Dangerous dogs

[Gully]

What shocked me was the lady on the radio this morning talking about two golden retrievers attacking a child, although my experience of dogs is pretty limited I had always considered them to be really gentle and easy-going...particularly around children. What she described was the dogs having a play-fight in the garden, the child walked towards them and they both turned on it.

 

[SJ's Love Monkey]

I was thinking about this yesterday when I heard about the death of the baby in the care of his grandmother. I was imagining a scene where the young baby was being doted on and perhaps the attention was not being lavished on the dog in the usual way. I can only assume that the dogs were in the same room, unsupervised, albeit for a minute, which is when disaster struck.

Clearly they should not have been left unsupervised. The dogs could have been kept in a separate room or a baby gate could have been used.

There are so many dog behaviour/kids behaviour programmes on TV but I have never seem anything on TV which examines these incidents and what leads to these tragedies. It may seem very common sense to most of us but there are obviously people out there who do not make those common sense decisions. I would like to see something on TV as it would be interesting and would hopefully make people think.

SBT's are terrific as a rule with children, but that doesn't mean i would leave mine or any breed of dog unsupervised around kids especially babies and toddlers as they like to tug and pull at things like ears and jowls! Dogs can't tell you if they have gut ache or feel under the weather and just as with us we wouldn't somebody doing it to you if you felt a bit crook. It is basic common sense but as usual it is the dog thst cops most of the flak

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

Certain breeds shouldn't be allowed out without being muzzled , the Dangerous Dogs Act needs to be amended so that if a dog attacks someone on private property they are immediately destroyed. Only recently a postman was savaged by 2 dogs with his arm nearly ripped off and if he cant work again will have to sue the dog's owner for compensation. A small child or baby should never be left alone in a room with a dog as the dog only thinks they are with another animal. Only responsible persons should be allowed to keep breeds that are recognised as working dogs (German Shepherds , Rottweilers , Dobermans etc) or historically known as fighting dogs (Staffies , Jack Russells etc)

 

[bhaexpress]

Certain breeds shouldn't be allowed out without being muzzled , the Dangerous Dogs Act needs to be amended so that if a dog attacks someone on private property they are immediately destroyed. Only recently a postman was savaged by 2 dogs with his arm nearly ripped off and if he cant work again will have to sue the dog's owner for compensation. A small child or baby should never be left alone in a room with a dog as the dog only thinks they are with another animal. Only responsible persons should be allowed to keep breeds that are recognised as working dogs (German Shepherds , Rottweilers , Dobermans etc) or historically known as fighting dogs (Staffies , Jack Russells etc)

Jack Russells fighting dogs ? They were bred for rat catching. Saying that only responsible people should have working dogs is the same as saying only responsible people should drive cars or for that matter have children.

Life is not quite like that though.

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

Jack Russells are vicious little bastards even if they are supposed to have a good temperament and can turn nasty in an instant.

 

[m20gull]

All dogs can be nasty. I have had more incidents with Springers than anything else but that's anecdotal. The RSPCA vet on BBC this morning said that staffs are underrepresented in bite statistics for their numbers, which is basically because they were bred for fighting other dogs not attacking people.

Demonising some breeds doesn't help. What is needed is compulsory licensing, chipping and insurance. Then we will have responsible owners.

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

If a responsible person looks after a dog and trains them properly they will have a modicum of control over the dog in a tricky situation. If the dog belongs to a chav or druggie and is kicked/beaten and as a result maims a child or adult they should be banned from owning dogs for the rest of their life.

 

[bhaexpress]

All dogs can be nasty. I have had more incidents with Springers than anything else but that's anecdotal. The RSPCA vet on BBC this morning said that staffs are underrepresented in bite statistics for their numbers, which is basically because they were bred for fighting other dogs not attacking people.

Demonising some breeds doesn't help. What is needed is compulsory licensing, chipping and insurance. Then we will have responsible owners.

Actually as I said earlier they were originally bred for Bull baiting, hence the name. Staffs are near cousins of the Pit Bull which is bred for fighting and is a lot bigger than a Staff. Staffs were never bred for dog fights although no doubt there are those who do fight them.

My ex wife in Georgia had a monstrous Pit Bull called Zeus but he was not trained to fight and in fact was a very friendly dog. It tends to be the owners that breed violence into an animal but even so, any dog can turn and you cannot trust one 100%. Within that of course there are some breeds that less trustworthy than others.

 

[GT49er]

Maybe it's time to consider re-introducing dog licences. Not the measly 37 1/2 pence ones there used to be, but enough to fund the administering and policing of the schemme. All dogs would have to be neutered, unless you hold a full breeder's licence (which would cost a darned site more, and you'd have to present annual accounts and pay for annual inspections), and pet insurance would be compulsory.
Maybe the licences for second, third and subsequent dogs should be progressively increased - one thing that really bugs me is idiots living in small flats, who keep a pack of 5 or 6 alsatians - not fair on their neighbours and not fair on the dogs.
It wouldn't prevent all tragedies - a dog is, after all, no more than a domesticated wolf - but it would make dog-owning a much more serious committment, not something you can do quite casually by going out and buying a puppy.

 

[dougdeep]

Maybe it's time to consider re-introducing dog licences. Not the measly 37 1/2 pence ones there used to be, but enough to fund the administering and policing of the schemme. All dogs would have to be neutered, unless you hold a full breeder's licence (which would cost a darned site more, and you'd have to present annual accounts and pay for annual inspections), and pet insurance would be compulsory.
Maybe the licences for second, third and subsequent dogs should be progressively increased - one thing that really bugs me is idiots living in small flats, who keep a pack of 5 or 6 alsatians - not fair on their neighbours and not fair on the dogs.
It wouldn't prevent all tragedies - a dog is, after all, no more than a domesticated wolf - but it would make dog-owning a much more serious committment, not something you can do quite casually by going out and buying a puppy.

Top post. It was crazy to stop the licencing in the first place.

 

[Gully]

Jack Russells are vicious little bastards even if they are supposed to have a good temperament and can turn nasty in an instant.

Second that, I was bitten on the back of my hand by a Jack Russell, totally unprovoked...at least by me! It was in a hockey club bar after a game, we were all sat around having a few drinks and the dog was running about on the floor, I was sat down and leaning forwards with my hands just above my feet when the little bastard struck...its owner used to bring it out onto the pitch before games when we were warming up, if I said that I never aimed a ball in its direction after that incident I would be lying to you.

 

[FalmerforAll!**]

Is NOBODY going to post a picture of a dog dressed up as Yoda?

 

[1066familyman]

Re: Bringing back dog licences.

I used to be all in favour of replacing the old 37 1/2 p nonsense with a costly licence in the belief that it would deter arseholes from owning dogs.

I no longer believe that argument. Mainly because the wanker brigade seem to think that the more they spend on a fashion accessory ( and that's exactly what a dog is to a lot of these people ) the more kudos it brings. If they were minded to get a licence - and I'm doubtful a lot of them would anyway - money, it seems, is no object to them.

 

[Barrel of Fun]

More of a cat man myself. I don't need 24 hour attention from some slobbering, rubbery lipped mongrel and cats are not likely to kill someone.

 

[1066familyman]

More of a cat man myself. I don't need 24 hour attention from some slobbering, rubbery lipped mongrel and cats are not likely to kill someone.

No, cats just shit in everybody else's garden bar their own. Nice.

 

[Barrel of Fun]

No, cats just shit in everybody else's garden bar their own. Nice.

Shtting in foreign gardens is preferable to....

I know what you meant.

 

[Gully]

Re: Bringing back dog licences.

I used to be all in favour of replacing the old 37 1/2 p nonsense with a costly licence in the belief that it would deter arseholes from owning dogs.

I no longer believe that argument. Mainly because the wanker brigade seem to think that the more they spend on a fashion accessory ( and that's exactly what a dog is to a lot of these people ) the more kudos it brings. If they were minded to get a licence - and I'm doubtful a lot of them would anyway - money, it seems, is no object to them.

Good idea, but when you consider the number of people who drive around in unlicensed and uninsured cars then trying to enforce a dog licence would be a complete and utter nightmare.

 

[GT49er]

Re: Bringing back dog licences.

I no longer believe that argument. Mainly because the wanker brigade seem to think that the more they spend on a fashion accessory ( and that's exactly what a dog is to a lot of these people ) the more kudos it brings. If they were minded to get a licence - and I'm doubtful a lot of them would anyway - money, it seems, is no object to them.

But you can get fairly hammered for not having a TV licence, and your car can be taken away and crushed, on the spot and without notice. Punitive penalties for owning unlicensed dogs would make people think twice before going down the licence evasion route (the owners penalised, not the dogs; I am not advocating confiscating dogs and crushing them!)

 

[1066familyman]

Good idea, but when you consider the number of people who drive around in unlicensed and uninsured cars then trying to enforce a dog licence would be a complete and utter nightmare.

My point exactly.

 

[GT49er]

Just make sure the penalties don't make it worth the risk of being caught.