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AIBU?

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Original poster

Woman 80s, Savaged to Death by Dogs, Birmingham

999 replies

Flaxmeadow · 02/04/2021 22:53

A woman in her 80s has been savaged to death by neighbours dogs
Am I being unreasonable to want much stricter controls on keeping dogs as pets

OP posts:
Thread gallery
11
Pinchoftums · 02/04/2021 22:54

How awful. Had to vote without anymore details.

Original poster
Flaxmeadow · 02/04/2021 22:57

Had to vote without anymore details.

The information so far is that she sustained "dog bite injuries", after the dogs got into her garden, possibly "through a broken fence"

OP posts:
Emeraldshamrock · 02/04/2021 22:58

Absolutely horrendous people are far too trusting of their 4 legged fury friends. I have no idea of their background or how it could be policed for owners who purposely buy certain dogs for protection.
The dogs body looked like a large breed.

UhtredRagnarson · 02/04/2021 23:01

How awful!! That poor woman. Dog ownership needs far tighter regulation.

littlepattilou · 02/04/2021 23:02

Yes it's awful. I wondered what was going on in Rowley Regis with the police presence around. It was all over social media earlier but I wasn't sure what had happened.

www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-birmingham-56617182

Tragic thing to happen.

And yes, I agree, it's about time much stricter rules were made for keeping certain dogs.

These 2 dogs weren't border collies or red setters were they? Hmm

They were pit bulls.

The bloody dogs need banning from the country. Every one that is born now needs sterilising at birth so they can become obsolete. (And several other 'dangerous dogs' can go with it too.)

Some dogs should NOT be in residential homes and residential areas.

I know it's not the dog's fault blah blah blah........... It's the owner's fault, but it's ALWAYS the same type of person who owns them! ALWAYS.

DontBeRidiculous · 02/04/2021 23:03

So no word on the breed(s) of the dogs in question? I have no problem with strict regulation of specific, deadly breeds of dogs, but it probably won't be popular or easy to enforce.

It would be a waste of time and resources to place stricter controls on all dogs for safety reasons, because the majority of breeds don't seriously maul or kill.

HeddaGarbled · 02/04/2021 23:06

That poor woman. The seal was bad, but this is awful. Then there was the young lad in the caravan not very long ago. I don’t think we should keep dismissing these as ‘isolated incidents’. Reintroduction of licenses, like for guns?

wetotter · 02/04/2021 23:07

The age of the victim RIP isn't really the point.

It could just have easily been a whole family.

Because the dogs broke out of his garden and into another, attacking who they found. They weren't just badly behaved, this is a whole league beyond a naughty pet.

A 43 year old is in custody

Overdueanamechange · 02/04/2021 23:08

Its terrifying. There is so much illegal dog activity going on.

UhtredRagnarson · 02/04/2021 23:09

Reintroduction of licenses, like for guns?

We have licenses here in NI. They are totally pointless. All you have to do is pay your annual fee and they send you a new license. That does nothing at all to prevent shitty owners or dangerous dogs. So many don’t even bother with the license and they never get caught.

lifeturnsonadime · 02/04/2021 23:10

No issue with stricter control of dangerous dogs.

If you are suggesting this is used as a disproportionate mechanism to stop dogs from being exercised appropriately or from being walked in public areas you are being unreasonable.

ShimmyShimmyYa · 02/04/2021 23:12

i voted YANBU but agree with other posters that it's specific breeds that cause overwhelming majority of problems
and fully agree with everything littlepattilou has said
poor woman and her poor family- awful

wetotter · 02/04/2021 23:12

They were pit bulls

Source?

I had rather assumed that they would be one bull type or another, given that they have been taken for genetic testing, but I hadn't seen any reporting of results to confirm breed or cross of which breeds

The key to the issue is the humans, and what we as a society will tolerate as normal and acceptable. You can make any breed of dog vicious, so banning breeds isn't necessarily going to be a good solution. What is happening in how we socialise young people so that they want a vicious dog in the first place? How much toxic human behaviour do we put up with?

Original poster
Flaxmeadow · 02/04/2021 23:13

wetotter

Yes I agree the age isn't the point and yes these dogs could have gone on a rampage through the area.

Why a marksman didn't shoot them dead as quickly as possible, as is usually the case, I don't know, but the dogs were somehow tranquilized and are still alive.

OP posts:
MissLucyEyelesbarrow · 02/04/2021 23:14

Every death is tragic.

There are 5.5 million dogs in the UK, and they kill 3-5 people per year. The risk of being killed by a dog are only marginally higher than being killed by lightning (2 per year).

wetotter · 02/04/2021 23:15

If they thought the person being attacked was still alive, they are not going to risk shooting her. And if the dogs are still attacking, you can't get a clear shot. It means the attack has to be ended by other means.

Did you see the news report where they showed footage of the types of protective equipment police use in these circumstances? Tougher and more extensive than riot gear

Hoppinggreen · 02/04/2021 23:16

While I agree that it’s bad owners that cause the problem and that any breed can be viscous (the scariest dog I knew was a Westie) it’s a fact that some dogs are just more dangerous than others. If this had happened with 2 chihuahuas this lady would probably be ok.
It’s a sad fact that all too often bad owners have a certain type of dog

Herja · 02/04/2021 23:19

They looked like bloody big dogs in the news pictures. Poor, poor woman. What an horrific, terrifying death. In her own bloody garden.

Dogs have the capacity to be incredibly dangerous. It blows my mind that any old fucker can just buy one. People always talk about the scary looking breeds, but (I think) it's actually Labradors that have the highest number of attacks in the UK. All dogs can be dangerous, even the family ones. My first teenage boyfriend had heavy facial scaring from a terrier attack as a toddler.

I love dogs. Always had them growing up. I don't have one, because I don't have appropriate time to devote to one. I like dogs that are perfectly trained (working dogs, or trained to that degree) and I can't facilitate that, so I have a cat instead. I completely agree that there should be more regulation.

Goldieloxx · 02/04/2021 23:19

Neighbours said they were pit bulls, though not confirmed, often then do tests on them to check if they are a registered dangerous breed

Poorlykitten · 02/04/2021 23:21

Where does it say pit bull? And yes, much tighter controls on dog ownership including dogs being on leads in most areas.

LizzieSiddal · 02/04/2021 23:23

That poor lady. What she went through is absolutely horrific.

Nightbear · 02/04/2021 23:23

The people who have dogs that end up killing or seriously injuring people aren’t the type of people who would register their pets or comply with any licensing regulations. Wanting ‘stricter controls’ is a knee jerk reaction to a distressing event.

Eviethyme · 02/04/2021 23:25

@littlepattilou

No one knows the breeds yet so don't judge.

The dogs have been taken in. No words out yet

Original poster
Flaxmeadow · 02/04/2021 23:27

There are 5.5 million dogs in the UK, and they kill 3-5 people per year. The risk of being killed by a dog are only marginally higher than being killed by lightning (2 per year).

But it isn't just about the deaths, its also the many thousands of injuries, some life changing, and the accompanying trauma.

A few years ago a man died in a sustained attack that lasted hours because no one could get near enough to get the dog off him. This IIRC was a dog that had wandered into his house from the street

I would like to see more breeds banned and dogs on a lead in all public places for a start

OP posts:
Poorlykitten · 02/04/2021 23:29

I totally agree OP and actually statistically it’s Labrador’s who bite more people, those loveable family pets

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