There have been several incidents of dogs attacking other dogs
Sign up to our TeamDogs newsletter for your weekly dose of dog news, pictures and stories
We have more newsletters
Sign up to our TeamDogs newsletter for your weekly dose of dog news, pictures and stories
We have more newsletters
There is growing anger towards Northamptonshire dog owners who allow their pets to roam free in country parks, even though they are "aggressive" to other dogs and sometimes even to walkers.
The county council has acknowledged there has been a spike in complaints about dogs at the attractions, putting it down to greater use of country parks because of Covid.
Irthlingborough local Leah Baldock took to social media to express her anger after what she said was a terrible walk at Sywell Country Park with her partner, Luke, and their husky, Alice.
According to Leah, Alice is "big and boisterous" but "she wouldn't ever hurt another dog".
Despite this, she says they always keep her on a lead, out of respect to others, and pull her to heel when other walkers with their dogs are passing.
However, while walking at Sywell Country Park last weekend, a dog not on its lead started to "attack" Alice on what Leah called a "nightmare day".
Leah said: "A dog not on the lead and not a dog we knew approached our dog who was at the time sat at our heel," Leah said. "It started to growl at her and then started to attack her.
"We already had the dog at our heel who had tried to back away behind us, and I was too shaken up to grab this dog's collar in case it went for me. Other passers by were also concerned.
"The owners walked by, and didn’t even call the dog, they just said “oh sorry” and laughed and carried on. Even if you think your dog is friendly, you don’t know how it will react against other dogs."
Leah also mentioned that another dog not on its lead had disturbed her father who was fishing nearby, trying to get to his bait, which is not only disturbing for her father, but dangerous for the dog.
She said: "These fishermen don’t need their expensive kit played with or stolen by the dogs. Neither do they need to be blamed if your dog gets a fish hook in their mouth or elsewhere!"
Other locals agreed with Leah, saying that they no longer walk at Sywell and other country parks in the county for this very reason.
Nick Hill, of Rushden, said he had noticed other complaints like this from other locals, including one where the owners had to get involved in order to break two dogs apart.
He added that he had also experienced dogs off leads disturbing him whilst having a picnic.
According to the government website it is "against the law to let a dog be dangerously out of control anywhere". A dog is considered to be out of control of it injuries someone or if it makes someone worried that it might injure them.
Owners can face an unlimited fine or a sentence of six months in prison if their dog is dangerously out of control. If your dog seriously injuries someone, this sentence could go up to five years.
Another Irthlingborough local complained of the same issue of dogs off leads at Stanwick Lakes.
Margaret Warner, a former dog owner from Wellingborough, suggested a dog passport system for country parks like Sywell.
"It’s incompetent owners that will end up getting a blanket ban for all dogs being off lead and unfairly so," Margaret said.
"I would love to see places like Sywell park and others, come up with a system whereby dog walkers must check in and show ID and registration of the car they travelled in, also breed of dog etc, so that if a dog is injured there is some way of tracking them down. Alternatively bring back dog licences and the license is scanned on entry somehow.
"It would be really good if we can find a way to get to the bottom of this situation, re unruly dogs. The laws in place and not being enforced efficiently and our legal system is far too unpredictable to deal with the outcome."
Northamptonshire County Council have blamed the coronavirus pandemic for the increase in dog-related offences on the higher volume of visitors to the county's country parks.
A council spokesperson said: “We have been receiving nearly twice the normal number of visitors to our parks during the pandemic owing to the staycation effect.
"The parks’ bylaws require people to keep their dogs under close control so as not to cause annoyance to others or wildlife. We ask dog walkers to be considerate and make extra efforts to do this during these exceptional times.”
