Some people shouldn't have animals...

Just now, on the bus home, I saw a little red and white collie sniffing around beside the road. I couldn't see a lead, but I thought at first that it was just a thin extendable lead. As the bus got pulled up to a stop, I realised there wasn't a lead and thought that the owner had just let his well-trained dog walk near them. Then realised that the dog was out on its own, sniffing about and eating from what looked like a discarded McDonalds tray.

I was considering getting off the bus to check for a collar, thinking that the dog had escaped or was lost, when a woman from a house across the street opened the front door, peered out and then shouted back inside the house, "No, it's okay! She's just walking about on the grass! She doesn't want to come back in yet!" And then went back inside and closed the door.

So, this irresponsible person had knowingly let the dog out on her own to 'walk herself', leaving her to wander around a busy road and eat disgusting leftovers from the floor.

Even the bus driver was tutting at the woman. It does my head in when people can't be bothered to look after their pets properly.

Grrrrrrrrr, why get a pet if you can't look after it

Exactly! And a COLLIE! A breed infamously known for its willingness to train! Wouldn't take much to teach it to walk to heel.

Lazy ignorant moo

Getting a dog and not being bothered to cater to its needs is bad enough, but to risk its life in the process is much worse

Grrrrrrr makes my blood boil, why get the dog if she just let's it stray, excuse my french but she's one thick bitch!!!!!!!

Jees

Times do change, when I was child (too many years ago), many dogs were let out to go off on their own, some of them had a great time, butchers first then the bakers, then off to the little cafe for any left overs. Then back home in time for lunch. Then this group of dogs maybe up to 15 met on the village green in the evening and played, well its a dogs life. On a Summer evening around 9pm you would hear the owners calling their dogs home. Of course there were few cars on the road in the 1940's and nothing really to worry about, but dogs were not neutered nor bitches spade, so often the consequences were lots of puppies, nothing new in that. Just trying to say that it wasn't all as bad as people seem to think, but of course it is not possible now, too much traffic too many dogs, too much everything. Is it illegal for a dog to run free these days?

what is the point. and a collie none the less. i hate people who get collies and don't work them

I was just going to make the same point as Anne, and saw she beat me to it.

Old attitudes can die hard, especially in country areas where traffic is not such an issue (although still worse than in the '40s and '50s).

And I'm pretty sure that these days it is NOT legal to allow a dog to wander about on its own.

I think people need to realise that animals cannot be treated in the same way as they were 30-40 years ago. There are a lot more dangers out in the streets for animals now, so letting your dog wander around unsupervised isn't a good decision.

I haven't seen a loose dog on the streets of London for years, apart from the abandoned ones.

There are still dogs that roam here but there is nowhere near as many as what there was 10-15 years ago.

this is something im really paranoid about

i sometimes go outside and make sure ive shut and latched the gate several times if buck is playing in the garden :/

and if i have to leave him at my parents house i always make sure to say "if you let buck out please make sure the gate is locked" before i leave.

i hate the thought of him getting out
as people have already said. there are just too many dangers out there nowadays