OPEN LETTER TO ALL DOG OWNERS

Dear dog owner,

I am a mum of a 7 year old boy who is absolutely petrified of your pet. The size, breed, colour... none of this matters to him. He simply does not like dogs. He never has and probably never will. When you see me walking around the park with my son and him all of a sudden hiding behind me it is most likely because your pet is running/walking towards us. Do not roll your eyes and smirk when you see how upset he is. Do not pretend you do not see he is absolutely and utterly petrified. When I ask you to call your dog so we can go past you do not just stare at me refusing to move. Do not make me stare at you until you get up from the bench to approach your dog. Do call your dog and catch him - do not just simply walk next to it without even asking him to sit/behave. I am already stressed out that my child is upset, crying and shaking. I do not understand how you cannot see this and why you choose to make it even more difficult by refusing to keep your dog under control. Do not tell me my son needs a therapy so he get used to dogs whilst your dog is barking at him. Have you considered the fact that he has had therapy already?! Has it crossed  your mind that your dog jumping at my already petrified son is going to cause him nightmares? Do not tell me I should not bring my child to Newlands Corner because it is a dog friendly place. Guess what? Newlands Corner is a child friendly place too but you do not hear me asking you not to bring your dog there. Telling me it is my child's fault your pet is barking at us is because we stopped? How dare you! Telling me that if we keep on walking your dog will let us go past? I am sorry, I did not realise the field belonged to your dog and we were trespassing. I understand your dog is playful and does not intend to harm my child. My child however, is so terrified that nothing you tell him will calm him down. I understand your dog needs exercise and to have a good run around. Guess what? Calling him and holding him still for about thirty seconds is not going to harm him nor will have any impact on his play time. I do not understand how difficult can it be to call your dog and help relax a clearly pained child. At no point did I ask you to put your dog on its lead. I simply ask you to call him so we can go around you. A day later I am still at a loss why such a simple request gave you permission to be rude to me and give me advice on how I should be dealing with my child. I am still shocked that neither you nor your partner called the dog. I have never ever harmed an animal in my life and yet I was very close to kicking your pet - walking past you the dog who was supposedly going to let us go through started jumping at me. My son kept on screaming. Even then you refused to call your dog to back off. My child's screams meant nothing to you. Luckily my mother in law went between us and your dog to distract him so we can continue our walk. By the time my son had calmed down you and your partner have left the bench. I have spoken with Guildford Borough Council about this matter and they confirmed what I always suspected - it is your job to contain your dog and to keep it under control at all times. You did not ensure this and as such you broke the law. Your dog threated my son and me and I wished I had known I could have called the non-emergency police on 101 to report both you and your pet.

An upset mother