Left injured by dog clash

Of the couple who owned the Dalmatian, the woman confided to a passer-by that she was not going to apologise to me as my husband had remonstrated with her on a previous occasion that her dogs were too raucous.

We have never seen her before, so somebody else has obviously had cause to complain about her dogs' behaviour.

In the altercation which followed, her husband did apologise when I asked him to, but then became irate and demanded to know if we ourselves owned dogs.

I presume that what he meant was that if we had dogs, we would know that his dog's behaviour was completely normal.

If we did own dogs, we would make sure that they were properly controlled. The area was, as usual, full of walkers, children playing, and parents with small children in pushchairs.

If the Dalmatian had run into a child or a frail person it would have resulted in a broken leg or worse. I myself have been left with a badly bruised leg and swollen knee, which is extremely painful and very inconvenient.

The vast majority of owners who exercise their dogs on the greensward are very responsible.

However, I do believe all dog owners have a duty of care to ensure that other users of the area can do so safely without fear of injury or intimidation.

C. King

Rustington

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