General Discussion

The Dawlish Post states 'The owner was said to have run off from the area after being confronted with a group of about 20 passers-by to get the dog  off the swan'. Were you one of the 20 or so passers-by who actually was willing to help?

I would like to use this thread to get info on the description of the owner/dog and if any video was taken of said owner/dog I would appreciate a link to it on here.

Someone must have a description and/or possible info of this careles owner/dangerous dog. What happens if it attacks a child or your dog next.

As usual the police cannot be arsed, in my opinion, to check local cctv and or take witness statements. I may be wrong although it is most probably the case.

Was the owner a male, female, fat, thin, tall, short. Which way did the owner run off. What was the owner wearing. Was the owner local. A description of the dog. Has anyone seen the owner or dog since. Do YOU know who the owner is.

Any info would be appreciated on this thread.

Sigh!  XERGP Monde.

What are you going to do with this vital lead? You say the police can’t be arsed (which is strange coming from someone who said that they’re an ex-policeman), so what’s the plan? 

Deedoodle, I for one appreciate your efforts to try to find the owner of this dog. I was horrified to hear about this attack. For me it is a serious matter for our town. Diana Mond, I think that you could have chosen a thread on a different subject to pursue your vendetta against Deedoodle in such an infantile way.

For the benefit of all who read this, I have no idea who Deedoodle or Diana Mond are, and have never interacted with either of them on this site before.

Vicks, of course it’s a serious matter, however how on earth do you think this little thread is going to make any difference to the efforts to find the perpetrator? It’s ridiculous to post this a week after an event that was witnessed by so many, and yet claim that the police “can’t be arsed”! What is he trying to achieve?

Diana Mond, I do not intend to enter into any further discussion on this thread, as I have no information that can help in this case, but I feel that any effort to try to identify the owner of this dog is worth it. In my experience, it has been not been usual for evidence to come to light some time after the event in unexpected ways, but it does happen quite often. With that in mind, what harm is there in starting an appeal on a local website? To react in such a negative way as you have, particularly in such a personal manner is no help at all. I have no axe to grind with you or Deedoodle, and I will not continue to post on this thread, unless I uncover any evidence to identify the owner of said dog. I can only urge anyone who can help to come forward, there are methods of doing it anonymously.

Diana Mond, what is your hangup with DEEDOODLE ?

You need to start acting your age and not your shoe size.

CCTV what CCTV, is that the one that hardly works doesnt cover the Lawn area and in overcast conditions has little or no function the Police can't be arsed or is it the public who dont want to get involved.

It sounds as if there were quite a few witnesses who were keen to get involved. Has it definitely been reported that the police won't take action?

The question is have they the evidence to take action a person with a dog who no one seems to know or recognise no CCTV no name just a bloke with a dog who could be from Dawlish but could also be on holliday from Glasgow or Birmingham,York,Doncaster.  So the Police can take a thousand statements they will all differ and without hard evidence it's a dead end and other and more important investigations will take priority and the killing of a Swan will take the back burner. Now i like many others am angry about this attack by a dog of a lead and the demise of one of our belovered swans but realistically the chances of finding the offending dog and owner is about zero.

There is a meeting of the town council's Finance and General Purposes (F&GP) committee this week.

This item is on the agenda:

9) CCTV To call a meeting of the CCTV working group to review whether Dawlish tie in with nearby schemes and to consider the possibility of adding a camera to the current system to cover the lawn following the recent Swan attacks.

I was under the impression that the police had identified the dog owner and had gone to his home. If that's wrong, please post it. The dog needs to be put down, the owner fined the amount to replace the swan and banned from having dogs in the future.

@Dawlish transplant

I had heard this as well. It is known by the police who the owner and the dog are and some action needs to be taken otherwise the same thing will happen again, possibly involving a child next time.

 A dogs instinct is to chase birds rabbits sheep etc its not the dogs fault its the owners for not having it on a lead i have seen owners this morning walking dogs by the Brook not on a lead but who is going to enforce it. Is it the job of the Police, TDC or DTC if it's the Police can they spare a officer to patrol the Lawn 8 or 10 hours per day and the same applies to TDC and DTC it's just not practical, Now if the Police know who the owner is why haven't they taken it forward maybe the CPS dont feel it's in the public interest or worth the cost of any prosecution.

There are some terrible people that we have to put up with, but shouldn't have too.

I remember many years ago when the motorway was opened to Exeter. I was coming back from Cullumpton and hadn't gone that far when I came across a bag in the centre of the near side lane. I pulled onto the hard shoulder and retrieved the bag and had no idea what was in it. There were 8 kittens about a couple of weeks old. they were lucky it was me that stopped.

flo i would imagine the owner of the dog didnt decide to take his dog on the Lawn to kill a Swan his mistake was to ignore the sign's asking dog owners to keep there dogs on a lead i see dog owners doing the same on a daily basis.   

Completely agree leatash. But I find the venom coming from people online quite frightening. There's no reason to put a dog down or target all dogs in general. The owner is the only one who needs to be punished in this case. Dog should have been on a lead, full stop. Take a look at some of the comments about dogs though, nasty.

@flo

No-one is attacking all dogs but in this case the owner obviously didn't have control over a strong and volatile animal. This is an undesirable scenario for all sorts of reasons but the main one being that small children are likely to be running around in the immediate neighbourhood, given that the Lawn and its environs are supposed to be 'family friendly'.

You obviously haven't seen some of the comments on the news articles. I haven't said the dog shouldn't be under control have I? My dog would probably attack a bird but I don't put him in that position.

Just because a dog chases and atacks a swan doesnt mean it will do the same to a child most dogs under the right conditions will chase and kill wildlife it's in there DNA.  I have just watched the owner of a Lab that was on a lead fighting with the dog who was intent on getting to ducks in the Brook, the same dog a few moments later on the sea wall was a placid doing as it was told dog.  Now if you sit and watch folk who have dogs most will show a interest in passing wildlife they chase seagulls on the beach etc etc thats dogs it's owners who are responsible for keeping there dog under control cleaning up after them etc.

Hear hear. You don't hear the same about cats do you? The amount of wildlife they kill!

There is no control over cats, except if they are a house cat where they never venture outside of the four walls they are in.

If you click on this link http://www.dawlish.gov.uk/edit/uploads/2409_2008077643.pdf you will go to the minutes of the town council meeting held last week. You will see a report concerning the dog attacks. 

thanks @Lynne. i see ironically that the best chance they have of bringing charges is for unnecessary suffering to an animal, which in this case would be the dog.