farmer threatened to shoot my dog

Originally Posted by 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.

threat to his land, well he could of eaten the field i supose and as there were no livestock in the field was not a threat to them either, or did you not read the post. and it is not your duty to keep your dog off his land if there is a public right of way, however it might be wise to keep dogs on a lead when near farms etc.

Originally Posted by leedsmatt7

I say normally becuase I'm obviously looking at this one from a different angle to yourself.

Quite probably, yes. As others that have replied similar to me, I grew up in a rural area, and I live in a (different) rural area now.

You have to remember that a lot of Magistrates etc are farmers themselves. So even if you do push something with the police, it'll go as far as the Magistrates where you'll be laughed at.

Yes, it's unfair, but they will stick up for one of their own.

To put things into context, I don't own a dog, but regularly look after other people's dogs. It's only fair these dogs get excercise, so I take them for a walk, usually down the country lane that's pretty much next to the house.

The latest of these, was a greyhound I was dogsitting for a friend whilst she moved house. So me & my eldest son took the dog down the lane. We went into one field, and everything looked OK. So we started throwing sticks & a ball for the dog to chase. At that point, I noticed a horse that had been hidden from view in trees. Solitary horse in the field a couple of hundred meters away. The dog went on the lead immediately, and we carried on walking.

The very next field happened to have a flock of sheep. So the dog stayed on the lead there. Whilst walking through the field, the sheep (being the dumb animals they are - literally) got curious so started to approach us. My son also suffers from a mental disibility that causes extreme anxiety - so he was getting scared about this. So I turned it into a little game, where one of us would hold the dog, the other would run a few steps towards the sheep periodically.

Purely randomly, I walked past the farm house the other day with my youngest, and happened to bump into the farmer. He actually said that he'd seen me & my other son in the field (unbeknown to us) and was going to come over & have a chat because the horse was in the field, but saw that we'd done the right thing so didn't bother. He actually thanked me for taking the consideration for his property/stock.

The main difference, IMO, is the way the farmer reacted initially. As others have said, the only threat he made was towards the dog. His land, he's allowed to do that.

UPDATE:
Police have been round and I've explained the situation honestly (which they seemed to respect) they have told me his actions where disproportunate to the situation furthermore him having admitted that he saw I was in control of the dog before entering the field removes his right to shoot without warning. In theory he was still within his right to shooting her if she became an emmediate threat to his livestock but only with no other alternative. The fact no livestock were within 150m of the dog at anytime removes the likely hood of that event and so the police will be following the allogations with a caution and his details will remain on record.

They even went to his door, and yes I watched as they knocked and everything so now I just wait for a call to see the overall outcome and I'll update you all.

It was good to see that officers were understanding to the facts of the situation rather than the letter of the law and they actually met the dog so she won them over. lol

[gruntygiggles]

Originally Posted by leedsmatt7

UPDATE:
Police have been round and I've explained the situation honestly (which they seemed to respect) they have told me his actions where disproportunate to the situation furthermore him having admitted that he saw I was in control of the dog before entering the field removes his right to shoot without warning. In theory he was still within his right to shooting her if she became an emmediate threat to his livestock but only with no other alternative. The fact no livestock were within 150m of the dog at anytime removes the likely hood of that event and so the police will be following the allogations with a caution and his details will remain on record.

They even went to his door, and yes I watched as they knocked and everything so now I just wait for a call to see the overall outcome and I'll update you all.

It was good to see that officers were understanding to the facts of the situation rather than the letter of the law and they actually met the dog so she won them over. lol

I'm glad they've been sensible and understanding of your position on this Matt and I hope that the farmer in questions has learned a lesson about how to deal with people that are legally on his land!

[skeetly]

I think you'll find those policeman haven't quite got their facts right either...

Basically its simple; the fields belong to the farmer just like your living room belongs to you. It's actually his property that you are using to walk your dog and let him have a poo on.
If there's a footpath he bears a legal burden that obliges him to put up with people using the path to cross the land.
He doesn't have to put up with *anything* else.
He may have an animal in the nearby fields that have been chased previously and your dog chasing a ball in his field might cause that animal to bolt and injure itself.
Not to mention that all the people whose 'nice' dogs play ball probably also crap in the field and I think everyone will agree its nicer to stand in your animals poo than anyone elses.
I guess he could have been nicer but you might have been harmless 'dog walker without any right to do so' number 28 that morning.
Most of you are so hot headed here I guess you can understand why someone might over react

I might have some experience of this sort of thing.........

edit: i apolgise if your dog didnt poo; still the 'scare the animals if hes running about' point still stands.

edit2: I love my mutts

edit 3: Example of why he might be a little robust about it all:

http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/nort...5578-22850805/

If a dog has killed his live stock before I can understand where he's coming from. Its his lively hood and what feeds his family, how would you feel if some one took away the ability that you had to feed your family? I'm on the side of the farmers. Your on his land with a dog that you didn't have under your control at the time.

cos if your dog worried a sheep and it died he wouldn't be able to afford a new range rover or £150,000 tractor, lol.

[the_lone_wolf]

Originally Posted by bluefishman

cos if your dog worried a sheep and it died he wouldn't be able to afford a new range rover or £150,000 tractor, lol.

the EU still sends him the cheque either way...

Originally Posted by the_lone_wolf

the EU still sends him the cheque either way...

exactly

I don't agree with you phoning the police.
Tell me what are you gaining from this?

He threatened you're dog, for being out of control, which you admitted he was.
There was no threat with a weapon directly, as he didn't have the shotgun on him.
Should have just left it be, and avoided that area from now on.