to not understand why people have these types of dogs in their homes

[FunnysInLaJardin]

I've heard the arguments for and against keeping pit bull/mastiff type dogs and just don't understand at all why anyone would keep a powerful muscular dog as a pet in a family home. Yet another sad news story today in a village just down the road from my home village.

This isn't a AIBU really, just a 'why do they do it'. Is a pet really worth the risk? There are so many other dog types to chose from. I don't understand at all.

that's not a bulldog - it's a pitbull!! the police don't know what they are talking about - compare it to
this one

or these images

Giles : I would definitely do as you suggest and ask the dog be shut away if we visited, but my worry is that the PIL have offered to provide a day of childcare when I return to work. I don't know if I could relax at work knowing that for 8 hours my child was in the same house as a dog that it's owners no doubt think of as 'loveable and playful"

My PIL live on the same street as us, only 10 doors door, so we are always popping round

The pictures I've seen are not of a pitbull. I wouldn't say it's pure bulldog either, probably a cross of some kind.

That I could understand. Your original comment did sound a bit harsh. My grandfather always had a dog. They were well behaved well trained and walked well on lead so we could walk it etc. It went everywhere with him. The idea of some one missing out on that companionship is a horrible thought.

I love dogs. If I owned one I wouldnt think twice about having a neighbour take it or putting it out side if someone with a baby visited. I'm sure most responsible owners would understand an happily oblige.

If your ten doors away they can come to you :o

Oh and grandparents and child care? Not a good idea!! bitter experience

:o

catsrus - it is not a bloody pitbull, it is an American Bulldog.

Doesnt matter what the breed is, a poor girl is dead.

This dog looks to me more like an american bulldog, now if you google simply "American Bulldog", 2 or 3 hits down is a report of an 8yr old in Glasgow being savaged.
Doesnt seem perhaps the most sensible thing to take a stray dog with an unknown history from that breed (when you can google that information very simply) into a small flat with a small child.
Its absolutely terrible that that gorgeous little girl has died but knee jerk reactions against the vast majority of sensible dogowners are not the way forwards and are vastly unfair.

It was a Bull Mastiff. Not a Bull Terrier.

I disagree when people say 'it's the owner not the dog'
That's such a cop out.
No matter how sensible the owners are, no matter how well trained the dog is, it's still an animal and never entirely predictable. No dog should ever be left alone with a small child.

what miggy said - why take on a bulldog (according to the BBC;s words, no idea what is in the picture) with an unknown history in a flat??? And why did the rescue centre allow it? Another report says the mother was told the dog was safe around children.

no dog is totally safe or guaranteed not to turn nasty. The only way to keep the kids safe is to have a breed of dog too small to kill. But does everyone know this? I doubt it.

what a terrible tragedy.

and I say that as a dog owner and dog lover.

The difference is responsible owners know that.

If the kids and dogs are left together unsupervised then that's the owners fault is it not?

It's common to pass them off as American Bulldogs

The DDA states as follows <a class="break-all" href="http://web.archive.org/web/20070309200431/www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/welfare/domestic/ddogsleaflet.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">full leaflet here

"Whether section 1 of the DDA applies to any particular cross will depend on whether the resulting dog is of the prohibited type – that is to say, whether it has the physical and behavioural characteristics of the prohibited type. Remember that the characteristics are essential in deciding whether or not the dog is prohibited. Not all Pit Bull Terriers will be described as a Pit Bull Terrier by their owner. Some owners
may deliberately misrepresent the breed of their dog using terms such as American Staffordshire Terriers (Am Staffs or ASTs), American Bulldogs and the Presa Canaria. Other names used to describe the Pit Bull Terrier types may be Irish Staffordshire BullTerriers (not to be confused with a Staffordshire Bull Terrier bred in Ireland), Old Fashioned Staffords or Traditional Staffords. There are likely to be other names being
used by people breeding fighting dogs"

oh - and look at the images of the Pit Bull type in the full leaflet (ignore the cropped ears, stupid of them to use an american photo, ear cropping is not common in the UK - also illegal). It doesn't need a DNA test - it's sufficient in law that the dog is pit bull type.

I don't blame the mother
I don't blame the dog
I don't blame the child

I blame the Pound (NOT a Rescue) that didn't check the dog, didn't check the parent, didn't check the home, didn't check the area.

All they did was take cash off the parent and send her on her way with a dog that was not suitable for her circumstances.

The death of that child can be laid at the feet of the Pound and I hope the staff feel the horror of her death every single fucking day.

The mother is responsible for the child.