Loose/Stray Dogs - What to do?

GlowStick

Hey so I was out walking my westie yesterday around my local area. And I decided to go a slightly different route, which was fine. We got so far and turned, and on the way back there was a German Shepard on the road. Now, I know a few people with these dogs and they're lovely dogs! But I've never seen this guy before. He was not on a lead and there was no owner around, so I was a little nervous passing him out, because my fella would want to go over to him and what not. So as I was passing him by, he lowered his head and started snarling and following me slowly. I was petrified at this stage, purely because of his stance - I was even considering going into a neighbours house, but by the she would have answered the door, etc. the dog would have caught up with me. So I kept going. I did tell him to go home, but he kept following me. After about a quarter of a mile, he stopped and just turned back. Since then I've asked some people I know up that side of the village if they know who owns him, and they've never seen him. Is there anything I can carry with me that would help in that kind of situation?

Basically im just having a good rant about this cos it pissed me off so much that I can't even walk around my local area, because stupid people think it's ok to let dogs wander around like that. And it's not just this one dog. There is another dog (collie) who HAS bitten someone who is always loose without a muzzle - the owner says she puts a muzzle on the dog, but she doesn't always. I want to ring the Warden about this because it's not fair on others who are too scared to go near that side of the village because of one dog!

Stupid people shouldn't be allowed dogs!

andreac

Call the dog warden and explain there is a loose roaming dog.

abbyw1989

Call your local dog warden. Hopefully they will take the dog and it will get re-homed with someone that actually wants it and looks after it.

eirator

I won't say which but I know that any GSD picked up in the county I live in by the dog warden will be put down.

abbyw1989

Which county are you in glowstick? If you're in Waterford/Tipp I know a few places that will take a GSD and won't put the poor fella down

GlowStick

I'm in galway. I rang the dog warden, but i haven't actually seen the dog since, so there's no much they can do. I've driven around that area a few times just to see if the dog is still hangin around, but he doesn't seem to be there anymore.