Let me be clear. If you do not have a dog, but you are carrying around ‘treats’ for dogs, and you have done so with pre-meditation as a way of threatening people to leash their dogs…. I believe it is reasonable and proportionate to presume you may have laced that food with either poison or failing this something which causes huge amounts of gastric unpleasantness for dogs. It would be reasonable and proportionate for me to respond in this way and use this defence in law.

As you’ve said, actions have consequences…. But do those only apply when you decide they do? Why is my immediate hypothetical reaction offensive when you’ve been so insistent about people taking responsibility for their actions. Penguins don’t use the police to threaten people but that doesn’t mean we don’t react at all - and I’d take my chance with the jury, cos reading around the subject suggests this guy has done this more than once.

So yeah…. Not prone to violence, penguins are generally peaceful. Feed my dog without my consent and whilst being vaguely confrontational and I will lamp you first and ask questions later.