Two dogs shot in London by police

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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?

@Scalottia I agree with you.

@SerendipityJane who is the majority though?

If mumsnet is to be believed everyone hates dogs and the only solution is to kill everything over the size of a spaniel and keep the rest muzzled, leashed and out of sight.

The reality is the U.K. is a pro dog society. And if dangerous dogs are a societal issue as mumsnet claims, then it needs a societal solution.

You can clearly see that they are a bull breed. The camera zooms in on them right at the end, and it's clear that is what they are.

@ShowUs you make a great point about abuse and neglect being more common than attacks. And it all links back to the lazy, negligent people who see dogs as an accessory not a commitment.

I would love to see dog neutering made compulsory too!

All dogs should be muzzled in public. That was the law in my part of France.

the Police de ville enforced it, they would walk round the market , for example, and hand out a fine on the spot if the dog wasn’t muzzled. The owner had to leave and take it home immediately, too. (And, yes, the police were armed all the time, though I never saw them draw a gun).

it made the market and every other public space a LOT nicer.

I was attacked by a large so called dangerous breed of dog over 30 years ago and still have the scars from it. It was a terrifying experience but I got away reasonably unscathed. Near neighbours have two of this particular breed and they are big softies. It's all down to ownership and breeding.

@SunnySaturdayMorning part of the problem for owning well trained, well socialised, well rounded dogs? What's the matter with you?

It is the OWNER not the dog breed that causes issues. I also have an SBT who is immaculately well trained, with a perfect recall and the best family dog I could wish for - he and my DD11 are utterly inseparable.

Just because some of these poor dog breeds have been unfortunate enough to be selected by morons as their 'dog of choice' absolutely does not mean they cannot be lovely lovely dogs under the correct ownership and management

All dos muzzled and leashed in public. Easily enforced. Children protected outside at least

I agree.

Oh how ridiculous. Tarring all dogs of these breeds with the same brush is like saying all people with an opinion you don't like should also be shot 🙄 do get a clue. I might not like this government much but I thank god you're not in charge of any important decisions

No. All animals are unpredictable. When one of these breeds is 'triggered', the damage they are capable of inflicting is 10x worse than that of most other breeds. Its not difficult to understand.

I totally agree with you. I had a GSD ( 50kgs) which we trained everyday, walked on lead ( unless in an hired field), never left on its own with children and we always, always were aware of his body language. He was a failed police dog. Why? They couldn't train him to bite. This did not stop us assume that he could.

I agree those breeds must be completely banned. But the video of the shooting is very upsetting

The dogs are not the problem the owners are
I have watched the video in full and it’s deeply unpleasant the police didn’t even get a clean shot those dogs suffered.
Dogs should not be sold privately they should either come from a registered breeder or from a rescue where the prospective owner would be vetted.
It should be illegal to sell a dog privately with stiff sentences for those that flout the law.

I am a dog owner and it’s made me even more aware of some irresponsible dog owners. I do think you should need a license and more regulation. You should pay for a fee for that.

I realise how many dogs are left alone all day, barking all the time and not cared for properly. Those leads which uncoil should be banned they are useless. I think before I had a dog I just wasn’t as aware. My dog needs a lot to feel secure and stable, regular walks and emotional stability. She’s non-aggressive but a big dog so I never let her off the lead, she could easily run into a road or jump up.

I also don’t think kids should be taught to ‘lose their fear of dogs’. It’s OK and normal to be wary of strange animals that you don’t know.

We need to grow up around animals and treat them better. And only have them if you can continually prove to be responsible.

It is not always the owner, you can never be totally confident a well trained animal won't just decide to use it's teeth one day. I have an acquaintance who had well trained perfectly behaved dogs all his life and his opinion was that his dogs would never attack and were perfectly safe, until his 2 dobermans turned on him unprovoked and tore his arm to shreds. He now agrees you cannot trust them implicitly. They are sentient animals and make their own decisions.

Yes, there was a quote from someone who was shocked about the outcome saying they heard about things like this happening in America. I can’t think of any particular stories I’ve heard about police in the US shooting dogs, which made me wonder if what they were thinking of are the cases where human beings have ended up dead after an encounter with the police? If so (anyone know what else they might be referring to?), that’s a worrying lack of perspective.

Dangerous dog breeds should be banned just like guns are banned.

In the right hands, with correct training and handling, guns are not dangerous either.

What it suggests is radical. Call the police if a dog like this out of control and they will send an armed response.

I imagine that is going to worry a lot of owners. Which is a good result imo if they are stupid and irresponsible or have these dogs just to intimidate

@Hohofortherobbers Yes no animal can ever be totally trusted, they are instinctive creatures. However be careful as saying that means that people are let off the hook. Your friend was turned on himself, but he chose to have the dog. He didn’t take them out and let them near others, or let them off the lead, or unsupervised around children.

Most dog attacks are owners letting their dogs loose, around kids (who make sudden movement and are dog sized so more of a target), not properly enclosed in gardens, or in this case not under control.

So I think it’s acceptable to both accept that dogs are 0.1% always going to be capable of biting (or more depending) - but that responsible dog owners will reduce that risk to an acceptable level for society.

What isn’t acceptable is dog owners increasing that risk and putting others at risk. I know my dog will never put another person at risk - because I have him on a good lead, totally enclosed garden and when visitors come I put her in another room if there is any excitability. And she’s a friendly Labrador.

XL bullies are mostly bred and owned by criminals. People come straight out of prison and start breeding them in excess as it’s a legal way to make money. They’re owned by drug dealers etc so will be trained to be aggressive.

Something needs to be done about dog breeding, private breeding and sale of puppies on instagram and Facebook with companies doing logos and elaborate advertisement pictures for dogs is just a joke. No wonder so many are aggressive

Sadly even the best trained dog will still harass livestock, even if it is no danger to humans. We sometimes take country walks with a blind friend, guiding him to allow his guide dog a chance for a good run around off lead. However the dog must be put back on a lead if there are sheep nearby.
Living in a tourist area, there are reports of dog attacks on flocks of sheep every few days in the summer. It's a pity farmers aren't allowed to shoot the owners with impunity, rather than the dogs.

I'm a dog owner.

I found that video extremely disturbing and those dogs must have been terrified. It was a horrific way to end their lives whatever the owner had done. Whatever happened to humane destruction? Whatever they had done or whatever breed that they were, there is no excuse for that ending.

Maybe bar large dogs from being domestic pets. Ive seen owners straining at leads being unabele to control monster size dogs.

It is unusual to see an armed response. I have been thinking on how it works, how often does this happen

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