farmer threatened to shoot my dog

Originally Posted by blue curvy jester

yea but he'll shoot first and argue later that there was the possibility that there may have been sheep there thatyou didn't see

lost a dalmation that way

Its not that big of a field, 100m square Max. walls and fences on all sides he doesnt even have sheep. Remember this is a field that I walk past/through 2 or 3 times a day for the last 6 months. Cows and cows only and even they weren't in the field they were in the next one down the hill (no where near the path i was taking).

You lost your Dalmation, are you the case study I've found where the 3 brothers lost 2 dogs both dalmations and they both got shot for attacking some sheep but 1 dog survived?

As much as the farmer has reasonable grounds to shoot a dog to protect his livestock, it is as a last resort. Quite clearly it was not the case in this instance. The farmer may well be very annoyed and angry that people use his field as though it was their own personal playground, but does that give enough cause for the verbal onslaught that was given? If you had not retaliated in the same manor of abuse that was thrown at you I would have said you had cause for complaint and could have made a complaint regarding the threats and the verbal abuse. However, seeing as you retaliated in the exact same manor I can't see how you are in any position to do anything at all. I would just do as you have been told and keep the dog on a lead.

Originally Posted by timwilky

As somebody that has shot a number of dogs I can tell you.

He is well within his rights if your dog is in his opinion a threat to his livestock. Keep your dog on a lead, a public footpath is not a right to roam, stick to the path.

Whilst you are on his land, he has a right to protect his livestock. Seeing a dog running in an empty field is enough to make him question what control you have over your dog. Who is to say that in its excitement it may or may not run into an adjacent field that does contain livestock and then sorry but bang.

His advice is good. Don't put your dog at risk

if there are no livestock in the field in which the dog is roaming without a lead the farmer has no right to shoot a dog on his land, unless of course the dog belongs to the farmer.

farmers shout out and claim they know the laws; and yet here in wiltshire the farmers and land owners that have done this in the past have failed publicly.

my advice is to keep your dog on a lead when you are on someone else’s land with livestock around, no livestock means no lead but pay attention to your dogs wear about and surroundings.

with regard to the footpath statement, i believe you will find not all footpaths through fields have a given path. it is the discretion of the walker as to whether they walk straight across the field or keep to the boundary fence.

the right to roam is still a bit iffy; the successful prosecutions of trespassing have only been passed when the property was clearly labelled several times in multiple access points and locations.

Originally Posted by madness

The farmer was out of order threatening to shoot your dog. As mentioned, a farmer can only shoot a dog that is worrying animals. As the landowner, he is within his rights to specify that all dogs on his land must be on a lead. I would advise reporting it to the police and being very insistent that they pay him a visit. Tell them that you also feeled threatened yourself.

Sorry Ophic but I'll follow this advice instead i think

[Luckypants]

Originally Posted by madness

Tell them that you also feeled threatened yourself.

So embellish the tale to try to get the farmer in trouble? Nice one.

I think the farmer was acting very provocatively shouting and swearing in that way, but your really should have kept cool. If the farmer was already angry and ready to shoot your dog, then storming up and having a slanging match was probably not a wise move.

He has every right to shoot a dog worrying livestock or that he *thinks* is worrying livestock. If your dog is running free you have very little defence against this legally (and if you did, it would not bring your dog back from the dead).

I would think about the background to this. Field with a FP next to area where folks walk dogs. Livestock in field for only a few days before being moved.... farmer furious at people with dogs not on lead.... he has possibly had a dog attack his cows very recently?

I'm not condoning how the farmer behaved, but I would venture that there was a reason for it. Blowing your top in return meant you had an argument instead of finding out why he was so upset.

Have a look here :http://forums.sv650.org/showthread.p...ghlight=farmer

What a ****. I'd report it to the police for sure. They're getting hot on shotgun licenses.

[Luckypants]

Originally Posted by Geoffrey

with regard to the footpath statement, i believe you will find not all footpaths through fields have a given path. it is the discretion of the walker as to whether they walk straight across the field or keep to the boundary fence.

And I'll tell you 100% for sure that the direction of any ROW is that defined on the local authority definitive map. All paths have a designated route, be that around the edge or straight across a field

[ophic]

Originally Posted by leedsmatt7

Sorry Ophic but I'll follow this advice instead i think

but train the dog anyway so it'll be ready for next time.

If I ever have a slanging match and my dog is nearby he bites my bum. He's not very bright, bless him.

What breed of dog do you have Matt? We live out in the country and always keep our Alsatian on the lead except at 4.30 in the morning when he gets a good run on the recreation fields. You can't risk it with some breeds, in most farmers' eyes, large dogs like Alsatians are a menace wherever they are and if they see one loose they will not hesitate to shoot. Hence why we don't take the risk, most of our country walks go through fields with livestock in, he's ALWAYS by my side where I have control and it's clear from a distance he's with me.

How the farmer behaved towards you was bang out of order but he has a point and although the way you reacted was understandable in the circumstances, unfortunately it won't, as people have mentioned, have helped your case whatsoever if you were to report it. When it's your word against his and your dog off the lead it doesn't look good regardless of what actually happened. Really sorry this has happened but at least dog and owner have come away unscathed. Angry farmers are not to be messed with!

[BillyC]

As a country boy I can tell you... the farmer is right. He has every right to shoot an animal that he feels is out of control or a threat to his land or livestock. It's his land, and your duty to keep your dog off it. That's the way it is.

Most farmers are more reasonable... but you'll be in court for any damage your animal does, and I can assure you that you'll have a hard time winning.