im not sure if its the same dog bc the first time my roommate was walking them) if this keeps happening is there anything i can do? if i call the dog warden will they do anything about it??

    In my county you would have 2 options. You could call animal control but their response time is usually pretty slow since there are not many officers or trucks for the size of the county. The other option is that you could take the dog in yourself. If it is after business hours you just leave it in the night drop. In my county the fee for a loose unneutered dog to be claimed runs somewhere in the neighborhood of $250. If the owner agrees to allow the shelter to spay/neuter the claim fee drops to just $50 + cost of alter which is usually around $75.


  • Lisa, how does the night drop work once there is a dog in a pen? Does it lock, or latch? We have some shelters around here that allow people to put more dogs in after a dog has been dropped, allowing the dogs to fight (or breed, I suppose) un-supervised. I have heard more than one story where a dog that was later adopted was attacked by another dog in the night drop area.


  • We have a similar problem in our neighborhood, with no solution that I've been able to find. I think we have ONE animal control officer for our county {Sharron may be able to correct me if I'm wrong}, and if you call to lodge a complaint they ask if you feel the dog is a danger, then they send you papers to fill out, which are then filed. I think the owners may get a letter IF you can supply the address for the dogs.
    It's a largely useless system.

    That's why my poor dogs never get walked any more. It was becoming such a huge hassle to just get down my street, let alone any further. It really does make me angry that MY dogs are trapped in their back yard while those others run free.


  • Yeah, this is an issue that has been driving me crazy as well. I like to walk Tosca all over my city, and I would say at least a quarter to half of the time there is at least one incident where someones dog runs up to us, cause its not leashed. So far I have had no incidences because of it, but it scares the crap out of me, especially when I am listening to my ipod and don't hear the dog coming. Its so annoying, and usually its a dog that the owners are out in the yard with it, but its not leashed, and they are not paying attention so it runs out when it sees us. Then they look at me like I am crazy for getting scared that their 100lb dog is bounding at me, and they say, "he's harmless don't worry." Like I know that, plus Tosca isn't exactly great around other dogs, and I wouldnt want her to provoke them.
    The absolute worst is when the people don't even apologize, and just call it backed to them in a half-assed way, not caring too much if it doesn't listen, meanwhile I am trying to pick up Tosca so she can't get at this dog….so annoying!!! How hard is it to tie up your freakin dog, especially if you know it bounds at strangers...its beyond me. So believe, me you aren't the only one frustrated... 🙂 If only people would learn...


  • @Quercus:

    Lisa, how does the night drop work once there is a dog in a pen? Does it lock, or latch? We have some shelters around here that allow people to put more dogs in after a dog has been dropped, allowing the dogs to fight (or breed, I suppose) un-supervised. I have heard more than one story where a dog that was later adopted was attacked by another dog in the night drop area.

    The night drop at our shelter is made up of what looks from the outside like a large bank of lockers of various sizes. In reality it is like the cages they have in a vet's office. So each drop off gets its own locker and is locked inside. I am not positive but I am pretty sure they are checked every few hours through the night.

    Our shelter is really outdated but they do their best to keep all their animals safe.


  • I will again say that most animal control departments are vastly understaffed and therefore enforcement of the county's various animal related laws is complaint driven. They just do not have the staff to properly enforce the laws currently on the books. In most counties, they would probably find a huge decrease in the number of shelter dogs if they could actually enforce the laws currently in place, especially the leash law. Many of the unwanted puppies result from breedings that happen while dogs are roaming offleash. Until animal control can enforce the laws currently in place there is no reason for new laws, they won't make any difference.


  • Sigh … again it all goes to funding or lack there of probably. Politics.

    @lvoss:

    I will again say that most animal control departments are vastly understaffed and therefore enforcement of the county's various animal related laws is complaint driven. They just do not have the staff to properly enforce the laws currently on the books. In most counties, they would probably find a huge decrease in the number of shelter dogs if they could actually enforce the laws currently in place, especially the leash law. Many of the unwanted puppies result from breedings that happen while dogs are roaming offleash. Until animal control can enforce the laws currently in place there is no reason for new laws, they won't make any difference.

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