The London Question: Should dogs be allowed to move without leads

Transcript

00:00I can understand it's quite emotive for dog owners and it does depend on the dog.

00:03At the end of the day, public safety and particularly safety of children is really important.

00:08And the biggest problem with dogs is that they can seem like your friend and gorgeous one minute

00:12but you never know when they can turn because they are pack animals.

00:14So I think maybe it's a safety first issue.

00:17Places like London, maybe not because it's really busy and there are a lot of cars.

00:21And I know back home, we have a lot of dogs running around

00:24and there are a lot of car hits and everything that happens.

00:27Maybe not in a big city like this, but smaller cities like maybe Leeds, I think, yeah, absolutely.

00:33I think adding on to that, the city is already very overwhelming for people.

00:37So I think it's also very overstimulating for dogs as well.

00:40So I think London wouldn't be the best place for it, but everyone should have the option to do it.

00:44Sure, on an off-leash park, but not on the street.

00:47No, not on the street, especially if there's somebody walking with a pram or a young child.

00:54And it could be scary, like if the dog's off-leash, you don't know.

00:58You just have to be aware of who's around.

01:00In the countryside, in very rural areas, there may be different rules applied.

01:04That's not really my kind of area.

01:07But then again, I do know that that's difficult for farmers and their livestock, etc.

01:11So I think I leave that to people in the country.

01:14It's aggressive. I'm sure we've reached a point of like research where we know how to train dogs.

01:21I know there are gentler ways to train dogs and keep them in a more calm environment

01:26and just make them feel calm in environments that are overstimulating for them.