After experiencing verbal abuse for simply walking my dogs on lead through my local town and seeing the over the top dog control orders proposed by our local council I started to look at ways to fight back at the anti-dog culture growing in this country. As responsible dog owners we know to clean up after our dogs, to keep them under control and on lead when necessary & childrens play areas are not suitable places to excercise dogs. So we do not need orders to limit the number of dogs to be walked to two in a whole town, or to ban off lead excercise in a whole town apart from one field.  Dog Control Orders Please keep an eye on your local papers for Dog Control Orders Proposed in your area. Local authorities must consult on dog control orders prior to introducing them, but they are only obliged to place an advert in a local newspaper As part of the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act local authorities were given the power to issue dog control orders. Offences are likely to cover: not putting, and keeping, a dog on a lead when directed to do so by an authorised officer; permitting a dog to enter land from which dogs are excluded; and taking more than a specified number of dogs onto land. How to object to Dog Control Orders Lobby your MP Write to your Local Town & District Councils Join KC Dog  Who have some excellent points on how to respond to consultations on dog control orders on their Website. Write to Dogs Trust Get a petition going Put up signs to ensure all Dog Owners in the area are aware of the proposals   Verbal Abuse Have you ever experienced Abuse of any kind - simply because you are a dog owner. Please don't stand for it, speak out & let other know about it. But don't get into an argument, try to be assertive & make your point of view known. Hopefully my story will open up the conversations and dog owners can fight back against the racial attitude towards them, we are not 2nd class citizens so we should not stand for it. I walked away but I wish I had been more assertive and asked her  For her name so that I could report her If any of the children were touched by the dogs & if any of the children were forced into the road What I had done to offend her & cause her to be so abusive to a responsible member of society Whether it would be safe for anyone to walk in the road, This is my story  I live in Newent, a small rural market town in the Forest of Dean, and I am beginning to feel like a second-class outcast because I have the audacity to own and walk three dogs. You may be surprised but apparently as dog owners our place is in the road as we are not worthy to walk on the pavement. Recently I walked down to the town with my Mum, her dog and my three Belgian Shepherd Dogs, two adult Groenendaels and a 16 week old Tervueren puppy. On our way back after walking round the lake, we were walking along the pavement past a row of parked cars. I had the two adults on one side of me against the wall with one behind the other so we didn't take up any more space than necessary & the puppy on the other. All three were walking very nicely and were well under control on short leads. I always put myself between the adults and other people as I do appreciate that not all people like dogs, especially Shepherds, near them, but surely a puppy cannot be considered a threat. My Mum was walking behind with her dog against the wall as well. As we came towards the end of the row of cars a large family group approached. One boy said 'Oh Mum, look at those dogs', at which point the Mum grabbed one of the girls and yanked her to the other side of the pavement. Nice way to teach your children that all dogs are dangerous, eh! Most of the group passed while we still had cars parked alongside so no child was forced into the road and could even have got into the road. As the last of the group passed, a woman turned to me and said 'Your place is in the street' in a very offensive and vicious tone. I said 'Pardon' as I was so taken a back that I wasn't sure if I had heard right. After she repeated it, and  I realised she meant road, I said 'Why' and she replied that in her view, the 'dogs' shouldn't share the same ground as her grandchildren or, at least, I assumed they were her grandchildren. I replied that I have every right to be on the pavement and my Mum who was behind said that none of the children were forced into the road and there was plenty of room to pass. Neither us or the family group could have gone on to the road due to the parked cars, although the family could have crossed the road before they reached us & the parked cars. She obviously wanted an argument and to try and  pick a fight and couldn't accuse the dogs of any other offence (out of control, aggressive, off lead). At that point we decided not to argue and walked off. I didn't want to give her any cause to accuse dog owners of being abusive, especially when our Town Council are currently trying to implement over the top dog controls like no more than two dogs to be walked at any time in the parish and on lead at all times apart from one field. Being told my place was not the pavement was abuse. If I wasn't English, I could term it racial abuse but I am not sure what we can call this... possibly 'Dogism?'