Fair enough, but what do you expect to happen when you take a dog out in public?
I’d expect to be left the hell alone to walk my dog in peace, to be honest. Other people’s parenting inabilities are not my concern, perhaps they should get them leads or something?
The irony here is, this is exactly the same situation as non-dog owners who don’t want some uncontrolled mutt slutched up to the fetlocks leaping up at them to them regardless of how many times he’s never bitten anyone.
The bottom lime is, you don’t get to invade other people’s personal space without invitation, whether that’s with a child or an animal or anything else. Someone’s basic right to go about their business without being mithered by strangers does not suddenly go out of the window because they happen to have something cute with them.
They might not mind being approached, they might welcome it even, they might love nothing more than to give a dog a quick pat or bring joy to a small dogless child, but critically that’s their call to make, their place to offer, not yours to take with a self-entitled “you’ve got something I want to play with so what do you expect”? Jesus christ man, that’s the same argument used by sex pests.