Petition · past parliament

All dogs in public areas to be kept on leads unless their owner can recall them

Rejected 21 signatures

What the petition asks

I am calling for the government to look into writing legislation to protect responsible dog owners who lead walk their dogs in public, from those who have no control over their off-lead dogs
To prevent the amount of dogs who are on lead being attacked by dogs off-lead who have little to no recall.

To prevent the amount of dogs who are on lead but feel threatened into attacking off-lead dogs that approach/harass without warning/owners inability to recall the dog.

As an owner of retired (nervous) greyhounds, our breed often has a high prey-drive, lead-walked & muzzled, but this still doesn’t protect our dogs from those off lead encounters from out of control dogs.

Why it was rejected

It was not clear what the petition asked the UK Government or Parliament to do.

Petitions need to call on the Government or Parliament to take a specific action.

We understand that you are concerned about dogs being allowed off their lead when their owners are not able to control them, but we're not sure in what circumstances you want people to be exempt from requirements to keep their dog on the lead in public. Your petition states that dogs should be kept on the lead "unless their owner can recall them", but it's not clear how you want owners to be required to demonstrate this.

You could start a new petition explaining clearly what you would like the Government or Parliament to do.

Timeline

5 Nov 2021 Petition opened for signatures
9 Nov 2021 Rejected by the Petitions Committee

Key facts

Signatures 21
Status Rejected
Rejected 9 Nov 2021

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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.