The problem with Britain’s dog obsession | Letters

Letters: Readers respond to Emine Saner’s article about the ubiquity of pooches in public spaces

Your article on dogs was uncannily timely (‘She compared her dachshund to my newborn baby’: should you be able to take your dog everywhere?, 19 May). I have had a phobia of dogs since childhood and can’t get past an unleashed dog. This causes me a problem every couple of years, but in the last week I’ve twice been inconvenienced by thoughtless owners who don’t see the need for a lead while walking dogs on public highways.

The first time I was trapped in a restaurant until the staff managed to persuade the owner to move (my panic attack alerted them to the problem), and a day or two later it was a market stallholder who was letting a dog run loose. The dog was jumping up at passersby and investigating the occupants of passing pushchairs. A kindly passerby noticed me crying and came to help.

Why do dog owners feel their pets can run loose in public?
Elaine Fraser
London

• I suffer from a serious dog allergy, sometimes so severe that my trusty asthma spray simply can’t cope. No matter how friendly, how lovable, how cute, if it’s a dog with a standard dog’s coat, I can’t risk being near it. Yes, there is a prophylactic drug to prevent the worst attack, but that has quite severe side effects.

Surely there must be some dog-free places – and surely they should start with planes?
Judith Cutler
Cirencester, Gloucestershire

• Dogs do not belong in any public place where food is sold, prepared or eaten. Bring back the dog licence, priced at a high rate and ringfenced to pay for dog wardens enforce it.
Marlene Godfrey
Beverley, East Riding of Yorkshire

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