Dog owners need to get real

For many years now our national newspapers have reported disputes between landowners and people who consider - rightly or wrongly - that they have a right of access to land they do not own.  The latest example of this concerns the farmer in Somerset who has used industrial fencing to protect his land from dog walkers.

The Daily Mail quotes a neighbour as saying:

We were getting three dog-walking agencies parking on our road so they could use the field ... the dog mess was unbelievable. Sometimes it would be so bad we couldn’t even sit in the garden because of the smell.

I do not own a dog, and neither do I aspire to.  This is not because I dislike dogs, but I do nevertheless have a message for dog owners.

First, do not assume that you have the right to let your dog roam, whether supervised or not, on land you do not own.  There is a limited legal right of access to private land in this country, but the laws which ensure those rights could be repealed or amended, and so it makes sense not to abuse the rights we have.

Do not damage a fence when entering private land.  I presume that you would not want someone to damage a fence you owned.  I presume also that you do not want to be arrested on a charge of criminal damage.

Clear up your dog's faeces.  Do not pretend that it does not offend other people, such as the landowner or people living nearby.

If you use the services of a dog-walking agency, then be prepared to take some share of the responsibility for what the agency does.

Finally, accept that as Britain's population continues to grow rapidly - largely owing to immigration - then the pressure for more new housing will gradually reduce what is left of our green fields until eventually there is none left.

Where will you walk your dog then?

As a footnote, so far as I can make out, the law on dog fouling is dealt with in Part 6 of The Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005.  Nevertheless this appears to apply only to land to which the public has a right of access.  Does this mean that dog fouling on private land is covered by laws of trespass?  I'm not sure.