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Original poster

To report staffie to police for attacking my DD 14 wk old puppy?

192 replies

pippala · 21/08/2011 13:00

Last evening my daughter and her partner were walking their puppy past some houses on an extendable lead.
Staffie tears down his driveway which had no gate and picks puppy up by his back and shakes him.
The lead was extended so wrapped around dog and daughter and boyfriends legs.
Boyfriend bitten on wrist by puppy as he tried to pull him away from the dog. He managed to get him out of the dogs mouth and handed him to my daughter.
The staffie then jumped up and got puppy by the back legs and dragged him out of my daughters arms. Now in the middle of the road.
My daughter was screaming, she thought Puppy would die.
Young boy aged about 10 saunters down the drive, totally uninterested attitude and gets staffie off puppy. without a collar on!
Four men from across the road also tried to help before boy came down the drive.
This dog could so easily do that to a toddler walking past the house.
Will the police do anything to help?
This dog could have history. He had no collar on and loose in the garden. What if he kills a child one day when it could have been pervented?
They should pay the vets bills which will run into the £100's but we dont want to approach them personally. Would the police help? Could we take it to the small claims court?
What if the puppy doesn't pull through. My poor daughter she is devastated.

OP posts:
DailyDaisy · 21/08/2011 14:01

I don't know dogs that well but in terms of the distinction between attacking other dogs and humans I don't think it's that easy to be so certain.

My neighbours have a dog that has attacked other dogs several times. just a few weeks ago he was about to attack another neighbour's dog so she (unwisely as it turns out) picked her dog up. The attacking dog then leapt up to grab the smaller dog and in doing so bit into the owner's arm several times.

Now, maybe she was in the wrong for picking her own dog up but I imagine that is it is a fairly instinctive reaction.

I don't mean to create more more worry, but please don't deny that humans can be at risk in this type of situation.

southmum · 21/08/2011 14:04

I see OP from your legal post that you are now saying that it could have also have been a baby that was dragged out of the BFs arms

Honestly making sensationalist assumptions like that do FA to help the situation

BumWiper · 21/08/2011 14:43

Dogs who habitually attack other dogs are more likely to attack a human.So unless you know a dogs complete history it is safe to assume it would attack a human and excercise caution.

Original poster
pippala · 21/08/2011 14:46

Dogsbestfriend and southmum i beg to differ.
Have you never heard of young children being mauled by staff/pit bull types?
How many times have we read in the papers about young children being killed by grandparents/uncles dogs
Dogs DO attack babies and children.
But thanks all for your imput.
we will be reporeting to the police and dog warden but we will telling the truth just I did in the op'
it is NOT hysteria to point out it could have been a toddler walking past the house. It was on the pavement NOT the dogs territory.
What if my daughter had puppy and toddler in tow?

OP posts:
CalamityKate · 21/08/2011 14:59

Where do you get that from?

Ephiny · 21/08/2011 15:04

No one is saying there has never been a dog attack on a child, we've all read the stories about the times this happens with tragic consequences. BUT as several people have repeatedly said here, there's a big distinction between dog aggression and human aggression. There are plenty of dogs who have issues with other dogs but are as gentle and affectionate as you could wish for with people, and indeed with small children.

I am not saying you shouldn't report this. Obviously it's not at all acceptable to have dogs running out of control and attacking other dogs, and the owners absolutely should pay your vet bills and ensure this can never, ever happen again. But yes it is hysteria to say 'what if he kills a child', that's just complete nonsense. The 10 year old boy you mentioned appeared to be alive and well, didn't he? You don't have the slightest bit of evidence that this dog is more likely than any other to be dangerous to children - and personally I would guess his breed makes him a lot safer than many others.

I really do hope your puppy is OK and will be thinking of him.

blinkineck · 21/08/2011 15:05

Didn't the dog bite the boyfriend (and therefore attack a person) or am I missing something here?

blinkineck · 21/08/2011 15:07

Read OP and see that boyfreind bitten by puppy. Is that right?

blinkineck · 21/08/2011 15:08

"Read the OP [again]....

"boyfriend"

Blush
LineRunner · 21/08/2011 15:10

I have given advice earlier on. I would add that you ought to focus on what has actually happened, not on what may (or may not) happen. The police, the dog warden and the court will weight up any future risk based on the evidence.

Ephiny · 21/08/2011 15:12

A very common cause of bites is people intervening in dog fights, reaching in to retrieve their dog etc, and getting accidentally bitten on the hands or arms by the other dog (or even by their own one). That's not the same as aggression towards humans though. Doesn't make the bite any less painful and unpleasant either way, of course! But it's not the same thing.

My dad once got a very nasty bite on his finger while trying to break up a guinea-pig fight (seriously, sounds silly, but he had to have stitches and antibiotics, those teeth are big and sharp!) , but it was an accident, and in fact our fault for letting two males loose together. They were both lovely placid gentle little piggies individually though, and never went off on a child-attacking rampage.

southmum · 21/08/2011 15:44

Pippala dont start with the sodding SBT crap, Ive heard of alot of dog attack stories (more from other breeds than SBTs as it happens) but you screeching that this particular dog could have ripped a baby from someones arms as they walk past or bite a toddler walking past is tad dramatic

Kladdkaka · 21/08/2011 16:21

You all may well think I'm sick and stupid but this is exactly how my last dog died. Sodding out of control staffiesque dog flying out and attacking it. I reported it to the police and the dog warden. They weren't interested. Didn't even come out. So yes, I'd report it in such as a way most likely to spark their interest. It's not right, but in my experience it is necessary.

spiderpig8 · 21/08/2011 16:25

the dog was out of control in a public area and this in itself makes it more likely to be4 able to attack a person than a dog which is on a lead.

milkmilklemonade · 21/08/2011 16:31

Either report it or go and shoot the bastard. That must have been so traumatic for you and I just hope your puppy doesn't learn to fear other dogs from the experience. Dogs are great, I have 3 and love them to bits but feral dogs should be shot, they are only dogs at the end of the day.

Joolyjoolyjoo · 21/08/2011 16:36

I would definitely report it. the dog (regardless of breed) was out of control when it attacked the puppy, and there should be some kind of comeback against its owners (even if it just to make them pay the vets bills and/ or compensate)

Agree with DBF, though. SBT's seem to get really misrepresented this way. They are often dog aggressive, but this bears no correlation to the way they interact with humans. I don't know where people get this from. The biggest problem would be if a child got in between 2 aggressive dogs, but even then, especially as, in this case, the dog was called off by a 10yo boy, and without force, apparently, this would be really unlikely

Dogs DO know the difference between people, animals and other dogs. The story is bad enough in itself to warrant reporting. As a vet, I get really wound up at treating doggy victims of other people's uncontrolled dogs Angry, and really don't believe the police do enough about it, considering the stress and pain it causes dog and owner. You may need to push the police to prosecute, though. I don't think you need to embellish the story by making the dog's breed out to be something it isn't, or to extrapolate that the dog might harm a child the same way. in fact, it might just make you look a bit hysterical, and make it less likely that the police will take you seriously. Good luck, and hope pup is fully recovered soon.

troisgarcons · 21/08/2011 17:26

pippalaSun 21-Aug-11 13:00:34

Last evening my daughter and her partner were walking their puppy past some houses on an extendable lead.
Staffie tears down his driveway which had no gate and picks puppy up by his back and shakes him.

Key words in this: It's the partners house, the partners drive, I assume it's really the partners puppy as you would have used their house, their drive etc

A revolutionary idea here, how about you let the adult witness in this do the reporting?

milkmilklemonade · 21/08/2011 17:45

I can't believe all the people nitpicking over details here, just waiting for one of you to call her a troll. Who cares, is it ever ok for twats to have aggressive dogs untethered and unfenced?

ProfessionallyOffendedGoblin · 21/08/2011 17:46

I assumed that the attacking dog was running down his (meaning the dog's) driveway.
Not the human partner of the OP's daughter.

Ephiny · 21/08/2011 17:48

No one is saying it's OK Hmm

SuePurblybilt · 21/08/2011 17:48

I read it as this driveway but a typo if that helps? As in "so a staffy tears down this driveway....."

worraliberty · 21/08/2011 17:51

I assumed the Staffy was male...hence his driveway

WhereYouLeftIt · 21/08/2011 17:52

troisgarcons, I read 'his driveway' etc. as being the staffie's driveway. Not OP's DD's partner's. The incident happened on the pavement.

"A revolutionary idea here, how about you let the adult witness in this do the reporting?" Who is the non-adult witness? Confused

InstantAtom · 21/08/2011 17:56

YANBU

troisgarcons · 21/08/2011 18:04

Go back and read the Op - partners house etc etc ... then the final lines .....They should pay the vets bills which will run into the £100's but we dont want to approach them personally. Would the police help? Could we take it to the small claims court?

We we we ... who is this we?

It's the partners house. Partners dog. It's upto him to decide whether to report it. Was the OP even there or is this a 2nd hand story?