what are the laws

[chrisjack231]

i was hoping for some advice about the laws on dog walkers walking land without having their dogs on a lead

my dad and i have had permission to shoot the farm land we do for 25 years +

its a small farm but we also have permission from the surrounding farmers which gives us around 1400 acres

anyways the is a very long set of meadows with overgrown trees and hedges surrounding it ,that we have as part of our shoot,it leads to the local village around a mile away

people walk there dogs either in the meadows or around the surrounding fields which they probably have permission for,

now the problem starts when they let their dogs roam on the private land that they don't have permission for

today i was feeding my pheasants,when i saw a dog come out of a large piece of cover that is adjacent to these meadows,

anyways it had a cockbird from last year in its mouth,it sat with it let it go,then chased and grabbed it again,

the pheasant did get away when i intervened but i don't think it will survive

i saw a lady around 400-500 yards away on the opposite field with another dog and i heard her use a whistle to call it back

my dad went over to tell her what we had witnessed and she swear and blinded that her dogs don't kill game birds

my dad said my son and i just witnessed it with our own eyes,but with this she just shouted i'm not going to argue with you

now what I'm after knowing is the any laws i can print off ,so that i can give her a copy when i next see this lady,as far i was aware its a law to keep your dog on a lead so that they do not chase livestock or go on private land

any help would be great,as all i want is for the lady to realise she should keep her dogs on a lead

[harv]

STICK THIS IN HER FACE

 

 

Countryside Agency's website at www.countryside.gov.uk/accessland

 

Control of dogs

 

To avoid disturbing wildlife or distressing or injuring farm animals, dogs must always be kept under effective control on access land, or on rights of way. The law allows land managers to shoot dogs that are attacking or otherwise threatening livestock. The onus is on the owner of a dog to avoid any possibility of this happening by keeping it under proper control.

 

ON access land and rights of way pasing through it, dogs must be kept on a short lead:

 

between 1 March and 30 June, everywhere: and

at any time of year, whenever there are livestock (cattle, sheep, horses, poultry or other such animals) nearby, that the dog could easily reach if left free..

 

 

These general rules may be varied by local notices, for instance to extend the period during which dogs must be on short leads, or in some cases to excluse access to dogs completely.

 

Landowners and farmers must ensure their own dogs, which may be left to run free on their own land, do not attack or intimidate people who are using access land.

 

Excepted Land

 

Certain types of land are classed as 'Excepted Land'. Access rights do not apply on Excepted Land even where it falls within a wider area of access land. The box summarises the types of land that are excepted.

 

BOXED TEXT: Excepted Land - at a glance

Cultivated land - land ploughed for the growing of crops within the past year.

Buildings and the land immediately around them (eg gardens or courtyards).

Land accomodating structures like electricity substations, wind turbines or telephone masts

(though this does not prevent use of access land around them).

Quarries and other mineral workings.

Railways and tramways.

Golf courses and race courses (except where access is otherwise specifically allowed)

Aerodromes

Land being developed in one of the ways above.

Land under Military Byelaws (eg Ministry of Defence training areas).

 

Where 'excepted land' is served by public rights of way (eg footpaths or bridleways) or other legal access rights or traditions, access by those means is still allowed.

 

Excepted Activities

 

Most low-key, informal activities (eg walking, sightseeing, bird watching, picnicking, climbing, running) are allowed on access land. But access rights do not mean people can do anything they please on the land. For example, they do not entitle visitors to:

 

ride a horse or bicycle;

 

drive a vehicle (unless it is an invalid carriage);

camp, hang glide or paraglide;

take part in organised events or activities such as team games, sponsored walks etc, or in commercially-run activities on the land;

swim in or use boats on rivers, lakes etc on access land;

take anything away with them, (eg stones, fallen wood or plants).

These and other Excepted Activities are listed fully at Annex 1.

 

Behaving responsibly

 

Whatever their interest in access land, people are expected to behave responsibly and with consideration for others. For example:

 

Visitors must:

 

 

never light or cause a fire;

 

 

be careful not to damage gates, hedges, fences or walls, crops - or anything else on the land;

 

 

shut gates behind them, unless they find them propped or fastened open;

 

 

take litter home with them;

 

 

avoid disrupting others' work on the land or spoiling their enjoyment;

 

 

minimise disturbance to livestock, wildlife and habitats;

 

 

respect other people's privacy, eg in or around buildings on access land.

 

 

Landowners and farmersare free to manage access land as they wish, but must not unreasonably interfere with people's use of it - for example by:

 

 

blocking off entrances;

 

 

putting up misleading notices; or

 

 

unnecessarily impeding people's use or enjoyment of the land.

Offences and enforcement

 

A visitor who infringes any of the rules or restrictions on access land can be asked to leave, and to keep off the land for the rest of the day in question. In serious or repeated cases, they may face a court injunction or even prosecution. The main offences that apply on access land are summarised at Annex 2.

 

Rangers or wardens help to manage access to some areas of access land. They are there to advise and help visitors and to enforce the access law summarised here.

 

Safety and liability

 

The owner or occupier of access land must not put visitors at risk by behaving dangerously there - but does not have to make the land itself safe for them to use. Using some access land is inherently dangerous and people are responsible for taking proper care of themselves and any children or dogs in their charge.

 

If a visitor is injured through some feature of the landscape (eg a steep drop or deep water), or through natural factors such as the weather, they will not be able to sue anyone sucessfully for damages.

 

More information about staying safe on access land is available in the separate leaflet "Access land - enjoying it safely".

 

 

 

Frequently asked questions

 

Do I have to enter access land at a particular place?

There will sometimes be 'Access Information Points' where notices about special restrictions will be displayed, together with maps of the access land. You are not legally required to use this point of entry, but if you enter the land somewhere else you must not damage walls, fences, hedges etc on your way in or out.

 

Do the access rights include riding a horse or bicycle?

No - unless either the owner of the land has made a special dedication or other provision extending the access rights to include either or both of these, or there are rights of way for cyclists or horse riders along particular routes (see below).

 

Is climbing allowed?

Yes, subject to any local access restrictions - eg for nature conservation reasons. People climb on access land at their own risk, and in doing so they must not damage the land or anything on it. [The British Mountaineering Council has a code of conduct for climbers which......etc]

 

How do these rights relate to rights of way?

Public rights of way (eg footpaths or bridleways) are rights to pass along a particular route through the countryside. Where they pass over access land, they are normally unaffected by any local access restrictions etc on the land as a whole - but as elsewhere, visitors should use them with consideration for others.

[harv]

AND EVEN BETTER THIS

 

Your dog chases livestock, what should you be aware of?

 

You may be prosecuted by the police under the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act 1953. In a worse case scenario the farmer can shoot your dog if it is worrying animals and causing death or injury. However a farmer cannot contain a dog then go off to get a gun and then shoot the dog. The legal definition of livestock is fairly extensive

[chrisjack231]

thankyou for that harv,

i will print this off and wait for her and give her a copy,

i also think im gonna print a few just incase i see others doing the same

i dont think the normal public realise how much time,money and effort goes into game

 

i was basicly goint to tell her.if i see her dogs on the private land again,or not on a lead i shall just call the local police and let them deal with it

cant be fairer than that

Edited September 4, 2008 by chrisjack231

[Disco Stu]

DEFRA

 

Dogs worrying livestock

The Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act 1953

 

Under the Dogs (Protection of Livestock) Act 1953 the owner and anyone else under whose control the dog is at the time will be guilty of an offence if it worries livestock on agricultural land. The dog must have been attacking or chasing livestock in such a way that it could reasonably be expected to cause injury or suffering or, in the case of females, abortion or the loss or diminution of their produce. An offence is not committed if at the time of the worrying the livestock were trespassing, the dog belonged to the owner of the land on which the trespassing livestock were and the person in charge of the dog did not cause the dog to attack the livestock. The definition of 'livestock' includes cattle, sheep, goats, swine, horses and poultry. Game birds are not included.

 

As far as I am aware Game Birds are not protected by the law. So I would hold off the shooting idea, unless you want to risk being arrested and having your guns confiscated.

[al4x]

sadly there isn't a lot you can do legally you could pursue a private prosecution or try and get the police involved but odds are they wouldn't want to know. Basically you need signs up to say keep dogs on leads as game birds about, clearly mark the footpaths and make sure you are about. You need to educate people and once you have one that ignores warnings sadly you either get slightly aggressive or have to sit back. In your case I'd have caught the dog and gone up to her with the pheasant and said this is what your dogs done if I see it again off a lead worrying birds I'll have the police involved. Then she has been warned with the evidence so there are no arguments

[CharlieT]

Harv's post refers to access land, the land you shoot over may not be classed as access land and different rules will apply. Basically no one without permission may enter and use the land. You say that the farmer may have given people permission to use the land. I would explain the situation to him and ask who if anyone has permission to walk their dogs on the land. If the landowner is in agreement erect signs saying "game birds...please keep your dog on a lead at all times" However if no one has permission signs saying Game birds......Keep Out" should suffice. I know signs don't work but it's a start and gives you something to refer to when speaking to people. At the end of the day it will depend on the farmers view on the matter.

[northernshooter]

Suggest they place the dog on a lead, & themselves to the foot path, (in apolite matter), advising them of shooting in th area & the dangers of not knowing therewhereabouts !!

[paulf]

keep a digital camera to hand and for next time and take a picture, you can then show this to the owner and prove that her dog does kill game birds.

Edited September 8, 2008 by paulf

[GJUK]

I've just read this and some members are suggest you shoot an owners dog?!

 

******* hope you don't end up shooting my dog... What a stupid thing to suggest.

[MM]

I've just read this and some members are suggest you shoot an owners dog?!

 

******* hope you don't end up shooting my dog... What a stupid thing to suggest.

 

 

calm down nobody would shoot the dog unless it was a killing livestock.

[markbivvy]

I've just read this and some members are suggest you shoot an owners dog?!

 

******* hope you don't end up shooting my dog... What a stupid thing to suggest.

 

 

hope you don't end up shooting my dog

as long as its behaving its nothing to fear.

[DaveK]

As soon as game birds are released they cease to be owned and become wild birds. Basically you no longer own them, so any action you take may (MAY) be outside your legal rights.

 

Be careful.

[bignoel]

a couple of permission's i shoot on have shooting estates next door and early morning's there is pheasant's partridge's everywhere but out of respect we dont shoot any but i noticed people just woundering around with there dogs willy nilly is there a law right to roam .once i was sat in a hide when x 2 springers came and joined me ? i heard a shout and off they went followed by a shot into the air just to let the owner of the dogs know he was in a shooting area not seen him again .

[Saltashshooter]

a dog was shot near where i live it was on a farm where a lady walked it and it was chasing pregnant cows and scaring them so the farmer shot it in the head with a shotty from 25 yards away , in the first write up the lady said the dog was not doing anything wrong and was 10 meters away from her then when the lady was interviewed properly she said it was gone for 5 minutes and she could nt see it ? so she lied the first time to make it look like the dog had done nothing wrong! i cant really blame the farmer for shooting it i mean its one of the way he survives ( his livestock) , he never got prosicuted for it as he had done nothing wrong or illegal.

[Glynn]

hi

 

To my recollection acording to the dangerous dogs act of 1991 a person needs to be in control of there dogs at all times.

[Nial]

There's an article in the current BASC magazine about this and what you can do legally to stop people on your land.

 

 

 

Nial.