[Franceen]

In my area several Yoirkies have been attacked by other dogs while out on their walk, some fatally. The owners of these dogs are totally unrepentant and seem to always get away with it. I have spoken to so many Yorkie owners on my walks, whose dogs (and their owner, while trying to protect their Yorkie!) have been bitten by other dogs. I cannot keep Toots inside forever - how can I protect her - I feel so unsafe when I take her out each day. People refuse to keep their dogs on leads and always assure you that their dog would never attack another dog, but it happens all the time. I have had a big dog jump on me to try to get to Toots and the owner yelled and yelled until the dog left us alone, but they shouted that he would not have bitten !!??!! I was so shaken up as it was a pit bull . - a breed that is illegal over here but are owned, anyway. It is very scary for me, as I am disabled with arthritis and use a disability scooter. I wish I could take a cricket bat with me or something similiar to hit the attacking dog with, but this is illegal here. I feel so vulnerable. The council seem to be powerless to help, as they do not have the manpower to patrol these areas and enforce the law. There are signs up saying keep your dog on a lead, but people ignore it. We do not have 'dog parks' as such here, so we walk our dogs in local parks, beach, cliff tops etc. I try to chose times when the least amount of people will be walking their dogs which is usually a very inconvenient time! I grab Toots as soon as I see another dog, so she is up and down all the time. This alone won't save her from attack as the dog could easily jump on me to get to her, which has already happened. It is nerve racking. Anyone got any legal ideas which may be useful to prevent an attack?