Two dogs shot in London by police

[flowagurl]

I’m usually very empathetic and recently even posted on an animal testing post but I just can’t find any compassion in my heart for out of control and dangerous animals at the moment, it’s just getting ridiculous. I obviously feel for the owner who I hope gets some kind of mental support/ counselling.

It’s so confusing as I’m usually so compassionate, I guess having a small child and the number of dog attacks does something to your brain? I hate walking past Bullies with my baby in the pram. Even normal dogs I’m starting to get very hesitant about. For context I usually cry if I step on a silver worm in the bathroom so this is a very strange reaction for me.

Interested to hear what other dog owning/ non dog owning people think. Also the government are going to have to step in at some point right?

Am I the only one who found that video reassuring?

Bout time the police did something about these dogs.

Maybe the gov will do something useful for once and ban big dogs

Spot on. It’s always the innocent person who’s attacked, along with the dog, who pay the price for the owners’ lack of - don’t know what to call it really - responsibility doesn’t seem to cover it.

If anyone is stupid enough to wander the public streets wielding a deadly weapon (which is exactly what an out of control dog is) then they should buy a lottery ticket if they emerge with their life after an encounter with the police
👏
I hope this is the beginning of the end for weapon-dogs
Take a bow those policemen💙👮‍♂️👮‍♂️💙

Self defence and public protection certainly is.

I agree.

I've had dogs all my life and considered myself totally confident with just about any animal, but there are a lot about now which aren't just badly trained and/ or out of control, but a large, aggressive and very powerful.

I worry for my dogs and for myself.

How did you see humane destruction being achievable in that video?

The man was never giving the dogs up and the situation was escalating. The dogs were dangerously out of control, the police did as much as they could and had no other choice than to do what was horrific, but very obviously necessary to protect themselves.

It was very probable an officer would have been attacked if they had not taken action.

I suggest you ask for a refund on your dictionary, it's clearly not fit for purpose.

Interested to see the mention of collies, and a different PP posted something about certain breeds of dog needing a "job" or else they get frustrated. I think this is a huge problem in general with dogs - people owning breeds of dogs as pets that were never bred to just be pets.

I wouldn't be surprised if stats revealed that lots of collies bite - I grew up with working dogs, mainly sheepdogs. Collies are my favourite breed by far, they're so intelligent but IME they can easily get very bored without their 'work'.

But, in any case, I'd obviously rather be bit by a collie than an XL bully. I really feel for these dogs and contrary to many people here I do actually think that many bull breeds are beautiful to look at. But IMO they absolutely should not be bred, and they should not be owned by anyone other than very experienced handlers in specific environments. In my ideal world, they would not be owned by Joe Bloggs and breeding would stop so that they would just die out. No idea how you'd make that happen, though 🤷‍♀️

I'm so sorry, it is terrifying, that poor man 😞
I hope you can take some comfort from this new story because it suggests that the problem is finally being taken seriously

But dogs are expensive anyway so I don’t think that is the argument tbh. We need compulsory dog licences and a minimum level of insurance and the dog laws need enforcing ( by wardens paid by dog licencing )

And deaths by dogs is the tip of the iceberg. I ended up in hospital after being attacked by a German shepherd and I still have the scars .

I own two dogs now and don’t let them off the lead unless in enclosed dog walking parks .

I haven’t watched the video, I am an animal lover, have dogs myself and would never harm an animal, however my partner is a police officer who has been bitten in the past when someone has let a dog out in a property he is in. The fear of dog attacks when carrying out his job going into properties is probably higher than the fear of being knifed (his vest will protect his organs but not his arms and face from teeth) so I think if animals can’t be easily and securely made safe then this is the only option open to police.

*Not everyone could afford that - either financially or timewise. You'd make owning a dog a preserve of the wealthy.

@SerendipityJane*

Anyone saying they don't have time to train their dog should not have a dog. I don't care in the slightest if that means some people can't have them.

But dogs are expensive anyway so I don’t think that is the argument tbh. We need compulsory dog licences and a minimum level of insurance and the dog laws need enforcing ( by wardens paid by dog licencing )

Sounds very sensible to me. Which is probably the single best reason why it won't ever happen.

Except that it had attacked one person already and was showing aggressive behaviour. Great reason to shoot them both. Out of control dogs need to be stopped, if it comes down to the police killing them, I'm happy with that. You don't want to risk your dogs being shot, get them under control and not aggressive. This situation was the owners fault, the absolute spanner.

Again, I agree. But who are we when so many are against us ?

The problem with any new legislation is that responsible owners will comply and criminal numskulls will not. The Dangerous Dogs act already makes it an offence for any dog (of any breed) to be out of control in a manner likely to cause alarm (without actual injury happening) in a public place. What is lacking is any meaningful enforcement. We have one dog warden for our whole county working office hours. Bring back an expensive dog licence, obviously only responsible owners will comply, use the funds to properly finance enforcement of dog related legislation.
If the law allows for farmers to shoot a dog worrying livestock how can anyone object to the police shooting a dog that has injured a person? In most circumstances if the dog can be safely restrained then it would not happen in public like that but I think they acted reasonably in the circumstances to prevent further injury.
Penalties for your dog injuring a person need to be the same as if you inflicted the injury with another weapon.

This is an excellent policy.

I've had staffies in the past and also never let anyone pet them without making sure the dogs were sitting, leashed and properly under control. This wasn't because they were aggressive (on the contrary - they were as soft as clarts), but because they were heavy, powerful animals and if they got over-excited and jumped up they could easily send someone flying.

All dogs need to be trained and kept under control. Powerful dogs MUST BE - it's a huge responsibility and not enough people take it seriously.

I was walking with a friend last week when a large dog ran away from its owner. It was running around like mad and jumping on us with force.

It was the first time I was truly scared of a dog and I don’t know what would have happened if we had our children with us. It made me realize how unprepared I was because I don’t know what to do in a situation like that. I don’t really feel safe anymore.

Dog (Bull Terrier) unprovoked attack on another dog. Other dog injured.
Dog (Bull Terrier) bites 2 boys in a park. Owner in court - fined.
Dog (Bull Terrier) attacks another dog. Other dog has to be euthanized.
Owner - Princess Anne.

AudibleEyeroll

What does responsible look like? I grew up with staffies, German shepherds and dobermans - what were my parents motivations? My childminder had two rotties who used to sit themselves across doorways so we couldn’t leave the playroom and would watch us wherever we went.”

What would they have done had you tried to leave the room?

Anyone leaving kids in the care of someone with two large dogs needs their head tested.

Responsible dog owners have liability insurance. It should be mandatory, and linked to the microchip.

Agree re: malinois. Like border collies they are intelligent and energetic and need to be busy.

I've also noticed a number of caucasian ovcharkas about lately. These are not pets. They are a big, powerful, independent-minded, working dog bred to protect herds of cattle from wolves and bears. Their guarding instinct is massive. Suddenly they seem to be being imported as a novelty breed.

Fortunately the ones I've met so far have been on leash, but I'd not want to meet one that wasn't no matter how good-natured it was.

Feel the same but can't articulate without becoming incensed and getting headache. The breeding and illegal and unregulated 'fertility' industry that has appeared around muscle breeds is grotesque. The people at the core of it are creating puppies that sell for £250k and upwards as studs. The utter scum bags who irresponsibly manipulate these poor things then develop clandestine networks trading perm, crossing breeds, over developingmuscle muscle and the other deformities they look for should be shamed, prosecuted and have to watch as the poor, innocent animals they stupidly and without any empathy created as they have to be put to sleep. Unfortunately this is what must happen now across the UK. In the same style as a gun or knife amnesty, these poor creatures must be either surrendered to live out life in a sanctuary or be PTS. I just can't believe it's OK to have a little kids face ripped open or worse because these scumbags are now selling dogs instead of drugs, if not both. Sorry for rant just sickening.

@Iris18

This has happened to me recently too. A dog jumped up and tore my coat. I mentioned it on a thread here and a few dog owners thought it was nothing/ hilarious.

Any suggestion that dog ownership should be made more formalised/ with more obligations is met with outright rejection from a crowd of people all claiming that they are excellent dog owners and shouldn't be punished.

I'd fully support a reintroduction of dog licensing with all money raised going towards enforcement of stricter rules around dog ownership. If this means some people can't afford to get dogs then all the better.

The problem with any new legislation is that responsible owners will comply and criminal numskulls will not
I don't disagree with this but I still think we need legislation.
It has become the norm for dogs to be off lead. This means that everyone does it because it's the normal thing to do, dog owners feel that if it's normal it must be alright.
Good responsible owners and irresponsible owners all get lumped in together because they're all doing the same thing.
If legislation was brought in the good responsible owners would comply, most of the rest would want to be in the camp of the good dog owners and would also comply.
I think this would lead to an environment where it's harder for irresponsible owners to get away with bad behaviour because they're easier to spot, some of them would now to peer pressure because if they like dogs they don't want to be seen by others as being irresponsible in their care of the dog.