Is there a thread about the poor 5 week old baby yet? [warning, distressing content]

[thewinehasgonetomyhead]

Standing in the kitchen with my two DD almost in tears:

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-46565175

Oh my God, utterly horrific, poor little mite

I know, it’s just unbearable. Reminds me of that thread a few days ago with that lady who was living with DHs dodgy dog.

This happened in the village just over from where I live. It's absolutely horrific.

So sick of hearing it’s staffies. When is that breed going to be banned? Sick of hearing it’s the owner not the dog.
Dh saw a staffie attack another dog the other week. The owner could not prize it off it. It ended up going for the other dog owners throat who was taken away in an ambulance.

That poor baby. Something needs to be done.

I don’t want to defend Staffies on the back of this article (it seems in poor taste) but a Jack Russell killed a small baby some years ago.

That said, DP refused to get a SBT and we had to get a Shih Tzu. They (Staffies) can make excellent pets.

some years ago! Yes all dogs can kill but it is Staffies that appear to be doing it on a regular basis.

How utterly horrific.
When will people learn? Doesn't bear thinking about what that tiny baby went through

It's heartbreaking.

Ban Staffies? Don't be so ridiculous. Staffies were the only dog breed to have "good with children" in their actual Kennel Club breed standard - they're renowned for being wonderful dogs with babies and children.

Sadly, it's about bad breeding and bad owners. This country needs a massive overhaul in dog breeding, particularly in this current culture of crossing anything and everything then selling them as designer breeds. It's appalling. Staffies have been ruined by backyard breeders and as a result, temperaments and health are suffering, same as most breeds. Staffies are also a breed that appeals to people who like to believe that they are "hard", which again leads to poorly behaved dogs and poorly bred dogs, as these people haven't a clue how to train an animal.

Nothing to do with the breed, but awful for the poor children that suffer because of people out there that happily let it carry on and purchase these dogs themselves, adding to the problem.

Nothing will be done. Our country can't even look after our children or elderly, let alone dogs.

I was waiting for the uneducated anti-staff brigade and Bodicea you didn't disappoint.
This was entirely the fault of the parents who left a 5 week old baby on the floor unattended with the dogs. Only one of the dogs attacked, the other didn't even react to the incident.

Thousands of staffies are well loved, gentle pets who never put a foot wrong but are condemned for the actions of others.

I was waiting for the uneducated anti-staff brigade

Usually the type of person who has a dog with "doodle" or "sprock" in the name.

This is tragic.

Leaving a baby unsupervised with any dog is irresponsible neglect. It’s lazy to link it to a particular breed, but there are always people that seem to relish an opportunity to do so.

You really can’t put it down to the breed though. It is the owner and not the dog. Dogs are animals and all dogs are capable of something like this. It all goes wrong when an owner doesn’t realise this.

I have a complete cross and 2 kids. The dog is soft as shit and appears to love the kids but as a parent and a dog owner I have to realise that she is an animal and as such could at any time be unpredictable and do something terrible, so I take measures to make sure that nobody (specifically the children) would come to harm. If you leave a newborn baby with ANY animal, be it a cat, rabbit, dog or budgie, you are a neglectful (to both child and pet) very stupid person.

If ‘something has to be done’ then the only thing to do would be to ban families from having pets.

Yes all dogs can kill but it is Staffies that appear to be doing it on a regular basis.

I’d love to see your sources for this @Bodicea

There is no need for name calling Nessie. You have your opinion. I have mine. No need to call someone uneducated. You didnt have to listen to your shaken husband describe the attack he saw and sheer power of the dog he described. I do think licensing should be brought back in first and foremost.
And I dont have dogs. I prefer cats.

Cats can do awful, even fatal damage (remember cot nets to keep cats out?) to children. I’ve personally been attacked by a cat. It was awful.

I can honestly say for people saying it's bad breeding, bad training yada yada yada it's bullshit....it's in them end of just like any other dog that had a purpose their purpose was to kill.
They need to ban breeding of Staffies which probably isn't going to happen...but there are more issues other than them killing kids I.e the amount in shelters etc. I think they should ban American bulldogs etc too sorry I love dogs but it's the same breeds every time.

And for the record I've fostered staffies before...and ended up with a dead cat..from a very apparent loving Staffie cross.

it's the same breeds every time

No. It isn't. A young baby was killed by an Alaskan Malamute not so long ago. Another breed that is used to look after children. Any dog can kill, for many reasons. It has nothing to do with the breed and everything to do with breeding, health and owners.

Mardy - your comment about the cat just goes to show you clearly know absolutely nothing about what you're talking about.

If you’ve fostered dogs Mavis you should know that you’re not usually allowed to foster (or adopt) if you have small animals in the house for that exact reason.

2 things -first never leave dogs of any variety in the same room as young children or babies. second what one dog will not do two may - they are pack animals. its like humans too, mob mentality in a way.

mumsastudent only one of the dogs attacked, the second dog did not even move during the incident.

I own a staff, she the soppiest dog ever but I wouldn’t leave her or any dang alone with a baby, any dog can attack, these dogs had probably never seen a baby before, a strange moving object in their home? Staffs are not the only dogs involved with dog attacks, a lot of people have them as pets so it’s more likely a dog attack will be a staff or a lab and often jack russels (because they are popular breads and usually good with children). It’s never the dogs fault, it’s the owners for not being responsible.

My husband grew up in the village where this happened and my PILs still live there. Absolutely awful.

Dogs are animals and all dogs are capable of something like this. It all goes wrong when an owner doesn’t realise this.

This.

Dogs are amazing animals and under the right conditions they are fantastic pets. I really dislike the current trend for overly humanising animals and the whole "fur baby" thing. They're not babies, they're not people, they have rudimentary emotions but they are not capable of complex emotions or thought processes because they are animals. I observe basic safety procedures around all animals and teach my DC to do the same, this includes dogs.

I prefer cats

We had a cat when DC1 was born and she was insanely jealous of the baby. She used to hiss and spit if she came into the room to find us holding the baby, one afternoon he happened to be on the floor on his playmat and she swiped at him, claws out. She also tried to jump in his Moses basket after sitting on the back of the sofa growling and yowling at him. In the immediate term we took steps to keep them apart and to make sure that DC was never unsupervised when in the same room as the cat, ultimately though she couldn't accept him so had to be rehomed (she went to live with my parents where there were no small children, we still got to see her, and she lived out a very peaceful retirement).