To be horrified and heart broken by the Frankie Macritchie case

[frillyflamingo]

Frankie Macritchie dog attack death: Mum Tawnee Willis jailed www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-52939564

I think the mother will be haunted by her actions for the rest of her life but Jesus fucking Christ, I can't believe anyone would think it was a good idea to leave a child alone with any dog, let alone a 7stone bull breed.

I love my dogs and I trust them with my life but there isn't a chance in hell I would leave them with my children for just a minute.

I'm sharing because it's easy to get complacent, especially when you have good natured dogs like mine.

I feel sad for everyone in this sad story but just desperately sad for what that little boy must have gone through that evening, alone.

@FliesandPies so do you think the mum in this case would have been treated differently if she's been middle class?

No one would expect a dog to attack and kill a 9 year old

I disagree. This was a dog that had used agression in the past. He WILL have already shown signs of discomfort or stress around the boy and/or other children and/or loud behavours from humans. He will have. This dog will have been trying to communicate his discomfort for some time. But no one was knowledgeable or cared enough to spot it.

Add to that the fact that he was a large dog that appears to have weighed more than the boy and you don't need to be a dog genius to understand the boy did not have a hope of controlling him, if he needed to.

And so this isn't a suprise event. This is something that had very clear indicators that it was a possibility. Indicators that were ignored - through ignorance or apathy.

Its awful and probably happens a lot. Most kids don't make the press.

so do you think the mum in this case would have been treated differently if she's been middle class?

Well I didn't say that but actually I think she almost certainly would have. I would expect a middle-class mother to have got a suspended sentence and the judge to remark that she would be punished for life with regret etc

the dog had attacked before. No-one cared enough to report it. Dangerous dogs do get four strikes before destruction (having been attacked, this is what the police said) and there is a very high bar even if the attack is reported. The first action is a nicey-nicey letter to the owner.

Fortunately killer dogs like this do get PTS.

This thread is pretty distasteful. Whilst there are some valid points to be made, especially around dogs, it's all being rather buried in slavering over details of this awful tragedy and people having a lovely time pulling apart someone who has been dealt with by the law - often for the purposes of boasting about their own impeccable parenting. People knitting round the guillotine spring forcibly to mind. The fact that this case is also being used for the purposes of yet another attack on another set of parents makes it even worse.

I do hope it goes.

No one would expect a dog to attack and kill a 9 year old

Even when the dog has attacked another boy already?

I wouldn’t even leave DD alone with my mum’s placid Labrador. Even though they are best friends and cuddle up together. She might do something that annoys him and he may snap (he doesn’t usually snap but he isn’t usually provoked).

Poor, poor little boy.

All the circumstances are tragic and are for every person involved. No-one that is being discussed here deliberately set out to cause harm to any of the children, it's just a mixture of stupidity, substance abuse, arrogance, complacency etc and I think all involved have really suffered enough. But it's the contrast in the way the situations were dealt with that is the point. I don't think any of the parents should really be jailed if i'm honest. What is jail for really, punishment? Rehabilitation/education? Justice? I think they have all been punished already and none of them are ever likely to do the same again, so it really just leaves justice. I think the difference here is that because of the divided nature of his family, this little boys other parent/grandparent needed to see justice done. That just wasn't present in the other case.

“No one would expect a dog to attack and kill a 9 year old”

Well no, fatal attacks are statistically fairly rare... but... it had attacked a boy before... so not as unlikely that something was going to happen.

No one would expect a dog to attack and kill a 9 year old

Depends on the breed too. I don’t think I’ve ever read about a Labrador mauling a child but some breeds (pit bull types) seem to do it regularly enough.

The saddest thing is the inevitability of something like this happening again. Clearly the world will always have feckless people but does it have to allow such people to own dogs like that. Here is my 3 point plan to try and make positive change.

1. I'd have thought introducing a requirement to have a licence to own a dog along with public liability insurance would help.
2. Perhaps also broadening the range of banned dog breeds in the UK.
3. Clearly the police need a MUCH lower threshold for destroying dangerous dogs. Previous violence is a clear predictor of future violence in dogs just as it is in people.

I get what people mean that the dog had attacked and shown aggression so shouldn’t be a surprise, but the only times I’ve heard of children actually being killed by dogs is when they are babies or small toddlers. Maybe thats my naivety, as I’ve only owned smaller breeds, I just would have thought a 9 year old would be relatively safe left with a dog. Just shocked and saddened by the whole case to be honest.

I don’t feel any sympathy for her, if your not in a position to put your child before your own needs, don’t have kids. I can’t imagine what that poor boy went through in his final moments. Not to mention the dog had already tried to attack another child, I wouldn’t let that dog anywhere near my child let alone, left alone with it

TazSyd Labradors are responsible for a high number of dog attacks, perhaps because they are such a popular breed. All breeds can and do attack

@ZoeCM

Yes I know! I just think it would make more sense for the law to make it harder for just anybody to get their hands on a dog than to carry on just letting every idiot have one and then punishing them when the inevitable happens.

but the only times I’ve heard of children actually being killed by dogs is when they are babies or small toddlers

There was a 14 year old girl killed about 7 years ago, that was all over the news.

And wasnt there an elderly man killed just a few years ago?

@FliesandPies

As I said, I wouldn’t leave DD alone with my mum’s Labrador. My point was, that some types of dogs do hit the news fairly regularly for things like this.

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/dog-breed-most-likely-to-attack-bite-you-revealed-a7166296.html%3famp

This sounds like labradors guarding their property / family, rather than attacking a child.

TazSyd I wasn;t arguing with you just pointing out that Labradors are capable of attack, even if you haven;t heard of cases, and that includes children.

I just think it would make more sense for the law to make it harder for just anybody to get their hands on a dog than to carry on just letting every idiot have one and then punishing them when the inevitable happens.

@Picklypickles

Well put. There will always be people like these two women. It would be nice if they were slightly less dangerous by not having dogs.

Which is why I said this:

I wouldn’t even leave DD alone with my mum’s placid Labrador. Even though they are best friends and cuddle up together. She might do something that annoys him and he may snap (he doesn’t usually snap but he isn’t usually provoked).

The poor little mite had a heart condition and was on warfarin, which thins the blood. He was at risk of his blood not clotting properly if he had an accident, which makes the fact he was left alone even worse.

The sentences weren't long enough IMO.

God bless little Frankie.