Well the law states dogs in public places must be on a lead .
This is as boring as the ‘cyclists dont pay road tax’ line trotted out from time to time.
The law states it is illegal for a dog to be ‘dangerously out of control’….at no point does it mention leads or how you are to control the dog or even what defines dangerously out of control….for example a puppy that is barely walking and having its first forays outdoors is out of control most of the time but not in a dangerous way simply due to the fact it is a puppy and can barely put one foot in front of the other, still suckles or eats soft food occasionally….its out of control in the same way a toddler in the supermarket might be out of control but you wouldnt describe it as dangerous.
….while a snarling, snapping adult dog with teeth bared can still be dangerously out of control even on a lead if the person holding the lead cant control said dog.
The lead issue that people latch onto is a red herring.
The other mistake people make is assuming that because a dog is in public it must be on a lead, again not true….there are areas known as PSPOs (public space protection orders) that require dogs to be on leads but they arent granted automatically to public spaces and have to be signposted….your local council will be able to tell you where all their PSPOs are if you dont like being around dogs that arent on leads….and PSPOs only apply to public land, not privately owned land.
Hope that clears things up.
As an example an owner with their dog (not on a lead) walking to heel down the high street (provided said High-St isnt subject to a PSPO) isnt doing anything illegal.
