People with dogs should respect other's rights to enjoy the park too. I have dogs and love them, and they love children. They are small dogs, but I've seen adults side step them when the dogs are on the leash. Some people don't trust dogs full stop. And who can blame them? Recently a bull terrier killed a pomeranian in our 'off leash' park.
Further to that incident, another friend of mine spotted a bull terrier and a rotweiler latched onto a long-haired german shepherd at the beach. One was grabbing it from the front and the other from the poor animal's tail. It couldn't do a thing. Once those bull terrier's latch on - they cannot let go as their jaw locks. My girlfriend's children suggested their mother do something so she raced to the car and grabbed a riding crop. No amount of whipping the bull terrier would convince it to release. The poor shepherd was yelping in pain. Where were the owners of the rotty and bull terrior? Nowhere to be found. The shepherd was on it's leash and it's owner was frantic. What if the b/terrier and rotty decided to attack a child?
These sorts of dogs should be muzzled at all times when taken on walks. No amount of assurances given by their owners that the animals are 'friendly' convinces me to trust them. I sincerely believe bull terriers should be banned as a breed altogether in this country. They were initially bred to bait bulls and latch onto the bull's legs. A cruel sport at the best of times. We don't need them in this country as there are plenty of other perfectly good dog breeds that don't have these characteristics.
