A furious row broke out when a man posted about a frightening incident which happened to his wife in a park. The person said that she was in Beacon Park, Lichfield near a cafe and an argument started over her dog, which was off a lead.
The man said that another park user had complained about it running around where lots of children were without being in direct control. And he said the person had ended up swearing at her.
And he claimed there was no problem because it was a ‘highly trained gun dog’. He said the incident had happened last Saturday in the post on Facebook group ‘You’re probably from Lichfield, Staffs if -..’. The man said: ”I would like to report an incident that happened in Beacon Park on Saturday. afternoon around 1.45pm.
“My partner was walking our dog near the cafe when a young man started shouting at her and telling her to F*** off. She said ‘are you talking to me?’ He said ‘your dog is out of control and needs to be on an F***ing lead’.
“Our dog is a highly trained gun dog and was doing nothing more than looking for his ball. He was not causing a problem to anyone.
“My partner was reduced to tears and very upset by this, and I do wonder if this guy would have reacted this way had I been there. If you witnessed this incident and know who this person is, could you please let me know. As I would like to congratulate him on setting such a wonderful example to his two young children, and all the other children that were in the area at the time.”
However other members of the group felt that parents were within their rights to ask for people to keep dogs on leads when children are around. After all, some said, how is a person to know if a dog is ‘highly trained’ or not.
One person said they actually witnessed the incident and said: “I was sat with my family right next to this when it happened. I’m a dog person and we had 2 dogs with us (on leads) the area was packed yesterday, (by the coffee shop, ice cream stall and play area).
“No matter how well trained a dog is there is no way that any dog should have been off a lead amongst all those people. There were no seats available so parents and kids were sat on the grass and your dog was zipping in and out, fast, amongst them all for quite a while as your wife was chatting with people at the entrance to the bridge so it’s not like this was just a short moment as they passed by.
“I don’t agree with some comments on here that dogs in public places need to be on a lead but I do think that an owner should be aware when a leaded dog is required, and this was one of those times. The man’s language was to colourful but he did ask first before it escalated because your dog was still legging it around. He could have left the f words out but he was worried for his kids and to be honest, I understand why.”
The original person replied: “There is never an excuse for abuse. Being kind and friendly costs nothing and makes our world a much better place.”
However, one person replied: “Read the room. Starting another “dogs on leads” discussion may not have been your purpose but that is what society has deemed appropriate given the circumstances. You know your dog’s well-behaved and that’s a credit to you, but to everyone else it’s just some random dog drawn from a population of dogs, some of which are badly behaved, aggressive, steal lunches, and sometimes are even dangerous.”
Another added: “Though I do not condone such language, I also believe the dog should have been on a lead, no matter how well-trained you believe your dog is. The park is a public space where everyone should feel safe.”
