Dogs and irresponsible dog owners - am just so so angry at this and the 'latest' death of a child. I can't get my head round the utter horror of a young teenage girl mauled to death by a pack of dogs at her friends house. Or the sheer terror she must have felt as clearly she would not have died instantly. Apart from all the countless other serious (& disfiguring etc) injuries suffered by dog attacks - & that only make it as far as the local newspaper - 7 people, FIVE of whom were children have been killed by dogs IN homes. Clearly that figure is now 8
. Those stats (aka people) are from a report by the Environment, Food & Rural Affairs Committee. It also said 'the NHS spends more than £3m a year treating severe dog attack injuries and claimed current legislation had "comprehensively failed" to tackle irresponsible dog ownership. Gather there is some legislation coming in in 2016 (WTF???) but seems nowhere near enough. NHS costs of £3m hint at the number of attacks that fly below media radar - but it must be a bloody huge number???? I know (I hope) that most dog-owners are responsible people, but clearly a shedload aren't. WHY are they allowed to have dogs? There isn't even a basic bloody licence system anymore and it pisses me off that there ISN'T a more robust legislation system in place. I also think they should be on leads in public other than designated areas and I swear if I hear one more quote from someone whose dog has attacked/killed a kid saying "But he is such a LOVELY dog normally", I think I'll nut my TV screen.
I was bitten badly by a German Shepherd as a teenager when simply walking home. DS1, aged 2 at the time, was sent flying (literally) when a huge dog - obv NOT on a lead - suddenly charged at him from far corner of a park and sent him off his feet high into the air. DS1 was TERRIFIED for months any time we even stepped into a bloody park. NEITHER of those 2 dog 'owners' did a thing - literally NADA. Am steaming just recalling the (huge and L/term) impact it had on DS1. Dogs are pack animals who need training, taking care of, and exercising - if people can't do that, why the fuck should they be able to HAVE dogs? And I genuinely cannot think of any friends WITH dogs who would disagree with that - they seem as angry as me at the irresponsible owners who inflict such frickin carnage. AIBU in thinking something HAS to change here????
Other thing about the very recent death is my younger DS's would LOVE to have a dog - but I know I can't afford it (food, vet's bills, etc etc) OR have the time TO properly look after it. So (& I am NOT benefit bashing here, am solely referencing this one individual) HTFuck does a Mum of 5 on benefits afford the 5 bloody dogs that just killed this child? Or is there a link between that and the fact the dogs weren't trained etc etc? And somewhere, lying in a fucking morgue, is a dead teenage girl - said to be 'unrecognisable' from the mass mauling that killed her.