# Your silly rules do not apply to me! **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 3, 2021, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-silly-rules-do-not-apply-to-me/929579 "2021-01-03T16:05:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-silly-rules-do-not-apply-to-me/929579/61 "2021-01-04T19:54:51Z")
> [@eschrodinger](#): > > So, maybe I’m one of the people the OP is directed at, in that respect. I wasn’t thinking about leaving bagged poop. And I’m not entirely sure I’d consider leaving bagged poop as bad as uncontrolled unleashed dogs. Heck, sometimes you’ll run across a turd (presumably canine) in the middle of a trail/sidewalk. What sort of person thinks THAT’S OK? I’m curious, tho - why don’t you just drop the bag in a pocket (presuming the weather is cool enough that you are wearing a jacket)? Or (my wife’s approach when running w/ the dog) tie it to the leash/collar? Or - if you are taking truly long walks in places w/o trash cans, I could imagine making my dog wear some sort of vest - to carry its own bowl/water/and mess. When you walk a dog, having to deal w/ the poop is something you are able to anticipate and plan for. And my understanding is that much of what is labelled as biodegradable is not when compacted in a landfill. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-silly-rules-do-not-apply-to-me/929579/62 "2021-01-04T19:58:54Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > Well, good luck - I hope you get some restitution. An apology would be nice, too. A **sincere** apology. Also replacing your dog from a breeder of your choice, including neutering and training expenses you may have had invested in your dog. The offending dog should, at a minimum, be assessed by a certified animal trainer as to whether both the owners and the dog need corrective training. I’m sure the animal control agency in your city have a suggested protocol. Small claim court could be your friend. Also, if your health insurance ends up paying anything, the dog’s owner can be pursued by them if given the information. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-silly-rules-do-not-apply-to-me/929579/63 "2021-01-04T20:27:04Z")
> [@BippityBoppityBoo](#): > > A **sincere** apology. Also replacing your dog from a breeder of your choice, including neutering and training expenses you may have had invested in your dog. The offending dog should, at a minimum, be assessed by a certified animal trainer as to whether both the owners and the dog need corrective training. I’m sure the animal control agency in your city have a suggested protocol. Small claim court could be your friend. Also, if your health insurance ends up paying anything, the dog’s owner can be pursued by them if given the information. Here’s the craziest thing. I called the lady we bought our pup from 5 years ago, and there was a litter of half-brothers born on Christmas Day. I called on the 26th, just before she posted them on the website. We had about 3 minutes to decide, because small, floofy dogs are a hot commodity right now. So I bought one. I don’t really want to replace ours quite that quickly, but it will be another year before there is another litter (small time hobby breeder, I really like her set up) and my poor kid has this gaping puppy-size hole in his life. For him, that 8 weeks will be a lot longer, a more appropriate pause between dogs, I hope. The other two she had available also went in less than 5 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-silly-rules-do-not-apply-to-me/929579/64 "2021-01-04T20:32:52Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > I’m curious, tho - why don’t you just drop the bag in a pocket (presuming the weather is cool enough that you are wearing a jacket)? Or (my wife’s approach when running w/ the dog) tie it to the leash/collar? Or - if you are taking truly long walks in places w/o trash cans, I could imagine making my dog wear some sort of vest - to carry its own bowl/water/and mess. When you walk a dog, having to deal w/ the poop is something you are able to anticipate and plan for. My sister and brother both have a clip attached to the leash that can hold a bag of poop. Then it’s not all that close to the dog or the person, and if the bag fails catastrophically it’s not a disaster. And so far, I don’t think the bag has ever failed catastrophically. I just assumed that’s what responsible dog-owners did these days. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-silly-rules-do-not-apply-to-me/929579/65 "2021-01-04T20:42:40Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > > [@puzzlegal](#): > > > > That’s the rule in most of my town. It’s the text of our basic “leash law”. > > Are you willing to provide any idea of where/how large your town is? > > I don’t doubt you, but what you describe is quite different than anything I’ve ever encountered, and I question the enforceability in anything other than a pretty rural/small town setting. It’s about 30,000 people on about 10 square miles. It’s suburban, and most residents commute. (or did before covid) The text of the bylaw is: _Any dog on the streets and sidewalks in **TOWN** must be on a leash not exceeding seven (7) feet. On all other Town property, a dog must be under the control of its owner according to regulations adopted by Town boards and commissions for that specific Town property._ We have a number of parks, and dogs are allowed off-leash, but under control, in most of them. One of them - a smaller park with a lot of small kids - now requires dogs to be leashed during all the prime kid-hours, because there were issues with dogs that weren’t well-enough controlled, and they decided it was easier to just require leashes. That’s actually why I’m aware of the law – it was in the news for weeks when the town was deciding what to do about the dogs in that one playground/park. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-silly-rules-do-not-apply-to-me/929579/66 "2021-01-04T20:54:18Z")
Thanks. I lived in an isolated town of 25-30k for a few years - very nice in many respects. But quite a different situation from larger communities IMO. In the Chicago area, there are probably at least 50 suburbs larger than your town right next to each other clustered around the big city. And I didn’t understand from your prior posts that leash OR under control was for different settings. Thanks again. Gotta admit, the allowance of dogs off leash in a town of your size in what sounds like a metropolitan area - sorta surprises me. It is something i would expect of a much more rural, of much smaller municipality. Learn something every day! ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-silly-rules-do-not-apply-to-me/929579/67 "2021-01-04T21:22:52Z")
Well, a leash is one form of “under control”, and in fact, most of the dogs in the parks are leashed. But it’s not uncommon to see a guy walking an unleashed dog in the woods, and so long as the dog is close to the guy and well behaved, it’s legal. I pass dogs like that all the time when i walk in the local woods. Maybe a third of the dogs i see there. I also see people playing fetch with their dogs in open fields, and that’s generally legal, too. We don’t have any designated “dog parks”. I guess dogs that aren’t easy to keep under control are just out of luck. ---
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-silly-rules-do-not-apply-to-me/929579/68 "2021-01-04T21:27:00Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > My sister and brother both have a clip attached to the leash that can hold a bag of poop. Then it’s not all that close to the dog or the person, and if the bag fails catastrophically it’s not a disaster. This is a good point and a good idea. I tend to put my hands in my pockets, and also to have a bunch of stuff in there, often related to having two 7-year-olds with me. So I’m not OK with having dog poop in my pockets. Also, the bags sometimes don’t fully contain the smell. But in the future, I will tie it or clip it to the leash. ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-silly-rules-do-not-apply-to-me/929579/69 "2021-01-04T21:46:31Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > Alas, at my grocery store, more likely than not, the vehicle is, in fact, parked and unoccupied in the fire lane. And if it’s like the store where I worked, the vehicle is blocking the wheelchair access to the sidewalk. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-silly-rules-do-not-apply-to-me/929579/70 "2021-01-04T22:08:33Z")
In the suburban Massachusetts town I grew up in (20 miles outside of Boston, 20 sq miles in area, population 22,000) this is the extent of the leash law: > No person owning or keeping any animal in the Town shall permit the > animal to go at large to the injury or nuisance of others. In addition, a dog should not go > outside the boundaries of the property of its owner or keeper unless under the complete > and effective control of said owner or keeper by means of a leash or otherwise. There are other more restrictive regulations for specific areas, but otherwise no requirement for leashes. ---
**Author:** ![eschrodinger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschrodinger/32/122_2.png) [@eschrodinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschrodinger)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2021, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-silly-rules-do-not-apply-to-me/929579/71 "2021-01-04T23:45:19Z")
This is a page that compares state laws about control of dogs off the owner’s property: [https://www.animallaw.info/topic/table-state-dog-leash-laws](https://www.animallaw.info/topic/table-state-dog-leash-laws) As it points out, in many states, this is handled at the local government level. There may or may not be a baseline state law, and then local governments impose their own (often more stringent) requirements. In my county, the law is very specific that the dog must be physically restrained by a leash of no more than a specified number of feet. That covers the smart asses I know who would attach a leash to the dog, but not hold the other end. And no other methods of control are contemplated. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2021, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-silly-rules-do-not-apply-to-me/929579/72 "2021-01-05T08:14:35Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Do YOU act in any ways clearly contrary to what you know is the law/accepted norm? Yeah, but I probably shouldn’t post it on the internet. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2021, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-silly-rules-do-not-apply-to-me/929579/73 "2021-01-05T16:08:30Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > And I didn’t understand from your prior posts that leash OR under control was for different settings. Thanks again. Well, in the place where we lived, “On leash OR under owner’s control” was, I think, the township law. The law for the metropolitan area was “all-leash, all-times.” You had to know where you were. So, you couldn’t walk your dog downtown without a leash, no matter how well-trained. Also, there were places in the township area where there were signs posted that said “All dogs must be leashed,” and some specified length. So when you in that park, or on that trail, or whatever area the sign applied to, your dog had to be leashed. Indiana has the highest percentage of dedicated forest of any state-- not the highest total land, that’s California-- but the highest percentage of the total state area. There’s an awful lot of township area that is owned by the state, not the city or county, and when it isn’t hunting season, you are VERY unlikely to meet another person on the hiking trails. Most people prefer the state parks (where dogs are supposed to be leashed, but people let them loose all the time). I hiked in the state forest all the time with that particular dog so she could go off-leash. The dog I have now has good recall, but doesn’t heel off-leash, so she doesn’t go off-leash except at the dog park. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2021, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-silly-rules-do-not-apply-to-me/929579/74 "2021-01-05T16:44:00Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Also, there were places in the township area where there were signs posted that said “All dogs must be leashed,” and some specified length. Just a heads up - the mere existence of a sign might not be of much/any legal authority. For example, there are signs on a local school that say something like, “The walking of dogs not permitted on property or parkway.” There is NOTHING in the municipal ordinance that would suggest a taxpayer could not walk their leashed dog on public property - at least when children are not present. Near another school, they dug out a retention pond for flood control, which is sodded and fenced. Kids play soccer down there and I recently saw them sledding down the slope. At one point signs were posted on the fence saying, “Please, no dogs. Thank you.” Again, posted by whom, under what authority? I can certainly imagine requiring that dogs be leashed, and that people pick up after them. But no dogs at all? Again, I see nothing in the municipal code or school/park regulations that could apply. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-silly-rules-do-not-apply-to-me/929579.md?page=3)