Originally Posted by
samburger
Very true. Hopefully someone training their dog to go out on the trails with them would use controlled mistakes to teach their dog rather than just waiting for a law suit. Nine times out of ten, dogs aren't trained well enough to be on the trail. This is why leash laws make sense to have. BUT, how many of us follow 100% of the laws 100% of the time? Do we not all bend--or even outright break--the law on a regular basis, when that particular law wasn't intended for us? I know I do. This is why I remain a firm believer that if your dog is trained properly, you should be able to take it out on the trails without issue. But I want to make it clear that I'm not arguing leash laws & I'm not one of those extremist who thinks leashes are cruel & all dogs should run around free & kill each other just like they do in nature.
Well, breaking the law is basically giving the finger to the general ethics of society(your riding buddies included). You do that, you're choosing to stand alone or place your wants above societies. It is probably why judges have no issue in awarding large settlements in such cases when the attacks happen. In public it is even clearer, because the answer was so simple and the owner deliberately chose to risk it.
So, no, breaking the law for that reason - I don't agree with. I walk the dog, on a leash and pickup it's ****. It really isn't that complicated.