Friend's dog bit a child, whose fault?

But the child's parents have broken no laws, whereas the dog's owners have.
The law is clear where the responsibility lies.

Morally, equal blame lies with the parents of the child, and the dog handler.

Both children and dogs are unpredictable.

A sensible parent would have taken her dd's hand when approaching a stranger dog.

A sensible dog owner would have taken hold of their dog's collar.

In law, the dog owner would be in the wrong, having a dog that was dangerously out of control.

I hope you mean her and not me 🤣

Both.

Both parties were expecting the other side to be in control of their responsibilities, neither side were.

If dog were brought to the owners side when passing people this wouldn't have happened.

If child were taught not to approach unknown dogs this wouldn't have happened.

I cannot believe what I'm reading.

People should come before pets.

Children should be allowed to run in parks.

Dog owners should be in control of their animals.

No. You need to read the law on this one. It's subjective for the person making the complaint. The question is one or reasonableness. Would a reasonable person believer under the circumstances that the dog was dangerous. Noting to do with the dog being on a lead.

A dog can't bite a person even if it is on a lead.

Do you think if a dog seriously injured someone a) whilst on a lead and b) after being approached by a child that this would be deemed legal?

If a dog would bite a child that approaches it, the owner must take extra measures e.g. muzzle, walking in isolated spaces.

The child created the incident but dog owners need to be in control of their dog in public and in this case they weren't. So despite not being the primary cause of the incident the responsibility for it lies with the dog owner.
The dog needs to be much closer to their humans in future unfair though that may seem.

This is incorrect and would only be correct if the dog was off lead.

The dog was on a lead, close to the owner and in control. The owner was being responsible. The owner had no control over the child.

The child approached the dog without permission and the dog no doubt felt threatened.

If someone random person walked up to me and patted me on the head I'd instinctively shove them away!

Similar to an accident between a car and a bicycle where both have been careless - the fault is shared but there is a much greater responsibility for the driver/dog owner. If you can seriously harm someone else then jumping straight to ‘but it wasn’t my fault’ when a minor accident happens isn’t a good response - your friend should be thinking about what she needs to do differently to make sure a worse accident doesn’t happen, in a world where small children don’t always know what to do. Especially having a dog like a Staffy, safety should come way way before blame.

@karrabee 100% the child's fault.

The dog was on a lead and under control. The child ran up to the dog and thrust a hand towards it so the dog was probably scared.

The parents need to teach their child not to approach other people's dogs without asking. We have a dog and our kids all know not to just pat another dog!

Yes this.

Owners need to understand their responsibilities under the law.

Neither the girl or dog were at fault. The parents and your friend were, for not anticipating that both children and dogs can be unpredictable. They should have taught their child not to approach unless invited and prevented her from doing so, but your friend should have seen them coming and positioned herself between the dog and child. That keeps the dog safe as much as the child.

It’s always the dog’s fault

A dog's actions are always the responsibility of its owner.

YABU. I would absolutely be reporting you and your dog to the police 🤷‍♀️

Thankfully I’ve taught my children not to go near any dogs so this isn’t a situation I would encounter, but I still think you should be reported for having a nasty dog.

Parent/child's fault, they need to teach their children not to touch animals or they might get bitten.

Both.
Dog owner should call dog them when they see kids approaching the same as they would with an off lead dog.

Parents should teach children to always approach owners before animals.

How were the dog owners entitled in this situation?

Under the recently ammended Dangerous Dogs Act the dog is legally considered to have been "dangerously out of control". This is a criminal offence. If reported to the police they will investigate. Dog owners need to be aware the law has changed. Foe an owner to commit an offence the dog doesn't have to bite anyone, someone thinking the dog would is enough. A growl or a lunge is all it takes. Be careful out there.

In a court of law, if it came to it, this is 100% on the dog owner. Because the dog is their responsibility in a public space. Including ANY harm it causes to a human or property, regardless of perceived provocation. There is no scope in law for the conclusion "the person may have been bitten but they brought that on themselves".

I wish dog owners would inform themselves of the law on this rather than endlessly blameshifting because they don't fully realise the notion of accountability as a pet owner.

It’s the fault of the family of the girl who touched the dogs head.

Dog should have been closer to the owners - kids aren’t that quick. If the dog had been closer owner could have controlled it

Yes kid shouldn’t have touched the dog but if dog bit for something so minor as kid putting their hand out then it should have been closer to the owner

The family of the child who was bitten. Children should be taught from the day they can walk that they never approach a dog without asking the owner and even then they need to be calm and slow.

I’ve always told children that dogs don’t have a voice so the only way they can communicate is with their mouths so if they’re scared that’s how they’ll warn you.

The parents fault.

Saying that, I always position myself between my dogs and other people because people think hey can just touch dogs without asking.