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.

Babies being ripped apart by dangerous dogs is far more unpleasant, I’m sure you’d agree. Stereotypes can be harmful but are sadly often true. My sister has just had a word with the mum and my guess was correct. They are bull mastiff crossed with pit bull. The mum is also scared of them but is more scared of her son so hasn’t reached out for help
I think this will have to be my last post here as I’m actually finding the stereotyping of people and their dogs really upsetting.
Of course, any dog attack is deeply traumatising.
However.

1. Severe dog attacks are incredibly rare. A child is more likely to be killed by a car or another person than a dog.
2. UK Statistics tend to put golden/Labrador retrievers, Spaniels, German shepherds, border collies, jack russells and staffies at the top for causing the most bites.

Only two, possibly three of those breeds have a negative public perception.

1. The vast majority of dog attacks are from family dogs to children under 5, a huge proportion of those children will be in affluent, middle class families.

This is not a council estate, stereotypical chav with macho dog family problem despite what the daily mail would have you believe.

1. The dreaded pit bulls were bred for dog aggression not human aggression.

Breeds bred to show human aggression/guard against people interestingly are legal... Put bulls bred for the fighting ring would have had to have been sufficiently human friendly to allow handlers to pull it out of the ring. Most dogs embroiled in a fight with another dog will savage a human hand that tries to intervene. Think about it.

1. You keep mentioning the pit bull and the baby.

The dog that killed the baby was very clearly NOT a pit bull! Or any bull breed! It was described as golden and fluffy and judging by the picture it’s a chow chow (legal) or Akita (legal) mix!

Sounds like the dogs are the least of your problems. It's the neighbours. Such a horrible situation. Call HA and report everything.

@Dogsarebetterthanpeople I never said the baby was killed by a pit bull. I said that pit bulls are the culprit in 66% of cases. I’ve just told you the mum is scared of both the dogs and the son. This is not some random teen I know nothing about. I am not labelling a complete stranger with a stereotype. My opinion on him and his dogs is from my own personal observation and experience. Last year in the US there were 48 dog bite fatalities, 33 of those deaths were at the mouths of a pit bill. Perhaps those pit bulls didn’t get the memo that they were actually bred for dog aggression?

Nobody being blasé about these dogs on this thread and accusing the OP of being judgemental and stereotyping would allow their own six year old child in the house with this pair of dogs though would they?

It’s all very well to call the OP snobbish and to give anecdotes about small aggressive dogs owned by rich people, but there is a real six year old boy living in a house with large aggressive dogs which are untrained and out of control. Of course it should be reported.

Babies can be ripped apart by any dog. People just dont remember when it's a jack Russel or a golden retriever. Dogs lunging doesn't equal aggression, big dog doesn't equal dangerous. We're stepping into dangerous territory of people having other peoples dogs killed because they dont like them.
And pit bull isn't even a breed, it's a general description applies by a person's opinion.

People who cant look after dogs shouldn't have dogs. But dogs shouldn't be killed because someone doesn't like them.

You post very inconsistently, op.

First you say there are dangerous dogs,
then you say not, just dangerous owners,
then you say there are dangerous dogs,
then you say you will stop calling them dangerous, because it's the owners...

Then it's Perhaps those pit bulls didn’t get the memo that they were actually bred for dog aggression?

I mean, WTAF? Of course dogs don't know they can be raised to be aggressive by shady owners! They just do as they are commanded because they want to please. If they are raised aggressively, they will act that way, but ultimately it's still not their fault...

Calling these dogs dangerous it a bit of a reach right now. They are badly (if at all) trained and their behaviour is symptomatic of that! Being badly trained doesn't make them dangerous though.

No dog is bred to be aggressive, they are raised that way. I don't understand why you started this thread for opinions, when you have decided what you are going to do anyway!

FWIW, if it makes you feel better, report them. But I doubt the dogs will be removed after zero aggressive incident.

The OP is now off on an anti pitbull rant, even though it’s been pointed out several times pitbull is not an actual recognised breed in the U.K., she’s even quoting US statistics from god knows what source, this is how these dogs are targeted by hysterical ppl with no correct knowledge.
As a bull breed owner myself I’m finding the posts incredibly ignorant and judgemental.
The dogs sound untrained and OP has leapt to they will kill ppl.

@differentnameforthis I posted for advice. I started with an opinion, a few posters made me think differently for a minute, then more people posted and I realised my initial feelings were valid. I am allowed to change my mind. Such is the nature of opinion. Um, I was being sarcastic in response to another comment regarding the dogs getting the memo. @Dogsarebetterthanpeople said they were bred to be aggressive towards other dogs not humans. And thank you for backing up my point about dogs being raised to be aggressive. That’s exactly what I’ve been trying to say. I am concerned about these dogs with their particular owner. Was that not clear in my posts?

@SBTLove have a google if you think I’m wrong about the stats. I’ll wait. I’ll start referring to the dogs as pit bull ‘type’. Feel better?

It's not changing your mind though, your posting is all over the place and inconsistent.

Dogs do growl when they play, it can sound quite aggressive but it’s not and the only behaviour I’m still trying to train out of my 4.5kg dog is pulling and standing up on his hind legs when he sees people, it’s not aggression it’s just excitement, people only seem to find it funny when they’re small, report it if you have genuine concerns but Staffies and pits are usually massive softies and it’s dogs like mine that are bitey (luckily mine isn’t)

@differentnameforthis actually, that’s exactly what it is. I felt bad when people told me that their behaviour could actually be playfulness. I felt bad at first for assuming they were dangerous. As the thread has unfolded I have changed my mind and have realised that my initial concerns were justified. Especially since the boy’s mother has since confirmed that they are mixed with a banned breed and she is also scared of them. What is your point anyway?

They are just crossbreeds, if I had a £1 for every idiot who claims their dog was a pitbull I’d be rich!
Quite, every wannabe hard man claims his staffy/American bulldog/bull lurcher/mastiff x/staffy x is a pit bull..

The fact that they are acting in an aggressive threatening manner that is frightening people, in public and are not muzzled

How are they being aggressive? Nothing OP says suggests aggressive behaviour. Lots of dogs lunge - it's mostly excitement, occasionally fear, and very rarely, aggression. The boy has them on leads and therefore, under control.

And, unless they've bitten, why on earth should do you think they should be muzzled in public? Because they're big? Would you tell owners of Leonbergers Great Danes or St Bernards to muzzle their dogs just because of their size?

@vanillandhoney
Exactly, if they were fluffy retrievers with a noice lady she probably wouldn’t even consider it.
If these dogs get seized and are typed they will be pts as anyone with a criminal record, under 18 or of dubious character cannot become a registered keeper.

Better the dogs are pts than a six year old child continue to live with them. No one would want a young child in the same house as the dogs as described by the OP.

My neighbours dig constantly barked at mine, sometimes he had a go back, fence was damaged by both. One day the fence came down in the wind, it ran away from my dog who calmly followed it and stole its dinner! No aggression from either (just my dogs cheeky behaviour)

@SBTLove exactly how am I snob? I have given no indication of my own personal wealth, where I live or what car I drive? Should I throw in a few spelling mistakes and grammatical errors to make you feel better? Who is stereotyping now? You literally have no idea who I am and you haven’t even seen the boy or dog in question for God’s sake.

Snob, as in your judgemental attitude and ill informed nonsense you’re posting, clear prejudice towards the breed of dog and owner. Go ahead report and have the dogs seized and PTS, I’m sure that’ll satisfy you.
Boisterous and untrained doesn’t equal they are human aggressive. If it’s that bad why has his own mother not taken action??
P.s having poor grammar or spelling doesn’t make you poor 🙄

Cane corso possibly? A dog dangerously out of control IS an offence and its down to perception of said person. Im am ex officer and still work within the police. I reported someone a couple of weeks ago, elderly gentleman, struggles to control his lab. Lunged at my sons face when he crossed the road, so so close to biting him. A beat manager went round and spoke to him. If they are deemed pit bull type then they can deal with that element also. Report to 101 ,

A dog dangerously out of control IS an offence and its down to perception of said person
There’s a scary thought.

Someone was thoroughly freaked out a few days ago by my dog, who was sat next to me on a very short lead, staring at him (she wanted to say hello hence the staring but had been told to sit)
She’s a border collie so the stare at anything vaguely stimulating is a hallmark of the breed and in no way indicates aggressive intent.

How very sad that owners could be punished and/or dogs could be potentially PTS because of someone ‘perceives’ ill intent with no proof whatsoever that the animal is in anyway a risk.

Seems to me that we are as a society rapidly becoming entirely intolerant of anything bigger than a cockerpoo that looks in any way, shape or form threatening.
Any bigger dogs with a ‘macho’ look to them are unacceptable it seems.
As are dogs that pull on lead or show excitement or gasp, look at people.
And if they just so happen to be owned by ‘chavs’ on a council estate, well, then they clearly cannot live with children and must be reported and PTS urgently as it of course their life’s ambition to savage them
How very sad.