Why do people keep dangerous dogs???

[Ori18]

Another little boy pronounced dead this morning on the news - the toddler who was mauled on Monday and subsequently suffered a cardiac arrest. The dogs in question are not thought to be banned under the Dangerous Dogs Act - but I'd be interested to know which breeds they were as it's quite evident that certain breeds are more dangerous to children than others - why aren't Rottweiler's on the banned list for example?

And even though Pitt Bull Terriers are banned, people still go out of their way to own them, and are then shocked when they attack small children, maul babies, tear limbs off people. It makes me so angry. Same goes for German Shepherds and Staffordshire Bull Terriers. The Bull Terrier dogs are/were specifically bred for fighting - why would you even consider having one of these types of dogs around a baby or a small child? What is going on there? Is it lack of intelligence? Lack of education? Lack of giving a fuck? Because I think there need to be more dogs on the banned list, and heavier penalties served to people who insist on breaking the law to keep these dogs.

Aggressive/dangerous dogs and babies/small children do not mix, should never be mixed and it shouldn't take more deaths for the law to change around this. AIBU?

[quote biscuitbreak]@TiddleyWink that is bonkers. There are millions of things that could in theory cause harm to a child. You can't eradicate all dangers from the planet or even from your home. Children can get a lot from having pets, especially dogs. The key is to manage them properly. [/quote]
I guess that’s the difference - I just don’t see what a dog offers a child that trumps a safer home. Of course there are risks everywhere but we mitigate them and weigh them up.

I weigh up the dog question and to me it’s a no brainier, just not worth it - but I appreciate millions of others apparently feel differently.

I strongly believe though that the vast majority of dog owning parents have a dog because they want one and not because of perceived benefits to their children.

[quote TheseDaysGoBy]**@FooFighter99* Absolutely spot on, same as my German Shepherd, such a lovely, gentle girl. This thread is incredibly offensive I'm quite pi*ed off with OP to be honest.[/quote]
I’m pissed of with people who think that a German shepherd has any place in a home with babies and toddlers, but there we are.

@gertrudemortimer

This is really outting but it still shocks me so fuck it. I took my son on a play date a few months ago and turned up at the house and found they had a "cross" pitbull which was ill, also hadn't been taken out for a walk in weeks due to the owner not been able to handle the dog. Three young children live there, noisy, no space to sit anywhere, chaotic house with a small courtyard. Even if I picked my child up if the dog went near him I wouldn't stand a chance against it and my reaction is always to grab my son if dogs get a bit too close as my own parents have an annoying out of control, naughty dog that's caused me to be anxious with dogs around my son. The dog got put outside but owner was anxious about it escaping! Also barking, growling for food that was given constantly. Children upstairs playing with a baby gate on stairs but the kids kept opening the baby gate without letting their parent know. Never again will I go back there and I'm so glad I go to houses with my child first.

Did you stay?! I would have left immediately. And called social services when I got home. That’s absolutely awful, poor kids and poor dog.

My chihuahua is nastier than any bull breed I've ever known.Stereotyping doesn't help.

@Ori18

I'm genuinely curious to know - the posters who have a big dog - would you happily leave your baby/toddler ALONE in a room with your dog? Seriously, an honest question. Would you feel comfortable with this?

What a ridiculous question. I trust my dogs implicitly but I would never leave them with any young children unattended. That's basic responsibility. You don't have to own a big dog to be a shitty dog owner, lots of shitty dog owners have small or common dogs.

Your comment is highly offensive to those of us who responsibly own large breed dogs

So what? Your hideous large dogs are offensive and many of their brethren are killing small children.
Every dog owner thinks they’re responsible-it’s a bit like saying “I’m an excellent driver”. We only have your word for it

Furthermore, I never believe people on here or in real life who claim they NEVER leave their dog and child unattended. Like people who never speed, not even by 1mph..

A house at the bottom of my street had a Rottweiler as a guard dog that always escaped it was a viscous dog that was treated poorly, always on a chain outside and slept in a shed. It escaped once when my mum was walking me to school I must have been about 6, it cornered us against a wall and snarled and barked at us for a good 15 minutes the owner eventually came out and grabbed it but memories like that do really affect how you feel about breeds of dogs. My mum was bitten by a German shepherd that escaped from a neighbours house when she was 10 and still has the scars on her leg. A friends child was attacked by their staffie at age 3 and has facial scars that will stay with her for life. I know of so many awful dog stories so I will never feel completely safe around any of them, especially when it's dogs around my child.

@TiddleyWink at first with the baby gate I thought okay I'll sit downstairs with owner and dog and let the kids play, that's when I learned about the dog been ill, not taken for a walk, and previous dog getting rehomed due to aggression. I'm glad the owner was honest with me. I'd be mortified if I was them and probably wouldn't have anyone around. Once I started hearing the kids near the gate I said we had to leave which is when the dog was put outside.

it cornered us against a wall and snarled and barked at us for a good 15 minutes

Whilst that must have been intimidating, it obviously didn’t want to hurt you.. it was doing what it had been taught to do.

@Siameasy my dogs aren't hideous and no, their brethren aren't killing small children. What an ignorant remark.

@Siameasy

Your comment is highly offensive to those of us who responsibly own large breed dogs

So what? Your hideous large dogs are offensive and many of their brethren are killing small children.
Every dog owner thinks they’re responsible-it’s a bit like saying “I’m an excellent driver”. We only have your word for it

Furthermore, I never believe people on here or in real life who claim they NEVER leave their dog and child unattended. Like people who never speed, not even by 1mph..

you are joking right ?

" Your Hideous large breeds?"

What a lovely person you are. You're the hideous one.

@Siameasy

Your comment is highly offensive to those of us who responsibly own large breed dogs

So what? Your hideous large dogs are offensive and many of their brethren are killing small children.
Every dog owner thinks they’re responsible-it’s a bit like saying “I’m an excellent driver”. We only have your word for it

Furthermore, I never believe people on here or in real life who claim they NEVER leave their dog and child unattended. Like people who never speed, not even by 1mph..

It really is astounding how utterly moronic some people really are... What a clown 🤡

@RMS0209 yes!

A clown that clearly shouldn't own a dog.... ever.

A ‘clown’ who has no interest in owning a large dog which she and many of us do indeed find hideous, unpleasant, anti social and frightening. It’s ok that you don’t but other peoples opinions on dogs are just as valid as yours.

@FTEngineerM It wanted to threaten us and scare us away but we had nowhere to go as we were cornered. If my mum tried moving us away it got closer and more aggressive, it would have ended very badly had the owner not come out. Not the dogs fault it was treated like that but equally not mine and my mums either and still unfortunately causes people to have lifelong anxiety about dogs

@Siameasy

Your comment is highly offensive to those of us who responsibly own large breed dogs

So what? Your hideous large dogs are offensive and many of their brethren are killing small children.
Every dog owner thinks they’re responsible-it’s a bit like saying “I’m an excellent driver”. We only have your word for it

Furthermore, I never believe people on here or in real life who claim they NEVER leave their dog and child unattended. Like people who never speed, not even by 1mph..

You're being dramatic with your first sentence which ruins what you said in the rest of the post.

@HeyBlaby

It also might be an idea to look at what the owners of the dogs that have committed these attacks have in common, never mind the poor dogs themselves, who have usually been recently bought, from unknown background or parentage, have never been trained, newly introduced to chaotic houses with small children with little exercise or stimulation and barely the cognitive and monetary means to look after their children and themselves, nevemind a dog. I imagine that isn't very politically correct though.

Exactly this

All dogs are dangerous.

No-one can 100% predict what their dog will do when hurt, injured, surprised etc.

Larger, more powerful breeds bred to fight or with low pain tolerances are more lethal.

Sorry, that should say low responsiveness to pain i.e. high pain tolerance...

Those that say their Rottweiler, German Shephard, staffie etc is a loving, caring dog, they may be loving and caring to you, but are they loving and caring to everyone else in society? Are they loving and caring to the postman who enters your garden to deliver your post with the dog running in your garden? If not YOU are the problem.

@TiddleyWink

A ‘clown’ who has no interest in owning a large dog which she and many of us do indeed find hideous, unpleasant, anti social and frightening. It’s ok that you don’t but other peoples opinions on dogs are just as valid as yours.

You are the exact description of an owner that picks up their small dog simply because you lack of knowledge of dog behaviour and the correct training any dog should have , so it becomes yappy and oh you know it has that little dog syndrome.

I would never call any dog hideous based off the size of them, shows your character beautifully.

@TiddleyWink

A ‘clown’ who has no interest in owning a large dog which she and many of us do indeed find hideous, unpleasant, anti social and frightening. It’s ok that you don’t but other peoples opinions on dogs are just as valid as yours.

You're ignorance is showing.

*your ignorance

Ffs stupid phone making me look stupid.

Although apparently my choice of dog makes me 'pond life' so I don't suppose a messed up autocorrect makes much difference to people's opinions.

@purpleboy

"@Thisismynamenow

You sounds like a responsible owner, you would never leave you child or baby unattended which is obviously right.
What would you do however if you were in the same room with dog and baby/child and the dog attacks. Knowing the breed you have the chances of you being able to stop the dog is slim to none, does that not worry you?
The baby girl that was killed last week was in the same room as her mother and dog, but the mother was unable to do anything because the dog was too strong and wouldn't let go.
So I suppose I just don't understand how anyone could take that risk?"

That's an incredibly unlikely thing to happen and something that would be almost impossible to protect yourself from. The liklihood that a docile well trained family pet would just turn one day and out of the blue attack a child who wasn't anywhere near it under direct supervision of the adults in the room is very low.... it's like saying that "how can you bring your child to a restaurant don't you know that there are strangers there who could leap across the table and kill your child at any moment".... it's true it "could" happen but is extremely unlikely.

When an adult is a responsible owner and doesn't allow young children unattended with the animals and supervises at all times the chance of attack is extremely low.