Another dog attack- 4 year old killed. Devastating

[singingsussie]

Just woke up to this news this morning. It's just so incredibly heartbreaking for all involved. Seems to be happening so much more than ever these days

I can't believe you misunderstood your own post tbh

play stupid games, win stupid prizes

@potniatheron its a wider issue though isn’t it. There’s a silly culture in this country of thinking dogs are soft and forgetting that they all have wolf instincts!

What? Honestly.

I'll leave you to it, I don't think we're on the same level.

@Helloeveryone2023 that's a good point regarding non-fatal attacks. I do agree that dogs should be on leads in public but think given the amount of dogs in the UK more designated dog areas would be needed. Our dogs love being off lead so I do think it is good for them, however when walking in public areas they are always on lead, we have one park local to us that has a designated dog area and we rent a local field, however appreciate this is an additional cost that some pet owners would not be able to afford.

Was it this thread or another where the NRA attitude was raised? Prime example here.

Guns don't kill people, people do.
Dogs don't bite people, owners do.

Not much good after you've been bitten.

The problem is existing laws don't work for non-owners.

The whole area needs a discussion. There are too many dogs behaving badly in public.

They don't though, do they. In evo-bio behavioural terms, dogs have as much in common with wolves as we do with chimps. Do you indulge your chimp instincts often?

We know next to nothing about how dogs became domesticated and how they evolved from wolves to dogs. You're missing out huge stages, billions of years, of evolutionary development when you make silly generalising claims like that.

This girl came from a family where the parents were not very committed at being parents, or at looking after their children. It is sad. There is really no general conclusion to be drawn about dogs from this incident.

All of these points are really hard to argue with

So no dog should ever be off lead? That’s ridiculous. They already have to be legally under control. And it wouldn’t stop tragedies like attacks in the home.
No large breeds ever? Why? I have wolfhounds. Should they be banned? Why? How many wolfhound attacks have there been in the last ten years?

Sadly this

If a large dog ran at me in a field or somewhere how on earth could anybody possibly catch that's dog or owner?
No car reg ...a random person and dog?

Theres no doubt in my mind of that 😂

You said you can't legally carry pepper spray but its legal to walk a dog unleashed/unmuzzled.

This is because:

Pepper spray = will definitely cause damage or injury to a human 100% of the time it is used

Walking a dog unmuzzled/unleashed = will not definitely cause damage or injury to a human 100% of the time they are walked unmuzzled/unleashed

There's probably more boring risk/probability stuff such as it can also affect innocent people who get downwind of it, risk it will be used by people with nefarious intent if its easy to get hold of etc etc

I’m a dog owner and I agree with most of those.

The banning ‘larger breeds’ and bull breeds is difficult.
That would include Boxers, Great Danes etc. Newfoundlands are large breeds, should they be banned?Golden retrievers can be fairly big. Standard poodles etc.
What if you cross an American bulldog with a Labrador and call it a lab x?

Where do you draw the line?

@Helloeveryone2023
we over 13 million dogs in the UK, by your numbers the chances of getting bit by a dog is very slim, people seem to think the threat is more real than it is

The dog attacked, but it's the actions of humans that allowed it to get that far.

The dog was 'rehomed'
Any responsible breeder would have a clause in their contract stating that the dog can and should be returned to them in the event that the dog needs to be rehomed.
The fact that this didn't happen will be down to unlicensed, backyard breeders. This needs to be clamped down on.

On the same note, the parents made a choice to 'rehome' a dog, rather than rescue. This is because the option to rescue with a 4 year old in the house wouldn't be there. The fault lies with them.

I would also bet my last pound that this dog will have been giving out signals and warnings for a long time before it attacked. Again, the onus lies with the parents to pick up on these and act accordingly.

What has happened is an awful tragedy for the child, and also her parents. They will have to live with this for the rest of their lives.

Dogs can be, and are, owned responsibly.

I have a dog, and I would be more than happy to have to prove my worth when in comes to owning him.

A licence, tests in order to receive that licence, I'd be happy to comply.

Things do need to change, but I'm really not sure how it could be implemented and policed.

Breeders would probably be a good place to start.

I do think there will be changes in the law around American/XL bullies by the end of this year, as that'll be seen as a 'quick win' by the government.

Surely it’s deed not bread, you can’t simply judge a dog by it’s breed, the Labrador, the most popular breed in the UK has caused the most bites,

Not fatal bites

Knee jerk reaction... agree, ridiculous.. I live in a smallish council place, I work FT, pay rent, and don't claim any benefits. I have a large dog. We had her when we had a house, but downsized to release a family house.

She is 4, we still go to dog training regularly, she does dog activities ( specific class) weekly, and I do 1-2-1 sessions regularly. She is walked every day.
I keep her on lead unless we are in an enclosed dog area. She has company all day due to DH being retired.

If children visit, she is put into another room and then kept on a lead so I have control.

We still get children running up to her to throw their arms around her as she looks so cuddly while parents look on indulgently.

The biggest threat to a child is car journeys, parents, and particularly step fathers. We don't suggest banning those. The problem with any restrictions is that those who are a problem will avoid rules.

The biggest threat to a child is car journeys, parents, and particularly step fathers. We don't suggest banning those.

Hard agree. But going by the logic of some of these threads we should perhaps enact legislation which forces stepfathers always to be kept on leads when in public whilst cars should be muzzled in large cushions to minimise fatalities...

Why on earth would anyone ‘rehome’ an American Bulldog in a house with a small child. It defies belief. People should be held accountable.

Agree. Also surely they must have been advised against getting this dog by friends ,neighbours and family.

The biggest threat to a child is car journeys, parents, and particularly step fathers. We don't suggest banning those. The problem with any restrictions is that those who are a problem will avoid rules.

There are plenty of things that are banned or controlled, even though a) they cause fewer deaths than cars and b) people who really want to can still get hold of them.

Also, there are various laws and regulations in place geared towards reducing car deaths.

I could give quite a few reasons why this is just a silly argument.