Reporting dangerous dogs?

[LondonLassi]

Something has been on my mind for a few days after hearing about the poor 12 day old baby who died after being attacked by a dog.

My sister’s neighbour has a 16 year old son who is regularly in trouble with the police. I spend a lot of time there. The screaming and shouting that comes from next door is horrendous and the police are often called out to restrain him. He is not in school. Smokes weed all day. I’ve never seen his face because he wears a hoodie over a face covering (even pre-COVID) I’m just trying to paint a picture of the kind of troubled youth we’re dealing with here. If you make eye contact with him he will swear at you, call you names and threaten you. He is quite frankly a bit scary.

About a year ago they got two puppies from the same litter. They are fully grown now and they look like some sort of pit bull cross. Possibly pit bull/mastiff. They are huge. I’ll attach a pic of what I think they might be. When we sit out in the garden we can hear them next door fighting and growling, they barge my sisters fence to try to get to her small jack Russell terriers. They’ve had to repair the fence three times already after the dogs broke it.

This boy walks the dogs regularly. They are not muzzled. If we happen to leave the house at the same time the dogs go up on their hind legs and get very over excited. The boy has to pull them back to get them away. They try to break free to get to anyone walking near them if they’re out for a walk. Tonight we happened to be leaving as the boy was walking home. The dogs immediately started barking at us and were trying to run towards us and had to be restrained. We often hear people shouting when they walk by because of the dogs trying to get to them. It’s very scary when it happens because they are big and intimidating.

I am terrified of what would happen if these dogs managed to get loose. They have been raised by someone with a violent, anti social background. I can’t shake the image of them getting hold of a child. The boy has a little brother in the house, probably around 6 years old.

What would you do in this situation? I’m thinking of reporting them as potentially dangerous dogs. If IABU please tell me. It just seems like an awful attack waiting to happen.

From your own links I've attached 2 examples of killings, one by a pit bull and the other a lab retriever mix. The pit bull attacked, was pulled off then broke through a door to attack again and rip the victims throat out. The lab attempted to pick the newborn baby up out of his basket. Massive difference.

@vanillandhoney so wft post it?!!

@SBTLove I have said they have the POTENTIAL to be aggressive ffs. Are you saying this boy sounds like a suitable owner? If he can’t even train them to behave in public and not to barge peoples fences down how can you be so sure that they will never be human aggressive? He is the exact type of person who shouldn’t have dogs like this. It is people like him that give these dogs a bad reputation because they are not raised correctly and bad things happen.

@LondonLassi

You're right, it's actually worrying how blind to the facts these people are.

@Honeyhoops it really is worrying! Especially because they both claim to be experts that work with dogs.

@LondonLassi
Being untrained or dog aggressive is completely separate from human aggression, which is actually very rare. It’s a wrong assumption ppl make, a dog kills a cat followed by the inevitable ‘it could be a child next’ it is one of the most infuriatingly inaccurate comments that gets trotted out.
A dog knows the difference between a cat and a child!
@Honeyhoops I think you’ve a cheek caking anyone an idiot. You’re opinions are just that an opinion, you have no experience of working with dogs or training or rehabilitation.

[quote Honeyhoops]@LondonLassi

You're right, it's actually worrying how blind to the facts these people are. [/quote]
I think it comes down to being emotionally attached to their pets and imagining that the dog is a simplified version of a human, that it thinks in the way that they do only simpler terms.
With the weaponized dogs the owners get a feeling of power and mastery at being 'in control' of these dangerous creatures, they enjoy the fact that other people are intimidated

@SBTLove

You didn't actually know that but you're right. I don't work with dogs, but I grew up with dogs, my mum bred dogs and I've owned dogs for over 20 years. I've completed various training courses (just general dog training nothing work related) so I'd say whilst I'm no expert I am a fairly experienced dog owner. I'm not scared of or prejudiced against bull breeds (I adored our English Bull Terrier) or large breed dogs such as Rottweilers or mastiffs. I still wouldn't own one though as they can potentially cause more serious injury if for any reason they did attack anyone.

@SBTLove why do you refuse to actually answer any questions I ask you? Are you saying inherent aggression doesn’t exist? I’m genuinely curious. I mentioned a beagle’s inherent need to sniff and track. A collie has an inherent need to herd. Do bull breeds not have an inherent tendency to kill and maim? It’s what they were bred for. It’s why they have the word ‘bull’ in their names. They were bred to maim bulls and bears. Can you not admit, even a little bit, that it is in their nature and that is why it is so important for them to be trained by a responsible owner. Does the boy I’m talking about sound like a responsible owner and do you not agree that these mastiff crosses could be in the wrong hands?

A dog knows the difference between a cat and a child
Can you explain this a bit more...what is going on in the dogs mind etc?

I have answered numerous times, no they aren’t ‘inherently aggressive’, no dog is. It is the owners responsibility to train and socialise their dog.
It’s 100s of years since they were bred for purpose, anyone with an aggressive dog will be because it’s been conditioned as such. The beagle your quoting has had no need to have the natural traits bred out whereas bull breeds have as we don’t have bull baiting anymore so it’s an unwanted trait.
@Honeyhoops your mum being a breeder hasn’t equipped you with great knowledge has it? you are very close minded and calling others idiots because they don’t agree with your opinions, you’ve made ridiculous assumptions about me, I hardly baby dogs when I work with them, many in need of intensive rehabilitation behaviourally. Any dog can potentially cause damage not a certain breed as has been pointed out countless times.

What have they done though? They haven’t gotten loose, haven’t bitten, they bark and you don’t like the “look” of them. You don’t like the owner... Struggling to understand what you are going to report. Good luck with that!

[quote SBTLove]@Heffalooomia
If you need that explained I really worry for your complete lack of intelligence 🤣
Please refrain from further comment as you’ve highlighted you know nothing about animal behaviour.[/quote]
SBT, thank you for your concerns about my intelligence!
However, would you be able to explain to me what is going on in the dog's mind, I'd like to know what you mean when you say that the dog knows the difference between a cat and a child, I'd like to know more about animal behaviour.

FFS @SBTLove

Seriously, again I KNOW ANY DOG CAN POTENTIALLY "CAUSE DAMAGE". However certain breeds if dog can cause a hell of a lot worse "damage". I'll try and simplify my point.

If a retriever viciously attacked (unlikely) an adult the chances are that the adult would have a few serious bites but highly unlikely they'd be killed.

If a pit bull or rottweiler viciously attacked (more likely) the same person there is a very high high chance they'd be killed.

Both those dogs could very easily kill a baby or small child.

It is more likely a pit bull would attack and maul than a retriever. I can only assume this is because of the inherent traits of the breeds.

@Suzi888

The op has stated the dog has tried to access her sisters garden several times damaging the fence. It is a council property so for a start I'd be reporting this. She has also stated she thinks the dog could be crossed with a banned breed which you are actually supposed to report.

@SBTLove exactly how is an inherent trait bred out?! German Shepherds are genetically predisposed to having hip issues. If traits and genetic flaws could be simply bred out why haven’t they done it with German shepherds? It’s not that simple.

@LondonLassi
Unscrupulous breeders have bred GSD for looks not healthy, that is well known.

Oh, gawd. People get so polemical.

I own Kangals. They are adorable, and I don't believe they would hurt a fly, but they cannot be let loose in case they run off and inadvertently cause damage. They are not aggressive, but in the hands of an owner who didn't treat them properly, they very well could be. There was a case in London a while ago of three Kangals killing a passerby, for example. I have introduced my dogs to my neighbours, but do not allow them to go and charge at the fence, for obvious reasons.

OP is talking about strong, potentially dangerous dogs that demonstrate aggressive behaviour and are not properly controlled. Fair play to her if she reports.

@Honeyhoops

The government’s dangerous dogs strategy is “riddled with inconsistencies”, and results in the unnecessary death of safe dogs while the overall number of deaths and injuries from canine attacks has risen, MPs have said.
The Independent has an article on this... excerpt below.
Hundreds of harmless dogs from banned breeds are put down every year, while most serious incidents involve dogs that are not banned, the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Efra) Committee said, calling for a full review.
If they’ve damaged HER fence then yes , that is a separate issue to contacting a dog warden.

I’d consider moving, screw the dogs, you obviously hate your neighbour.

@Suzi888 I mean, he’s hardly a likeable character is he? What a stupid comment.

You haven’t even read the whole thread have you? Or even the OP. If you had you wouldn’t have said such a ridiculous thing. It’s my sister’s neighbour and he’s a criminal. Obviously I don’t like him.

@SBTLove every time I prove a comment of yours wrong you come back with something unrelated. If traits and flaws are so easily ‘bred out’ then why don’t they do it with all breeds that have known issues? The answer is, they can’t. You can’t just breed out a trait or flaw you don’t like.