Lazy Dog Owner Arrested for Walking His Dog

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Lazy Dog Owner Arrested for Walking His Dog

By Jo Singer | March 9, 2010 2:09 PM

I always thought that taking one's dog out for a delightful leisurely long walk provided many health benefits for both people and their pooches. Years ago when I personally had the pleasure of dog sitting for Sabina, a magnificent female Great Dane, each afternoon I would dash home from work looking forward to our romp in the great outdoors. I must add that I never figured out which one of us more thoroughly enjoyed our sojourn. All I know is that it was extremely gratifying for me strolling through the woods accompanied by my good friend.

Tom Hank's character in the 1989 film Turner & Hooch. Photo via OverOll.com

So you can imagine my shock and chagrin when I ran across an article about a 23 year-old English dog-owner who was fined and banned from driving for six months. His crime? He was arrested for walking his dog while seated in his car, with his dog trotting alongside his vehicle.

Now this is in my opinion not only dangerous and bordering on cruelty to animals, but the height of laziness. For shame!

Paul Ralton pleaded guilty on March 1, 2010 to "not being in proper control of a vehicle". Paul Donoghue, Mr. Ralton's attorney said that Ralton acknowledged, "It was a silly thing to do and there was an element of laziness." Element? I wonder what Mr. Ralton would really consider "laziness." British newspaper quoted Mr. Donoghue as saying that his client, Mr. Ralston, "does not usually drive in such a manner."

According to prosecutors, Mr. Ralton was sighted driving slowly along a country lane last December, 2009, with the dog's leash hanging out the car window while his dog walked alongside the automobile.

Magistrates in Consett, Northeast England ordered Ralton to fork over a 66 pound fine, (about $100.00) plus court costs. He additionally received three penalty points on his license. Due to his already existing points he is banned from driving his car for six months.

Paul Ralton Photo via OverOll.com

According to the British Newspaper, "The Sun", following his hearing, Ralton said, "It is a joke. I'm not bothered. I knew I would get three points. I might have saved myself some money not having a car."

What I also dearly wonder about is what his dog was thinking as he viewed Mr. Ralton sitting inside his automobile while he was running alongside it. But of course anything I come up with would be pure speculation.

Whether or not you are a dog lover, I am highly interested in hearing your reactions to this story.

Leave a comment and share your thoughts.

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Ruth March 9, 2010 12:06 PM

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That dog doesn't deserve him as an owner. He deserves much better. He's a lazy POS as far as I'm concerned. The Magistrate ashould've taken the dog away from him along with his license. He really needs to get a grip on reality.

Vicki March 9, 2010 12:16 PM

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This person should never own an animal if he is too lazy to properly care for it. I am glad his license is suspended, but I also think that I would find another way to keep this from ever happening again.

Reno March 12, 2010 5:10 AM

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I think not only should is license have been suspended, but the dog taken away as well....and ban on animal ownership in the foreseeable future....and make HIM run next to a car with the driver holding HIM on a control stick.....

Autumn May 4, 2010 6:18 AM

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I think that if you have the money and heart to own such a beautiful large dog, than you could at least walk him on a daily basis! The dog was probably thinking how he would rather be in the car enjoying the air in his ears. Another thing, who allows their dog to walk in the street? If anything, you train your dog to stay off of the street. Very disappointing how lazy many people are these days.

Lila May 5, 2010 7:58 AM

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hey, at least he was taking the dog out for his walk! give him a break! it's funny and he is lazy as hell, but he had the right idea and cared enough regardless of how crazy the idea was!

Sue Berman May 5, 2010 8:01 AM

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Photo NOT from England. Why?
Car is left-hand drive. So are all the cars parked on street - parked on the right side of street.
License plate is a California plate.

Maria May 5, 2010 8:18 AM

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The photo is from the movie Turner and Hooch... I think it may have been used to illustrate HOW this would have looked... rather than an actual photo from the incident.

Rick (dvm) May 5, 2010 8:52 AM

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James and Lila,
You may find it amusing, but the sad reality is that this man put both his dog and other drivers at risk by behaving like such an idiot. The animal should be placed in a proper home and the man should be charged with endangerment and cruelty. He obviously learned nothing per his response. Why allow him to own this dog any longer? Caring for animals is not a joke. It's a responsibility that shouldn't be taken lightly.

Asilee May 6, 2010 7:19 AM

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That's pathetic.

Sandra Pickering May 6, 2010 8:38 AM

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Hard to believe that anyone could be so insensitive. People who ride bikes and pull their dogs along should be fined as well.

paulis May 7, 2010 8:21 AM

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I ride my bike with my dog everyday and he pulls me. Once the dog has been acclimated to the sport, they enjoy it. My boxer loves going on bike rides in different forest preserves and neighborhoods. I couldn't handle giving him the proper 3-4 mile walk he needs every day of the week.

RK May 17, 2010 9:21 AM

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Most dogs love it, actually -- it gives them a chance to run with us, faster than the average human is able to walk comfortably. With a bike, they can run at their speed and the human can keep up with them. My Sheltie, however, does NOT enjoy it at all, so we don't do it with her. But if the dog likes it, it's a great way for both species to get their exercise in.

GlassHouses May 6, 2010 9:29 AM

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My uncle was chastised in the local paper years ago when a photographer for the paper saw him walking his dog in the same manner. He even got death threats after the article came out. What the paper failed to explain was that my uncle suffered from congestive heart failure, at the time was in early stages of a brain tumor (which eventually took him) and the dog was a 170# malamute which could easily drag him like a ragdoll if he got excited. My uncle wanted the dog to exercise and this was the safest method available. He didn't do it on city streets. He would go to a local park and drive around the parking lot. Now, the fellow in the current story doesn't look like he has any physiical limitations and probably can walk the dog in a more conventional method but we should all remember to obtain a completely understanding of one's situation before we judge.

Michael Overboe May 7, 2010 7:01 AM

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Many years ago when I was still in college I use to take my dog with me. She would hag out at my truck parked way out in a far lot with grass and shade until I got out of class. The drive for me was some 60 miles to and from school. She would sit up front with me until the last mile of the trip. This was a dirt road going to the horse ranch I worked at and stayed. I would let her out and we would race the last leg of the journey. I on the road and her running thru the woods or near by, not once was she ever near enough to be a problem and she would know when we were close to home and it was time for the run.
Now today years later that dog is gone and the one I have now could not do that run as today I live in a city and the streets are not safe enough to let a dog run free.
I miss that country road and those races we had.

Toni May 7, 2010 9:18 AM

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I think that dog should put a leash around his owner's neck and walk him. He looks a bit porky and could use the exercise.

gomommy May 20, 2010 8:51 AM

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Best post yet.

TomM60 May 8, 2010 8:28 AM

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I can see by the comments that many people reading this don't own big dogs, don't know anything about dogs and proper exercise and have little to no feelings for a pet the size of a Great Dane. My dogs are nearly the same size and I use to walk them when they were little but as they grew there was no way I could keep up with them, even running to get them close to winded. Now I bike with my dogs and they do get a little better exercise. What England needs are dog parks where people can't come unless they have a dog and the dogs can get up to full speed. Most people who replied to this should be banned from these parks because they probably wouldn't get along with dogs in the first place. I don't now if the people who replied are from England or where but this world has some pretty insensitive people towards raising dogs properly.

carlue May 8, 2010 10:10 AM

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I am thinking that if he was going slowly probably not at all hurting the dog. We had a boxer that loved to run, but leaving with leash laws in the city made it impossible for her to run as fast as she wanted, so we would take her up north to and in-laws had a golf cart my husband and I would be in the golf cart and she had a very long leash running beside and would still out run the golf cart, she got lots exercise and loved it, everyone that witnessed it would attest to that, she would push for us to do it every time she seen the golf cart. It's only animal cruelty if you are harming the animal and neglecting the animal. No I was NOT BE LAZY as I can't run that fast. Never once was my baby harmed. (as for the car I don't know that I agree with using the car though, for one its on a pave street, then there is on coming traffic and he doesn't look like he is driving straight which could cause an accident, not to mention the car can go a lot faster than the golf cart we used and as mentioned earlier dog would out run golf cart. We always had two people at all times the passenger with the leash so the driver could drive and my dog was on the side of the road not in the road.

racehl May 11, 2010 7:06 AM

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people, this picture is from a MOVIE,NOT the man in question!!!!!

Nancy May 9, 2010 9:52 AM

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i understand this issue..I had a big dog years ago he was a breed that had to run or he would chew up everything in site.. we lived in the country but we could not let him just run in a field because he would chase the livestock. we could not run with him because he could easily run 20 miles an hours and loved to. so we would take him on a run on a back country road, no other cars around.. nad he could run he loved it and had a chance to burn off that energy.. not once did he ever get hurt but he got the necessarty exercise he needed.. there wasnt any dog parks around then but if there had he still could not of run free. when he started to run that is what he did and he would not come back. he would find anything he could to chase and just go. and if he caught that animal he would kill it.. so this was the best of both worlds for him..

Robert Gift May 9, 2010 10:35 AM

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This lazy fatty wastes fuel and makes pollution to walk his dog?
He looks like he needs a walk.
Ride a bike and do it from a sidewalk with dog running on GRASS not pavement.

Maggie May 12, 2010 8:24 AM

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Most people will not even walk a 1/4 mile to a store. The car is the preferred mode of transport as proven by the number of roads. There are very few bike lanes or paths. Anyone who did not see this coming is naive. The dog whisperer uses rollerblades on the road and no one criticizes that. He even uses treadmills! If the car was not dragging the dog and it was not at risk from traffic, (which we do not know from the article), how is it any different? I have seen people with those segways "walking" dogs too. Maybe we could start seeing people do this too....not a bad way to ensure a brisk pace is kept. Our gym teacher used to use a golf cart to make sure we ran the track! No one called that cruel - they said it was good for us.

jake May 18, 2010 8:08 AM

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I must be really really bad .I dont even use a lease .I make the dog chase after me .full speed .I am so terrible.dogs happy.thats what I care about .not the desiders . the worlds a fing mess because of the desiders.the ignorante masses will always rule the world .

thomas vuono May 20, 2010 7:44 AM

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I don't believe the animal was endangered in any way. and I believe the punishment fit the crime. however how pathetically lazy can one get. he does look like he could afford to shed a few pounds

AF May 20, 2010 8:04 AM

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My goodness people, did the article say anything about the dog actually being hurt? Did it say he was driving at reckless speeds and dragging the dog? Did it say they went through his place and discovered signs of abuse? No. So cool your jets. Obviously this is bad for a number of reasons. He put the dog at risk of being hit by other cars. He has less control of the dog in the car than he would being besides him. He *gasp* polluted unnecessarily (as if there weren't millions of people doing that already). So, yes, stupid move. He most likely would have learned a lesson by a cop coming by and saying "Hey, knock it off." Done deal. You want something more serious to flip out about than a lazy owner? Read the article about the cat murder in Florida. There is someone you should be concerned with.

BT May 24, 2010 10:35 AM

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I drive around my block with my dog running on the grass between the SW and curb. It's a good trick. Especially when it's below zero! She absolutely loves it...barks, does 360s, etc. My neighbors think it's great. I'm far from lazy, I just can't run her off leash at the park without getting a ticket.

Bob Henbry May 24, 2010 10:36 AM

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OH FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! It's not that big a deal. You have to be creative with the big working and racing breeds. They need more excercise than most humans can give. I have a medium size, VERY high energy German Shepherd. She loves to run and can't get enough. I run with her, run her along side my bike and will throw her tennis ball 20 times each Saturday morning in my attemtps to get her enough excercise.
Now, get your condemnations ready: On a few occations, when I was going to someone else's house, or when she was going to be in the van for a while, I have stopped in the country or a back street and walked her until she has peed and pooped.Then I have run her about three or four blocks, for a fast mile sprint, to tire her out so she will sleep for a while. She seems to like it. On family vacations, I have pulled out on a deserted road and put her out and let her run along side the van until she is beat and then stop to let her in. She then settles in the back seat and curls up for a nap. At 4 years of age, she can do this about every three hours or twice a day and it helps keep her in shape and helps her calm down for the rest of the trip.

Rose May 26, 2010 7:40 AM

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~lol~ OK, well, this isn't so bad. I've done it myself. Of course the dog had escaped from the farm, and had a frenzied night of skunk killing. NO WAY was I putting my dog in the car! Loved my dog dearly. I'd even leaped into the rapids of a river to save him when he was a puppy and fallen in.

But I only owned one vehicle, and there was no way I could have gotten THAT smell out! So my already tired dog had a looong sloooow walk/trot home next to the car.

I also ended up bringing a horse home a different time who had escaped and gone several miles and one valley away. Didn't have a horse trailer. Had to get both the car and the horse home....so she was led home next to the car. I didn't drive at more than a fast walk for her, and it was country roads all the way.

I've been out with people who own hunting packs, or racing packs of hounds before. They will drive miles out a dirt road, open the doors and allow the pack out. Then they drive away, with the trained pack in hot pursuit. The dogs arrive happy (thrilled actually) and exsausted at the end of the road. Of course those are dirt roads with little to no traffic and the dogs are not tethered to the vehicle, but running freely, just following the car.

When I was a child, my mother had an accident involving a horse. My mother was in a hip length cast. Our Rottweiler went on a little doggy adventure a few blocks away (ultra friendly dog, thought everyone was his best friend!). He never was good at getting into the car, and always wanted my Mom to pick up all 120 pounds of him and put him in. Of course with the hip length cast, she couldn't. So he trotted home on the leash, next to the Cadillac. He was THRILLED! Best doggy adventure, and neat-o new game my Mom was making up just for him to play!

Generally speaking, yes, I think this guy is a lazy doufus for not going for an ACTUAL walk with his dog. Yet I know beyond a shadow of a doubt there are circumstances where this is perfectly acceptable. If the guy had a sprained ankle, I would have been completely on his side. Since he's an able bodied fellow though, he should have gone for an actual walk with his dog. Walking is good for humans too!

~Garnet
Responsible dog owner for 37 consecutive years (currently 8 dogs in our pack).

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