Do dogs need to be kept on leads while out in public?

On Lunchtime Live, Galway resident Sinead said she had a terrible experience recently with a dog that had been allowed to run free. 

“I was just on the way around on my run, minding my own business,” she explained. 

“And they come out and they're right up at your ankles, growling and barking and I just had the thought like, ‘Look, I'm lucky that I'm not afraid of dogs.’” 

Sinead added that the behaviour of the dog’s owners only compounded her irritation and she had been shocked by “just the dismissiveness of the owners”. 

“I just, I can't understand how owners that have dogs running out onto the roads can't maybe apologise or just take some ownership?” she said. 

“She just kind of told me, ‘Jog on, they won't go near you and don't mind them. 

“And that's all right for her but they're not growling at her feet.”

Main image: A barking dog. Picture by: Alamy.com.