Yet another person killed from a dog attack.. what is going on

[icelolly12]

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-surrey-64254413

Something needs to be done...reports of dog neglect taken more seriously, harsher prison sentences... any other ideas?

Awful, awful way to die, and makes me think twice about passing dogs off lead on walks.

@Pupinski Ours are house cats so not a menace thankfully but keeping cats in a house is also problematic and not really ‘right’. But yes I’d gladly not have a pet ever again if it meant places were safer. If the ‘pet’ concept didn’t exist I wouldn’t imagine there would be a massive number of cats in the UK since they are bred extensively for the pet industry.

@echt Good point! And the reason cats are quite likely outnumbering other wildlife now and in such high numbers that they are causing such a problem is..oh yeah..humans again, breeding them to keep as cute pets for our own pleasure!

Why the demonization of people who use dog walkers? I used to go to college for 8 hours, twice a week. I used a dog walker for those days. I also used a dog walker when I was too unwell to walk my hound.

The details are horrific. The poor woman must have been utterly terrified.

We adopted a rescue dog, and just as she was beginning to be allowed off the lead, one day in a huge field, 2 professional dog walkers turned up and more than one of their dogs attacked our rescue dog. It lasted a while, and I was screaming at them to get their dogs off her. When they finally came over to make effort, I realised one of them was the RSPCA volunteer who had done the home visit on us. The 2 women didn't apologise, they literally dragged their dogs off and walked away. To say I was livid was an understatement.

Good point - only collar men over 5' 10".

Demonisation!? Get a grip!

Did you read what the RSPB said? There is no evidence that cats are the culprits in birdlife decline.

I realised one of them was the RSPCA volunteer who had done the home visit on us. The 2 women didn't apologise, they literally dragged their dogs off and walked away. To say I was livid was an understatement

as you knew who it was, did you report it? I know the police aren't interested in dog on dog attacks though. Do you have a dog warden in your area?

@echt The point I was making is that most of these animal ‘problems’ even if they were proven to be true, lead back to humans. And in reality most of them actually have nothing to do with animals in the first place and originate from human behaviours, as per the article.

"I live in a rural area yet we still have dog walkers down here. There is lots of space but people either don't have time or can't be bothered to look after them themselves."

On that basis should we also ban childcare?

Muzzles and leads? Get a grip. 🙄

People use dogs walkers because they don't have the time. It is not a bad thing. PP comment read like people using dog walkers are irresponsible and should never have had a dog to start with.

On another thread recently they were discussing how in the 70s and 80s packs of dogs used to frequently be seen wandering around. How people would let there dog out in the morning and it would appear home for its dinner later. I think people have forgotten people do have much tighter control of their dogs now.

Is that a question for me? No deaths are acceptable, either of people or dogs through maltreatment. As I've said elsewhere, I would advocate compulsory licences for dogs owners, compulsory training for owners to include canine communication and body language and care of dogs, regulation for all aspects of canine care industry, including breeders, trainers, dog walkers, etc.

However, I still maintain it's important to avoid scaremongering hysteria. If your figure of 20 hospitalisations per day (actual hospitalisations or people needing treatment?) is correct, that's still one case for every 650,000 dogs.

Would you also advocate banning cars, drills, ladders, etc?

Dog walking is one of the few domestic services that people judge and look down on. Cleaner? Fine. Gardener? Fine. Nanny? Fine.

It provides employment. Most people who go into it, in my experience, do it because they love dogs and are skilled at understanding and interacting with them. Should it be more regulated? Probably, and likely after this I would think more regulations will be put in place. Stop sneering at other peoples jobs.

Glad to hear your cats are house cats. I'm not a cat person but if I was to have a cat it would definitely be a house cat, not just because of the issue I mentioned previously, but because the likelihood of a wandering cat meeting an untimely end is not small...

My old family dog was like that. He used to go out in the morning, then sit on the end of his rope in the garden in the evening like he had been there all along. I can only imagine how many puppies he fathered out there.

My point entirely. Not all dogs need to be muzzled. It's an absurdity.

Since Covid there has been an incredible rise in the number of people who have dogs and absolutely no knowledge of how to train them. They don't come already trained and it takes work and persistence. A lot of people are scared to let their dogs off lead and keep them on long leads which means dogs don't interract with other dogs properly and the owners then have made a problem dog. Who knows what happened here, but I do agree that dog walkers should have a limit on how many they take out at one time. For clearing up after them if nothing else, as they can't see where they are, Getting a dog and not walking it yourself means you don't fully understand your dog, it's crucial an owner has full knowledge how their dog acts on walks. If you can't look after it 100%, don't get one, it's not fair on the dog.

Quite. There is absolutely a place for dog walkers. I was responding to TonTonMacoute's comment that even in a rural area there are dog walkers (shock, horror!) because people lead busy lives.

I was drawing an analogy with people who work and use childcare because they can't give full time attention to their children 24/7. If it's reasonable for childcare to exist, it must also be reasonable for dog walkers to exist...

I saw a dog owner today out walking a dog on a really short lease the dog couldn't walk properly literally the front legs were lifted off the pavement. I dont own a dog but surely that can't be right to do.

I think Covid has a lot to do with this issue. People who got dogs during lockdown did not have the chance to socialise their puppies with other people and as a result their dogs don’t know how to relate to
people. When dogs are anxious, they can become aggressive and can react unexpectedly. My SIL bought a dog during lockdown and as she is vulnerable, she and her dog haven’t had much contact with other people. When I visited recently, it snarled, barked and growled at me and I was terrified. She said it was just nervous, but I felt threatened and I think this situation may be one of the reasons why dog attacks have increased in the last couple of years.

Muzzles

We walk our dog twice a day and have a dog walker twice a week for his morning walk. We changed recently to this dog walker because our old one was walking a large group of dogs and they would get really hyped up and she didn’t have great control. The new walker we have is also a trainer and she said there are some dogs like larger breeds she would always walk alone and with un neutered dogs with only 1 or 2 other dogs because even if they are friendly and well behaved the testosterone can wind other dogs up and spark alpha/ pack issues. I wonder if this was the problem with the attack. I did read the dogs were Leonbergers and sausage dogs which seems unbelievable as they are usually such gentle breeds.

I do also wonder how many of the people commenting on here are dog owners.. muzzle all dogs?! Also the people saying no one should use dog walkers?! I would much rather someone use a dog walker than not walk it and leave it at home all day!