Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Fury at Inconsiderate Dog Owners in Portugal

Interesting discussion going on in the Portugal forum, kicked off by this post:

"I have been reading this forum for sometime and have finally been prompted to join to air my frustrations regarding dogs on beaches and the owners total disrespect for other people.

Am I alone?

Today, I went to the beach and low and behold as always several dogs on the beach DESPITE signs stating NO DOGS…do these owners think the sign does not apply to them and their prized pooch, I ask myself? These dogs roam around poohing and weeing on the soft golden sand their presents awaiting some unsuspecting child to share the same “spot” of soiled sand as they play.

The final straw came today when I sit there minding my own business and low and behold another dog owner arrives the dog heads straight to a families towels and picnic bag and cocks its leg spraying and contaminating the unattended “camp” with urine!! Is this fair??

I chased after the dog and berated the English owner who just shrugged their shoulders and carried on. I was absolutely fuming as the unsuspecting family whose possessions the dog had urinated on had a young child

Who can I report this to as I followed the person back to the car and took their registration details?

If there is no consequence why display signs??. Owners should be responsible for their pets actions…if they were parents they would be or are DOGS held above humans??

Who else has witnessed this total lack of respect?

I look forward to your coments"


Follow up comments can be read here

Are you an expat in Portugal? Are you a dog owner? What is the situation like in other countries? Comments very welcome.

3 comments:

Jorge Guzman said...

Owners do in fact need to be responsible for their dogs actions. However, you're arguing that urine poses a serious health risk to the child, it does not.

Though it is wrong for a dog to pee anyone's belongings, you seem to expect dogs not to pee in public, that's simple not possible.

antonia said...

I am a dog owner and have 2 dogs and they both thouroughly enjoy going to the beaches especially in hot weather as one has such a thick coat he needs to be by the water to enable him to cool off.

Beaches were not put on this earth soley for humans, they are here to be enjoyed by all creatures be them 2 or 4 legged.

I always carry poo bags to clear up either urine or poo when my dogs go to the loo, and I am also fully ofay with the laws, that certain beaches are out of bounds in the summer months because of tourists. However you forget that here in Portugal there is a huge problem with stray dogs, and these animals will of course venture near picnic baskets and bars in hope of getting some tits bits and water, they fowl on the beaches and the dogs that are owned take the flack for it which is unfair.

I also add that whilst walking Mia Praia in Lagos, the amount of rubbish and filth left behind by humans is enourmous, and there was lots of broken glass and can lids etc, things that people's precious children might cut their feet on, and it's so totally mindless and unnesseccary as there are bins all along the beach. Also my Labrador ran into the dunes and came back covered in human crap, so don't start preaching to me that it's dogs that make mess and fowl when it appears that the human race create and like to wallow in their own shit!!! Is it dogs who are killing this planet, I think not it's dirty filthy people!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Hmm.....I have to comment on this as I and my 8yr old daughter are resident here and a condominium opposite us are wrongly accusing us of not clearing up our dogs mess and also accusing me of leaving my dogs to bark all day. Firstly, my 2 dogs are with me virtually 24/7 and when not in the apartment, they are with me wherever I go in my car. I was away for 2wks last summer and was confronted by one of the condo owners stating that my dogs were being a real nuisance with barking continuously........funny that, as they had been in kennels for the duration he was speaking of and hadn't yet been collected from the kennels 8 miles away!!!!!! As for the dog mess....there is a massive problem where I am near Meia Praia in Lagos with stray dogs, and they very often congregate mainly at night on the open land behind us and make a mess. My daughter and I carry poo bags on us at all times and consider ourselves very responsible as we always pick up after our dogs. It would appear that these part time holiday apartment owners come over a couple pf times per year and demand perfection with no tolerance for others living here. They only see us with 2 dogs regularly and come to totally the wrong conclusion when they blame us. I have tried to explain this to them but they sanctimoniously refuse to accept that they are completely wrong on this matter. Sadly, I am now having to take legal advice as their behaviour is now tantamount to harrassment. I am a single parent with a small child and feel intimidated by all this.