Pit Bull off lease

I wasnt going to do this, but since its been a constant thing and I still cant figure out where on Welby they live exactly, maybe one of you will know and can pass on the word, or let me know so I can talk to the owner. I do know they are on the side of Welby near the path that leads to the tunnel. Here is the situation... Many a times i am out for a walk with my dog or out playing with the kids and there is a man with his pittbull off leash. Usually he is out there training the dog. I recently was talking to a neighbor on Field Station, and they said while they were out with their kids, the man and a woman were on field station training the pitbull off leash while the kids played not far from where they were. She is Assuming (and yes we all know what happens when you assume) that he was there because it created a distraction for the dog. Our concern is that as well trained as this dog seems, Pitbulls still have a bad rep and neither one of us are comfortable walking up to them while the dog is off leash and talking to him about the situation. I am a dog lover, I have a dog, but when it comes to my kids I am not a fan of off leash dogs besides it being illegal in Loudoun County... which brings me to the next issue...

Someone else on welby or field station is just letting their dog out to do its business and it is wondering around by itself on field station and welby. This is also starting to become a constant. Not sure where this one lives either, but when I tried to find out if the dog had tags, its did growl at me, therefore, i backed off and took the kids inside. This dog is a chocolate lab mix. Again, not sure where this one lives but husband and self have seen it wondering in the welby/field station area many times with no people outside with it.

I plan on looking up the animal control number to start calling them, however I would love to talk to the owners first... I just dont know where they are, and again, with the issue with the pitbull, I would rather talk to that person, when the dog is on the leash (which is never) or when its out of site just in case...

 

regardless of the breed, no dog should be off of a leash- it's dangerous for the dog too. i know more mean poodles than pit bulls! but dog owners should be more responsible and know that just because THEY know their dog is well trained, blah, blah, they can't expect everyone to automatically trust that. AND- animals are unpredictable, no matter HOW well trained.

kudos to you for trying to handle this in a neighborly way! i would probably call animal control as well though- the owner likely needs an official warning- seems irresponsible to me to train a dog in an open place like that.

 

FYI, Husband saw the Pitbull Man yesterday with a Dobermin type looking dog ALONG WITH his Pitbull, and both dogs were OFFLeash.... we called Animal Control to let them know. Just want to make the people On Welby aware of the situation.

 

We have a very nice off lead dog park just up the road on evergreen. If he want's to train his dogs off lead, he should go there.

Doggies have to be on the leash when in "public" dat be da law.

 

Yes - and it's also the law to pick up your dog's poop and we all know that not everyone does that......my husband and I have to keep avoiding "land mines" whenever we walk....what really annoys us is when owners let their pups poop on the path. Sorry - off topic.

 

Is it? I've often heard people say it's the law, but in some digging I can't really find anywhere that says such. To me the Loudoun website doesn't seem to explicitly state that it is illegal.

http://www.loudoun.gov/Default.aspx?tabid=306&fmpath=/Animal Laws and Codes

In my understanding, if the dogs are under immediate control but not necessarily on a leash, there may be no illegal acts here. Maybe I am missing something? There is no definition of "immediate control" in the document so I think it's fairly open to interpretation. It could be against HOA rules for HOA property but I am not sure that would apply to the county streets/sidewalks.

Tree417, I am curious if animal control said anything to this regard when you called?

 

I am mistaken. I missed a crucial part of the definition of "running at large" which would certainly imply the so-called "leash law".

 

Rats, you beat me to it. That appears to be the only references I can find on leash laws in Loudoun county. Evidently there are no State-wide leash laws for dogs in Virginia.

Thanks for reseaching this. I too am surprised that the laws is not more clearly written.

 

So if I read this correctly, as long as the dog is on the owner's property there is no leash law violation. If these folks were training their dog on their property, then there is no violation.

 

HOA documents state, "Pets shall not be permitted upon the common area unless accompanied by some one who can control the pet and unless carried or leashed."
Declaration for Broadlands;Article 8 restictions on Uses of Lots and Common Area; Rules and Regulations;Section 8.2 (q) Animals

Therefore, unleased pets are not permitted on any common area within Broadlands.

 

Our dog is always off leash on our property, but we have an invisible fence, which works very well. We are planning on training her to walk off-leash on the paths at the dog park, just so we can take her to some of the federal parks and hike with her, but even though she does respond very well to recall I want to be sure and train her properly first.

If the pit and the doberman are off leash on the persons property, there is no issue. If it is on county property, they should be leashed.

Marianne

 

... if the animal is on association property it must be leashed

 

Yes, county or common property, of course.

Marianne

 

I'm sorry, but anyone who owns a pit bull should have their head examined. And I'm not interested in hearing about how wonderful and sweet these dogs are when raised in the right environment. How am I to know how the dog was raised when I'm walking on the sidewalk with my child and there's an unleashed pit bull.

 

sorry but that logic should be applied to EVERY dog. misjudging a cute li'l fuzzy poochie is how SO MANY ppl get bit. yes pitbulls are stronger, have a body style and jaw strength that make them intimidating. it's BECAUSE of their physical characteristics that they ARE abused, misjudged, and used in fights.

do i fear a pit bull when i see one? YES. do I fear an unleashed lab that i don't know? YES. am i cautious around an unleashed maltese i don't know? ALWAYS. and so should you. kids should be taught to behave with the same caution around EVERY BREED, not just the big scary looking ones.

 

Any chance an admin could change the subject to Dog off Leash? Even a golden off leash can be aggressive, and by just calling out Pit Bulls people may think its "ok" because their corgi hasn't been called out.

 

I love these people who think they have a jedi mind trick over their dog(s). Put your dogs on a freaking leash, it's not your world. I can't even believe this is a topic of discussion - what happened to respect for other people - oh yeah, that got trampled by crazy dog people who think dogs are human.

 

hokie- this forum argued about speeding in OUR OWN NEIGHBORHOOD for 6 pages- stick around, it can get MUCH more trivial than THIS. :rolleyes3:

 

I meant to write what they said in my last post, but got distracted, then haven't had a chance to check the board again. so this is what they said:

They said they believe they have spoken to him before and have had other complaints BUT because he "has them under his direct control, he is not breaking the law" Therefore, they would not come out.

In Loudoun county, there is no "leash Law" just the At Large Law. So basically, if you have them with you off leash as long as they are with the owner and under the owners control, its fine. So as far as the county goes, unless he lets them out to wonder, He is in the right.

As far as the HOA goes, he is not in the right.