Drunks with dogs

[eyeshade]

Every morning from my office window, I watch a group of about 10 drunks who wait outside the post office for their benefit, it would seem, most days. The council have kindly provided a lovely bench for them which they lounge around (giving total disregard of the no alcohol zone sign above them which has a hefty fine on it). They have between them, a beautiful Roweiller dog and a staffordshire bull terrier, equally beautiful. both look very good pedigrees. However, between them all they taunt and tease both the dogs so that both dogs are barking and quite nasty when approached. When the rotty starts barking which it inveitably does, they throw it in the phone box nearby and leave it there. I have just watched a woman come out of the Post office and the rotty dog has just lunged into her barking at which point they got out a mouth muzzle and put it on. They called the woman a B**CH! My question is why? ? Why are these people allowed to keep animals. They may or may not be fed and watered, who knows. I did hear that they are given a special benefit allowance to feed their dogs if they are unemployed, not sure that would go on food but I don't get it. What do you think? Should they be allowed to have them?

[dummkopf]

First instinct is to say NO they shouldn't be allowed to keep animals., but in my city centre I've seen a young man with his dog, just sitting on the pavement and people throw money on to his blanket. The dog looks well cared for, so I suppose each case is different. But maybe a call to your local RSPCA wouldn't go amiss as they shouldn't be goading the animals and CERTAINLY not shutting one in the phone box. Idiot owners again, no wonder some dogs get a bad name.........

[allotment10]

we have the same problem where i live, the drunks & druggies all go into our p/office (leaving the dogs fouling & wandering all over the street) then they go straight into the local shop & come out with bottles of cider etc, just plonk themselves outside the shop and generally make life a misery for thier dogs & everyone else who is going past, when they see the wardens approaching they just grab the dogs & disappear round the corner, only to come back again when the coast is clear! unfortunately if the dogs look fed & reasonably cared for the rspca will not get involved, what i can't understand is why the goverment give these people so much money to spend it on drink etc, & i'm sorry if i upset anybody by saying this but i resent having to pay my taxes to keep these people, and i certainly do not think they should be allowed to keep animals, they don't seem to be able to look after themselves never mind a dog.........(rant over)...just makes me so mad when i see them!

[eyeshade]

In a Pickle you are indeed aren't you? No-one is individualising, merely pointing out an event which happened and has happened regularly. If you are happy to say "it goes on all around us all the time with everybody" then fine, but lets start with one group of wasters who maybe will get so drunk they don't know they have let their dog run out into the road or as I said above, attack an innocent by stander. If you are stating this is individualisation then you are sadly mistaken. Time you did something instead of sitting on the fence then maybe cruelty wouldn't be happening all around you. Pickled, you are not related to these persons in any way are you?

[allotment10]

in a pickle, i agree with you, sadly it occurs all over the world, i have known many "upper class" people who have been guilty of this, i wasn't picking on one section, eyeshades question was "do we think they should be allowed to have them" and in my opinion NO i don't think they should be allowed.

[jedimistress]

Homeless people's dogs often live a better life than homed people's dogs. While people are at work, is their dog home alone? The homeless people's dogs are seldom alone, but with their "pack" in the outdoors. Therefore they probably have more enjoyable life and live closer to their own natural life style than many "respectable" people's dogs.

It makes me sick top see any of that kind of obnoxious behaiour or cruelty to animals but I wouldn't tar them all with the same brush.

[mike_jln]

most of us go to work, pay our taxes, pay our bills & generally try to get on with life the best we can, these people have no intentions of going to work, they believe that society owes them a living and scrounge off the taxpayers, the dogs are an excuse to get extra money. Half of them have council flats & do not pay rent, council tax etc so therefore are living on working peoples money, have you ever been in a squat/place where most of them live? believe me, it's not a pretty sight & even if the dogs are fed the majority of these people just use them for sympathy. Personally i don't think they should be able to have them.

[spanner7853]

I have been told that if they have a dog they get extra benefits to look after the damn thing. Nice to know what were paying for in our taxes eh. but if i asked for help to live i.e pay rise etc i'd be told where to go. Dont get me started.

[allotment10]

well said, spanner & mike, like i said, i resent paying my taxes to keep them, and as eyeshade points out correctly, they totally disregard the no alcohol zones, openly smoke thier spliffs in public & treat the dogs awful, does the goverment help working people pay the extra mortgage/rent gas/electric rises ? sometimes wish i could afford to buy drink every day!!!

[scuzzball]

I can't believe that people ar stupid enough to believe that people get benefit for their pets. They dont.

[scuzzball]

Or perhaps a little more coherently: 'I can't belive that anyone is stupid enough to believe that people get benefits for their pets. They don't.'

[eyeshade]

Scuzzball - that's funny because I heard from someone who I would assume would know, that they do, or they did some years ago, receive an allowance for their pets - so would like to know the correct answer to this.

[scuzzball]

The correct answer is that they don't get benefit for their dogs.

[WendyS]

Eyeshade - why don't you complain to your local police station and ask if some foot patrols can pass by and move them on?
If the dogs are being aggressive to members of the public, surely some offence is being caused?

[allotment10]

well, scuzzball, please answer me this ( if you don't mind) when i had to take my old cat to the vets there were two other " people" there with a dog, i heard the receptionist ask them if they were in reciept of allowances etc, to which they replied, yes, the receptionist filled in a load of forms for them and then when they came out of the vets room they said in VERY LOUD voices "good job the social pay for this, otherwise *** the dog". Obviously i was concerned for the dog & when i asked the receptionist "how do they manage to look after the dog, what with the vets bills, food etc," she said that certain veterinary surgeries have special dealings with cases like that which the social security help pay for thier food, I admit this was about 2 years ago but as far as i know it is still the case,
eyeshade - i would love to know the correct answer as well, think scuzzball is trying to wind us up, so how do you know your'e correct scuzzball?

[eyeshade]

Mmmm am intrigued as I know my contact in the "dept" confirmed this!!!

[eyeshade]

Wendy, I will contact our police but past experience is not good, the last time I called them, they had never heard of where I lived let alone be there for an emergency but I will call them and who knows it could create a whole new posting!

[allotment10]

wendy - if they're anything like the lot that hang around near our p/office, as soon as they see the wardens/police they grab the dogs and hide round the corner till they've gone ! :-)

[wolf63]

If people are on certain means tested benefits th PDSA (a charity) help with vets fees.

No money is paid to people in the form of benefit for dogs. Until very recently I worked in the benefits office, and did so for 25 years. Benefit is paid for humans only.

Sometimes people who are better off are so because they work long hours in stressful careers and their animals can become neglected emotionally as a result.
Homeless people are homeless for so many reasons, they are not all druggies or drunks.

I kept a cat indoors in my flat, he was a happy little soul and was content to prowl his 'estate'. But some people think that cats are outdoor animals, with no exceptions.

Let's face it - we are never going to all agree!

[allotment10]

wolf, i appreciate that many homeless people are not druggies/drunks, & that a lot of the homeless people have only their pets for company, i know & talk to genuine homeless people who through no fault of their own have ended up as they do, i also appreciate that many drug users & alcoholics have a genuine reason why they do what they do, but that is beside the point, the question was "should they be allowed to have them", in my opinion the "people" involved are not in control of their own body so how can they be responsible for looking after animals ?