Why do they commit themselves to twice a day outings in all weathers?

Why, despite the cost-of-living crisis, do they have an open purse for food and vet bills?

If you want a dog for company, get your ideas straightened. They are no good for conversation (although I have witnessed a great deal of one-way baby-talk between owner and fondled mutt. The only activity dog and owner share is walking, the owner bending down from time to time to collect the dog’s doings.

The dog population of the UK has doubled in recent years, now totalling around 13 million. Between them they deposit an estimated 8,800 tons of dogshit daily. Much of this finds its way into street litter bins, thence to incinerators. The toxic gases arising from the burning plastic bags are added to the UK’s already heavily polluted atmosphere.

Too many owners fail to clear up their dog’s mess. Some owners make no attempt, because bending down is beyond them.  Increasingly, dogshit is found on pavements and grass verges, there to be found by young children, the wheels of baby-buggies and those with sight-loss.

The most scrupulous dogshit clearer leaves behind a trace of the stuffon the ground, which usually contains the bacteria of toxocariasis, an infection which can be serious in humans.

The owner’s motivation may be a desire to have something under his/her total control.  You see big blokish blokes with one or more big dogs the size of Shetland ponies.The dog must dominate the household. Certainly its smell is all-pervasive. If the postman calls, the stupid mutt throws itself at the door.

Some owners allow their dogs to worry sheep and cattle and watch them shit on pastures which are the food source for farmed animals.

Dogs are nowadays taken everywhere, into shops, cafes, restaurants and pubs. They are given free rein in nature reserves and their ignorant owners leap to the dim dog’s defence when it is pointed out that nature reserves are so-called because they are for the protection and conservation of wildlife, not for the exercise of dogs’ hunting instincts.

Highly fashionable are ugly and disabled dogs. How can a miniature Dachshund be considered other than disabled?  And those bulldogs with the crushed muzzle have breathing difficulties and are subject to respiratory disorders throughout life. They have been bred to please the eye of the owner, regardless of the cruelty to the animal.

Here’s a thought. While there are tens of thousands of children waiting to be found a caring foster home, it is criminal that millions of pounds are spent on an ever-growing dog population.

The very least the government should do is to re-introduce the dog licence.

I suggest £10 per annum as a starting point.

Dog owners can feel safe. Politicians are as likely to put this in an election manifesto as proposing the re-introduction of conscription.

Do come back to me. My email address is 12121937@gmail.com.