A story recently appeared on the ITV News website about a man who was fined almost £700 for walking his dog off lead while on the Barton Path Riverside Walk in Dover, Kent.  The riverside is under a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) which are put in place by individual UK councils to protect certain areas such as high streets, playgrounds, high streets, sports fields, and nature reveres.

PSPO’s include keeping dogs on leads while in the area at all times, usually to safeguard children and wildlife. These areas have to be signposted to inform dog owners that they are in PSPO area and that they must keep their dog on leash.

In this Dover case, a Dog Warden working for Dover District Council had spotted the man walking his dog off lead and asked him to put a lead on. Local newspaper Kent Online reported that the man ignored the request and walked away. He was later identified and the case went to court where he was fined £200 and an additional £375 for court costs, plus a victim surcharge of £88.

 

Dog leads and the UK law

In this case, if the man had put a lead on his dog in the designated PSPO area and simply complied to the Dog Wardens request, he would have avoided the hefty fine and his case going to court.

Dog Wardens do have the legal right to issue on the spot fixed penalties for offences. You can choose to not pay the penalty and instead have the matter dealt with in court. However, if you lose you will most likely end up paying more due to court fees.

As mentioned above, PSPOs are put in place by councils. Most councils list PSPO areas on their website. You can find your local council website here.

 

Out of control dogs

Obviously dog owners should be responsible and always follow PSPOs. Except from these PSPO designated areas there is no UK wide law about dog lead usage. There is however a law against dogs being “dangerously out of control”, which applies to any location including public spaces, private areas like a person’s home, and even in your own home.

Under UK law a dog is considered dangerously out of control if it injures someone or makes someone worried that they might be injured by the dog. This also covers the dog attacking someone’s animal, or if someone is worried that the dog could injure their animal.

It’s extremely important for dog owners to be responsible around others and make common sense decisions in all public areas when considering taking dog’s off lead.

For more information we have written the article When To Safely and Legally Take Your Dog Off Lead.