An unleashed dog is what is called negligence per se. These thoughtless dog owners are rude and entitled.
Of course, yeah, there are some careless bicyclists, but there’s no excuse for an unleashed pit bull or lab when it should be controlled, if leashed this old boy would still be alive.
An “unleashed dog”? How about a uncontrolled bike? What is it with you people who cannot wait to vilify people for not having a probably well behaved pet throttled? What if that man had hit someone’s horse on that trial, instead of a dog; would that have been the horse owner’s fault? I ride in nature preserves, (MY HORSE), and I think bicycles have no business being there. An unleashed dog is no damn different than an unleashed child.
I’m a 10 minute walk from arguably the best off-leash dog beach anywhere. From Juno Beach up to Jupiter.
It takes responsible owners and a commitment from volunteers and donors (for the poop bags, etc.) but it works. I’m at the beach a lot and I’ve never had a bad encounter w/ a dog or an owner.
I don’t even own a dog, but dogs shouldn’t be on leashes all the time. Dog Parks serve the same purpose as our beach - let them run a bit.
or maybe they have well trained dogs?
Our lab/doodle has been trained since a pup as service dog. When he is in the vest and working he stays on a short leash arms length from me, that’s in restaurants, stores, church, wherever. But when he’s not in vest and not working, no leash and no vest. When we go for walks I put him on an electronic collar and carry a leash just in case we run into a Karen, but he gets to enjoy a little varmint hunting, pointing, and chasing or he catches a soft frisbee in the nearby soccer field.
With actual bad people running lose who should be on a leash, I find it annoying that we waste resources on stupid crap like worrying about how people walk their pets. And plenty of people who walk leased dogs still haven’t the decency to pick up their poop.