To think parents should teach their children to bloody respect animals!!

[Gumdroptears]

At an event today where there was a big crowd and loads of families, dogs, children in pushchairs etc.

I was playing with DD and saw a young girl (maybe 5/6?) with a Jack Russel on a rope lead. The dog was wearing a harness, and she kept lifting the dog up using the rope lead from the harness then started spinning it round!! The poor thing was trying to touch ground and eventually started snapping (more of a warning snap) to get down. I couldn't see where this girl's parents were so left DD with DH and told her gently to be carful as the dog obviously didn't like it and might get angry and snap.
She just smiled then ran off to her parents who didn't even look like they noticed she hadn't been there the whole time.

Felt really sorry for be poor dog

I hate children charging at pigeons. It's unkind and it's also so fucking anti social.

I have always told ds to be kind to animals, to ask dog owner if their dog can sniff his fingers and back off if they say no, to be still around dogs and cats (not his usual jumpy squealy self!), to not chase pigeons. We now have a dog and ds is very good with her, stays out of the kitchen while she ears, doesn't pull ears/tail, strokes her softly. I still don't leave then alone together (ds 5.5yo, dog 1 year+ we have had her since November, she is a rescue). Dog is excellent around children - hates adults!

My son, like a pp's dc, also loves bees, butterflies, ants, snails, spiders, beetles, woodlouse. Not keen on wasps.

I don't hurt animals and it makes me feel sick when others do - and makes me really bloody angry when adults allow children to hurt animals, that is truly cunty.

YANBU but so many adults don't respect animals and treat them like toys too.

Yanbu

Children can be silly and thoughtless so it's down to their parents to teach them not to do silly and thoughtless things to animals, and to supervise them until they can be trusted to be kind and gentle.

I am massively irritated by seeing children chase birds (or worse as i saw a local kid with parents once - throwing stones at birds!).

I used to go to school with a boy who used to pull the wings/ legs off insects for 'fun'. He was pretty horrible to his family pets too. I was always convinced he'd turn out to be a psychopath.

There is always ONE

This time its the sarky Hedda

OP I agree with you.

Dogs shpuld never be left unattended around small children. Where was its owner?

Urgh I've read this thread with my dog next to me, staring at me waiting for the last bit of my coffee (she's a bit strange) and children winding dogs up annoys me so much!!!

We have a rescue dog and a puppy, DD(3) adores them both and knows their limits. So far neither have had to give warning growls to her as she is watched with them and when we say back off she backs off.

As a PP has said, as soon as the dog bites the child it will be euthanised, all because a child didn't listen!!!

YANBU, we have been teaching DD to be gentle with Dcat since she was tiny. She's 2.5 and really good. I'm also teaching her that we just look at doggies, we don't go and say hello unless we're told it's ok. But it's not just animals, DD is made to treat her toys with respect, she says thank you to her rocking horse after a ride and pat's him. (she has a real pony she can ride soon), if she drops or throws her bunny. We talk about how bunny would be sad if she hurt or lost him and that wasn't kind etc. I think it's about teaching general empathy rather than just about animals.

To clarify, Bunny is a toy bunny, no real rabbits have ever been thrown.

Love the clarification Kiwi is your little one excited about real pony rides?

I'm actually reminded of the recent thread where OP had two school bunnies for half term in the tiniest hutch. Bunnies were being passed from house to house for holidats, weekends etc and had bugger all space to live in. The school didn-t seem to give two hoots, so she bought a much bigger, more appropriate hutch for them instead of simply bun-napping them!

Mistreating animals and being socialised that animals are waaaaay less important than hunans starts from an early age.

Poor bunnies and poor Jack Russell.

God yeah, parents are so neglectful. Let's judge them from every moment of inattention

Damn right I would judge - because I bet the parents wouldn't hesitate to wail and put on their best Daily Fail sadfaces if the dog had bitten their little darling.

YANBU sick of seeing both adults and children treat animals with such disrespect. I know there is a hierarchy but it doesn't give us the right to treat them as so many of us do. Pains me every time I see it they have feelings, emotions and brains too

Many rescues wont rehome a dog if you have children under 8, and the usual advice is kids under 8 cant be left alone with animals as they arent capable of being responsible.
Some parents dont teach their kids that they are live animals, not toys, and some kids are too immature to grasp what that means.

Yanbu children should be taught to treat animals with caution and respect. Mostly for the welfare of the animals but also because all animals can be unpredictable and will lash out if they feel threatened and afraid.
My Dd(7) has known from a young age that all our pets are to be treated with kindness and if for whatever reason they don't like what she is doing she is to stop immediately and leave them alone.

Hedda What a fucking stupid response.

Parents are responsible for supervising their kids and making sure they're kind to animals and other people... There are always those who don't bother. Every five year old (unless they have sn) should know how to treat an animal. Whether they do or not, every parent should be supervising them.

The worst ones for me are when children haven't been taught how to behave around dogs and you see them tormenting a dog; hugging and climbing all over and getting right in it's face. The dog tolerates and tolerates until the day they can't take anymore and then they are at fault!