Threatening to shoot a dog
Discussion
Chap near us has a field adjacent a lane that is his driveway and also a public footpath.
His field is poorly fenced and in the past our dog has run in there. It's laid to grass/hay - no animals. He has a general problem with dogs judging by the crap signs he has erected. His problem would of course be entirely solved by putting up a proper fence instead of fence posts and two wires, but that is by the by.
Over the years the chap has become very aggressive to my wife. Our dog has not been in the field for a long time.
I rarely walk that way now as don't need the hassle, but the last time I did he drove down the lane and nearly ran me over. Probably an inch to spare. Not a lot given I could have stumbled and had a dog on a lead.
Step-lad took the dog that way today. Dog was probably not on the lead - but did not and had not gone into the blokes field. Bloke told lad he would shoot the dog next time he saw him.
I'm a bit pissed off now to be honest, and threatening to shoot a dog is a bit much. I'm not sure it's even legal to shoot them, unless they are worrying livestock.
So I'm in two minds. Do I ignore this as sounding off, or do I report this?
PH - I need your balance.... (god help me
)
His field is poorly fenced and in the past our dog has run in there. It's laid to grass/hay - no animals. He has a general problem with dogs judging by the crap signs he has erected. His problem would of course be entirely solved by putting up a proper fence instead of fence posts and two wires, but that is by the by.
Over the years the chap has become very aggressive to my wife. Our dog has not been in the field for a long time.
I rarely walk that way now as don't need the hassle, but the last time I did he drove down the lane and nearly ran me over. Probably an inch to spare. Not a lot given I could have stumbled and had a dog on a lead.
Step-lad took the dog that way today. Dog was probably not on the lead - but did not and had not gone into the blokes field. Bloke told lad he would shoot the dog next time he saw him.
I'm a bit pissed off now to be honest, and threatening to shoot a dog is a bit much. I'm not sure it's even legal to shoot them, unless they are worrying livestock.
So I'm in two minds. Do I ignore this as sounding off, or do I report this?
PH - I need your balance.... (god help me
)Report it. Definitely.
Someone who is as antisocial and threatening as you describe should NOT have a firearm available to them of any kind. You are right to mention that a landowner can (without warning if necessary) shoot a dog that is loose AND worrying his/her livestock. Aside from that I don't think so. He has options, of course, most of which involve court orders etc, to make you keep said dog off/out of the land. If he got one, and you didn't obey it there is potential for you to be found in contempt of court, for which prison is a possible outcome. But any court case would (should!) look at all the facts of a case and would likely require him to build/maintain the fence properly as a condition of granting any order against you, especially as you describe the path as a public right of way.
Whether reporting it to local police would have any effect? Who knows? But there have been some high profile cases where unstable individuals have been reported and their guns/licences were not taken away, or worse still taken away and returned to them later, leading to wounding and/or murder at a later date. Which leads me to believe that any report would be taken seriously and investigated, lest the Police be accused of "failing to learn lessons" from previous cases.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-surrey-298527...
So yes, report it. Or hammer frozen sausages into the muzzle of his shotgun. The resulting breach explosion would put him off discharging a weapon for some considerable time...
Someone who is as antisocial and threatening as you describe should NOT have a firearm available to them of any kind. You are right to mention that a landowner can (without warning if necessary) shoot a dog that is loose AND worrying his/her livestock. Aside from that I don't think so. He has options, of course, most of which involve court orders etc, to make you keep said dog off/out of the land. If he got one, and you didn't obey it there is potential for you to be found in contempt of court, for which prison is a possible outcome. But any court case would (should!) look at all the facts of a case and would likely require him to build/maintain the fence properly as a condition of granting any order against you, especially as you describe the path as a public right of way.
Whether reporting it to local police would have any effect? Who knows? But there have been some high profile cases where unstable individuals have been reported and their guns/licences were not taken away, or worse still taken away and returned to them later, leading to wounding and/or murder at a later date. Which leads me to believe that any report would be taken seriously and investigated, lest the Police be accused of "failing to learn lessons" from previous cases.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-surrey-298527...
So yes, report it. Or hammer frozen sausages into the muzzle of his shotgun. The resulting breach explosion would put him off discharging a weapon for some considerable time...
Worth a read op. Remind the idiot of his responsibilities. http://www.fwi.co.uk/farm-life/your-legal-rights-o...
I have heard, but no idea if it is true, that it is a landowners responsibility to fence a dog out which would imply he should improve the fence.
The way you described it I thought you meant it was a footpath around a field, not a good wide track which I assume is also a drive. I would certainly report his actions to the police and possibly the local footpath authority (here its the county council).
You might also want to post on the dreaded facebook, to see if others have the same experience?
The way you described it I thought you meant it was a footpath around a field, not a good wide track which I assume is also a drive. I would certainly report his actions to the police and possibly the local footpath authority (here its the county council).
You might also want to post on the dreaded facebook, to see if others have the same experience?
Get yourself down to the local nick and do not leave until they do something about this.
Don't wait until tomorrow, if you take it seriously so will plod.
It is completely out of order for a sgc or fl holder to threaten a member of the public that they will shoot their dog.
I assume the step son is also a minor?
Don't wait until tomorrow, if you take it seriously so will plod.
It is completely out of order for a sgc or fl holder to threaten a member of the public that they will shoot their dog.
I assume the step son is also a minor?
Edited by citizensm1th on Saturday 2nd April 19:57
The Moose said:
Out of interest, how does being a keen shot mean your opinion carries greater weight that someone elses?!
Because he's had to jump through the hoops to get his FAC, and is also perhaps more familiar with how closely the police pay attention when the word "firearm" is mentioned?citizensm1th said:
Get yourself down to the local nick and do not leave until they do something about this.
Don't wait until tomorrow, if you take it seriously so will plod.
It is completely out of order for a sgc or fl holder to threaten a member of the public that they will shoot their dog.
I assume the step son is also a minor?
19....Don't wait until tomorrow, if you take it seriously so will plod.
It is completely out of order for a sgc or fl holder to threaten a member of the public that they will shoot their dog.
I assume the step son is also a minor?
Edited by citizensm1th on Saturday 2nd April 19:57
The Moose said:
Rushjob said:
As a keen shot myself I can guarantee they will be interested.
Out of interest, how does being a keen shot mean your opinion carries greater weight that someone elses?!surveyor said:
Chap near us has a field adjacent a lane that is his driveway and also a public footpath.
His field is poorly fenced and in the past our dog has run in there. It's laid to grass/hay - no animals. He has a general problem with dogs judging by the crap signs he has erected. His problem would of course be entirely solved by putting up a proper fence instead of fence posts and two wires, but that is by the by.
Over the years the chap has become very aggressive to my wife. Our dog has not been in the field for a long time.
I rarely walk that way now as don't need the hassle, but the last time I did he drove down the lane and nearly ran me over. Probably an inch to spare. Not a lot given I could have stumbled and had a dog on a lead.
Step-lad took the dog that way today. Dog was probably not on the lead - but did not and had not gone into the blokes field. Bloke told lad he would shoot the dog next time he saw him.
I'm a bit pissed off now to be honest, and threatening to shoot a dog is a bit much. I'm not sure it's even legal to shoot them, unless they are worrying livestock.
So I'm in two minds. Do I ignore this as sounding off, or do I report this?
PH - I need your balance.... (god help me)
It is not his job to erect a fence to keep someone elses livestock out. His field is poorly fenced and in the past our dog has run in there. It's laid to grass/hay - no animals. He has a general problem with dogs judging by the crap signs he has erected. His problem would of course be entirely solved by putting up a proper fence instead of fence posts and two wires, but that is by the by.
Over the years the chap has become very aggressive to my wife. Our dog has not been in the field for a long time.
I rarely walk that way now as don't need the hassle, but the last time I did he drove down the lane and nearly ran me over. Probably an inch to spare. Not a lot given I could have stumbled and had a dog on a lead.
Step-lad took the dog that way today. Dog was probably not on the lead - but did not and had not gone into the blokes field. Bloke told lad he would shoot the dog next time he saw him.
I'm a bit pissed off now to be honest, and threatening to shoot a dog is a bit much. I'm not sure it's even legal to shoot them, unless they are worrying livestock.
So I'm in two minds. Do I ignore this as sounding off, or do I report this?
PH - I need your balance.... (god help me
)We have a field that we just use for hay, there is no public right of way there but people literally come from miles away to walk their dogs on there and let them s
t in the field. Whether we are polite or aggressive to them, it doesn't make any difference we can't keep them off. The field is fenced, the gate locked, there is barbed wire on the top of the gate with a liberal coating of grease on the top bar. People just think they can walk their dogs where they like.If you have ever had a baler block up and in the process of unblocking it you got a hand full of dog s
t, you too would want to fill every dog with lead. Forums | Speed, Plod & the Law | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff