Woman looses arm due to dog bite

[Drlovestrong]

Dog owner who lost arm after pet bit her is suing RSPCA for £200K https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11992905/Rescue-dog-owner-lost-arm-pet-bit-suing-RSPCA-200-000.html?ito=native_share_article-nativemenubutton

Can we talk about this? I am appalled at the amount of dog bites (fatal and otherwise). What is going on?! I am a life long owner of dogs, they are my favourite animal, but I think this article should be discussed.

A few years back, a friend relinquished her two staffies to a local dog rescue. She hadn't trained her pets and after the birth of her second child she felt she couldn't trust them around her children. One attempted to bite her and she felt they were unstable and aggressive. She fully disclosed all of this information to the rescue and was disappointed and anxious that when she went online to look at the rescues advert of the dogs, the descriptions of them were not accurate and they were being advertised as suitable for families with children aged 5+.

I was shocked that a rescue would do this but have since learnt this wasn't a one off and other people have similar stories to tell. I love dogs and this isn't about me trying to tell people not to rescue dogs but hoped we could discuss our thoughts and opinions on it. Personally I wouldn't ever rescue a dog as a mother with children at home. I had this viewpoint long before any of this came to light. I feel its too risky to have a dog that you cannot be certain of its history in and around young children. Anyway....what do you think? Thanks

Poor woman.

I think the whole ‘rescue’ thing has gone too far. Yes digs need rescuing from bad homes, but not at the expense of public safety. If a dog has bitten / attacked, it needs to be pts., not regimes. That’s it.

I know it’s bad owners not the dog, not the dogs fault and all the other things that dog lovers say, but in the end it is a dog, one that doesn’t have a stable home at present, is an incalculable risk to humans, and there are plenty of other non-biting dogs for people to adopt as pets.

If this dog had attacked even one person, it should have been pts. Not fostered.

Bloody hell, that out of control bully in a London park managed to bring an enormous police horse to its knees.

They should be held accountable for this, absolutely.

It depends what it is. Sometimes they go back to the rescue and do work with a trainer and are just given more time at rescues I’ve worked in. Some dogs need longer than others to be suitable for homing, it doesn’t mean they’ll never be suitable.

I think when a dog like this bites, you’ve got to take it seriously, I certainly wouldn’t foster that breed with a bite history. Whether the RSPCA knew the dog had bitten previously is really important and I think there’s lots of speculation and not much actually known about what the RSPCA knew. Im sure, like other rescues, they’ll have had to keep records of the circumstances the dog care to them in, previous behaviour issues including any reported bites and records of the assessments done by a team before the fostering. It’s a terrible outcome for this woman and very concerning that she apparently reported the dog tried to bite her days before this major incident.

Outrageous

How is it rescues are a law unto themselves?!

I hope she wins too!!!

Too much sentimentality.

Owners, Dog Rescues and donors need to be more honest and take more responsibility. Your dog isn’t safe? Have it pts. No way would I donate to a rescue that had a no kill policy for dogs that have bitten.

If a dog bites then it needs to be put to sleep. I say this as someone who's dog bit someone and 6 hours later I had him put to sleep. He was a beautiful dog, friendly , never ever showed aggression a day in his life and my baby but he bit this woman , so that was the end of him. Its really not like we have a shortage of dogs in this world.

That dog looks strong and fierce. Of course it shouldnt have happened. But I don't think she should get compensation from the RSPCA. If she does they will have to rethink their rehoming policy. Maybe a compulsory insurance policy against this if any insurance company would do it. RSPCA should be forced d to say if dog had attacked or bitten anybody. Far far far too many dogs around.

What lead up to the dog biting this woman?

I’m a huge dog lover and my ancient spaniel is currently sound asleep in the sunshine by my feet. However when he goes, I won’t get another dog. There are far too many badly behaved and untrained dogs now and I sometimes worry for our safety when we’re out walking.

I also know an older man who is crippled with arthritis whom the RSPCA have just allowed to rehome a German Shepherd puppy! Utter madness.

If the rspca were told the dog had a history of biting but didn't disclose this to the woman and it went on to bite her and this resulted in her loosing a limb....and you don't think the rspca are in any way accountable?!

Can you explain why you don't think she deserves compensation from them directly and why they shouldn't be held to account? Like a dog owner would in this situation

Quite. 😳

Not enough dangerous dogs are banned. It is very scary to walk past these kind of dogs, especially when the owners don't have them under control or muzzled where necessary. One escaped from a home near where I live, was running wild up the road, little children playing etc. A neighbour had to grab it by the collar and walk it back, the stupid owner came out in her slippers slowly pottering down street, and wasn't even bothered that it has been jumping up at kids!

My word, and the dog was only 15 months old at the time. Not long out of the puppy stage. Whoever authorised this dog to be released to a foster home needs a serious review.

I don't condone destroying animals as a knee-jerk reaction, but there are far too many bull terrier and bulldog type animals being bred. The shelters are packed to the rafters with them. Most of them are probably lovely dogs, but they are an animal which should only be taken on by a specialist handler or extremely experienced, physically fit owner, and there are not many of those. It is a great shame but I believe it would be better for most to be put to sleep.

I have a friend who has an American XL bully and although she is a sweet dog, the strength of her is incredible and my friend is not an experienced dog owner. I'd only describe her as partially trained. It does worry me that something horrible will happen.

I think it's really awful and I agree, I feel like more discussions need to be had and more needs to be done, though I'm not exactly sure what.

We went to see a rescue dog that was described as being absolutely great with children and was one of the few dogs I had seen described as being suitable for homing with young children.

I actually posted on here (under a different name) before attending the rescue for the first meet, and people were quite shocked just based on my description that the dog had been described as suitable for a family with young children. I was a bit confused and conflicted but went to view the dog anyway. Turns out she was an ex street dog, LSG mix. Very off, rescue were obviously hiding a lot of stuff about her. Took absolutely ages for them to bring the dog out, later realised it's because the dog was so difficult to get on the lead. Wouldn't let me hold her on the lead either. Essentially, even to an inexperienced dog owner, it was so clear that the dog needed a lot of work and help and was absolutely not suitable for a home where small children may provoke her.

I think rescues need to be more honest. I understand they want dogs rehomed but can you imagine the dangerous scenarios they are creating?

This was an absolutely lovely kennel btw, the facilities looked amazing and staff were lovely. They also seemed to do a caring adoption process and wouldn't just hand the dog over, but at best they were massively wasting my time and upsetting the dog by withholding information that was pretty clear upon actually meeting the dog.

@Lockheart I agree, safety comes first.

I wouldn’t trust the RSPCA to rehome a goldfish. I hope she wins her case.

@TellMeTheMewth that's terrible, I just hope that they didn't go on to give the dog to another family. Is there anywhere you can report these kennels to?

I agree.

I adopted an older pair of dogs from RSPCA, many years back. The dogs were described as 'slightly timid, but soon get used to you'.

Once in the home, we discovered one of them was shy but very loving and bomb-proof, but one of them had fear aggression of humans and would sometimes nip strangers coming into the house/out on walks. We paid for a behaviourist and got strategies on how to handle him (such as guests sitting down before meeting him) and because of this, we we never had a serious issue.

About a year after adopting, the RSPCA sent us the file they had on the dogs (perhaps we requested this? I can't remember) which included the original letter from the previous owners when they relinquished, which detailed a whole series of (stranger) bite incidents! We would never have adopted had we known this, as we had plans to have children. We did go on to have a child and, although the dog was always fine with him, we had to be very vigilant at all times.

Normally the articles about people pulling a sad face and making a claim are a load of tosh but not this one IMO. I hope the poor woman wins, the RSPCA should have fully disclosed the dog's history, or probably have made the PTS decision before trying another home. Their processes need an overhaul & they need to be forced to do so as well as help this woman cope with her avoidable disability.

It is isn't it, I mainly felt bad for the dog too, but maybe that's a bit of projection!

We did send an honest email explaining that we didn't feel comfortable for x y and z reason but I wish now we had been a bit more forthright about how different the dog was IRL to what they had said.

I used to foster rescue dogs, I stopped because not a single Rescue was upfront about the dog's behaviour or circumstances. They are desperate to get dogs into (even temporary) homes and so gloss over a lot of information that shouldn't be being withheld

Personally I think the fact this woman is suing the RSPCA is a good thing, and will hopefully make all Rescues rethink their policies. There are many dogs who should be PTS instead of rehomed but like someone has already mentioned, Rescues generally have 'No kill' policies

I'd also be suing for a lot more than £200k if I'd lost an arm

Many people have absurd ideals attached to dogs and many of these go to work for organisations like the RSPCA. A friend who is a vet once had to put down over 100 pit bull and bull dog types in one day because the RSPCA in Halifax had been hoarding them and they were not safe to be adopted. It is horrific following the poor breeding seen in the pandemic.

The bizarre thing is that the RSPCA will happily kill hard to rehome dogs at the drop of a hat.

The smaller rescues I support are very upfront about issues with dogs they are trying to rehome. So it is possible to be transparent and honest and still find suitable homes for the majority of dogs. Mind you, they are Retriever specific rescues and issues around reactivity and resource guarding etc etc are probably different to those of many Bull breeds. It is incredibly important that all dogs have the best socialisation and start in life, but especially essential in the case of Bull breeds.
Having said the above, I regularly come across Bullies around here and there’s only one I change direction to avoid. Imo it needs muzzling.

Isn’t there set amounts in law for injuries? It’s probably that your arm is apparently worth £200k in UK law. 😔