To think there should be more controls on dogs and more banned breeds

[Merryclaire]

Just seen on the news that another young child has been killed by dogs - that must be at least 4 this year in the UK - there have been a number more that have thankfully not been fatal. Always seems to be (most often) a US bully or sometimes a husky. Why are there not more dog breeds being banned (especially the bully)? And why is there not more noise about dog ownership rules in general being tightened up?
For the record I have always liked dogs but these regular child attacks scare me.

Ok. I have never even known a staffy to bite anyone and I have owned them myself and have 7 in my family or close circle of friends.

The care home my father was in had regular visits from therapy dogs and they brought great joy to the residents. I saw so myself on a number of visits. Are you suggesting these visits should cease? I haven't heard of a care home resident being injured and the dogs didn't give any indication of being drugged.
Personally I'm all for children learning how to treat dogs after last weekends experience when a kid on a bike swerved to aim a kick at my BC who was on a short lead and under control as requested by the owner of the land. As my BC is nervous he leapt back out of the way. Had he tried the same trick with our other dog who was being walked by my DH he would have received a growl as a warning that this action was perceived as a threat. Whose fault would that have been - the kid or the dog? No doubt you would say the latter. And no, our other dog is not a pit bull type but of shepherd stock.

@AllThingsServeTheBeam
I'm not interested in your dog or what it does. It isn't about that. It's about a general public safety issue. Its about protecting people in general, especually children
Most people want more restrictions on dogs, some dog owners don't want it and some of those want more dogs in public spaces and with less restrictions

The care home my father was in had regular visits from therapy dogs and they brought great joy to the residents. I saw so myself on a number of visits. Are you suggesting these visits should cease

Not all people want to be anywhere near dogs. Some people are scared of them (with good reason), some people are allergic to, some people know they're very unhygienic. Some people just find them intensely annoying. What about those people? Why are people more and more expected to tolerate them, it seems everywhere, in every space

I'm not interested in your batshittery either. Finally we agree on something!

I’m no expert on breeds but I do think you should need a licence to own a dog.

I'm not interested in your batshittery either.

This is very typical of the insults and pesronal attacks people wanting more restrictions get from dog onwers. A poster saying someone should be 'swiched off' is another one yesterday

That was me too!

I do want more restrictions. I said I'd happily get a license. I said I'd happily let my dog do an obedience course so he can go off lead. I think that anyone who cannot control their dog should keep them on a lead. I think you should need to pass a test to have dogs (or kids).

But I don't agree with your feelings on dogs in general and your hysterical attitude on these threads

I do believe all children should be taught to respect animals but little ones are too young to grasp how to behave so as not to not provoke a dog
Little ones should be supervised properly by their parents just as they are around roads.

Most people want more restrictions on dogs, some dog owners don't want it and some of those want more dogs in public spaces and with less restrictions
Where do these 'facts' come from? I would have thought that most people are absolutely fine with current restrictions on dogs in general. They might do for dangerous dogs but again, they are a minority.

There are supposedly 12.5 million dogs in the UK. The number of incidents let alone fatalities are so low in proportion, I really don't get what it is even worth a debate as a whole.

I agree with OP, let's focus on those dangerous breeds, but let's leave non violent dogs out of it.

They don't have to get involved then do they

No. Please read again.

Children are the next generation of dog owners. If we educate them as children, as to why buying a dog from the bloke in the pub, why having a dog to 'protect you' is a risky business, why using aversive training methods risks producing a dangerous dog... we might change things.

Children also can provide some 'pester power' that may make SOME adults think twice about buying a dog from a man in a pub or a dodgy ad - if it helps, I can't see the issue.

Whilst I do think children should all be taught basic safety around a variety of dangerous things, animals included, I am NOT talking about reducing bite/fatality statistics by teaching toddlers to be non-provocative to dogs!!! No part of my comment suggested that.

I do not have to look at the US, though there are some good things there (like forensic assessment of dogs rather than destroying the evidence immediately) - the majority of publicised attacks in the US are indeed pitbulls... because pitbulls are an incredibly popular dog there. The numbers of attacks and fatalities are also higher because the population is also higher.

That doesn't translate to the UK, we are not the US!

Lol at the PAT dogs I know needing to be sedated.

That doesn't translate to the UK, we are not the US

What is happening in the USA is increasingly happening here.

Rescue and dog charities refusing to put down ANY dog.
Lengthy court cases to save dangerous dogs
Rescue centres where workers are repeatedly attacked by dangerous dogs. Infact dogs have killed these workers.
Deceitful advertising on rescue dogs, regarding the breed and the history of the dog
Lobby groups and activists calling for the law to be changed so that ANY dog will never be banned
The sedation of untrainable dangerous dogs with drugs, again in some cases to rehome them
The ridiculous idea that dogs are dangerous because of the owner.
The obsessive idea that a dog can never ever be in the wrong and should never be put to sleep. That a breed type can never be inherently dangeorus.

There is a memorial in the USA for the many victims of dog attacks, many of those victims were killed by pit bull types, many of them children. What do the pit bull nutters in the area do? They picket the memorial with...can you guess..their own pit bulls. Imagine being the family of a pit bull victim and not being able to aproach the memorial because it is surrounded by pit bulls and their owners protesting against you.

I’m a lifelong owner of Rottie’s and my parents had 2 during the years when Rottie’s were called devil dogs, the only problem with strong large breeds is the owners who have no idea how to train them. I would be happy to pay for licences for mine.

You are mistaken, @Flaxmeadow . Either unwittingly or deliberately.
I was going to go through all your points above individually, but I don’t think you will pay any attention so I won’t bother.

WiddlinDiddlin your posts are brilliant, thank you

It's pointless even engaging.

And I agree @WiddlinDiddlins posts are fabulous.

I just don’t understand what point you are trying to make. Your logic sounds backwards to me - as if the answer is to get kids to put ‘pester power’ on their parents to not buy a certain dog.
Why does everyone else have to become trained to deal with potential incidences so that others can have a dangerous dog?
In the negative dog incidents I’ve personally been involved in, I have not approached the dog - they have run up to me - so I am taking zero responsibility for their owners’ crappy handling.
No one should be getting a powerful, potentially dangerous dog (ideally not at all, but) unless they have had thorough training and can prove through tests that they have good control of their dog, and that it responds to their commands. And even then, I don’t think those kinds of breeds should be going off lead in public, nor in households with young children.
The US isn’t necessarily relevant except that it’s a classic example, as with guns etc, of when everyone has the freedom to have whatever breed they like with minimal regulation.
And please don’t act like pitbulls aren’t dangerous dogs! They are not that common - I believe they don’t even make the top 50 of breeds over there. Yet make up majority of fatalities.

Because a lot of them are in the wrong hands. How can you not see that?

@AllThingsServeTheBeam And why are they in the wrong hands? Because they are powerful, dangerous dogs - that’s exactly why ‘the wrong hands’ want them!
It is sounding increasingly like some of the posters on here are happy for some other poor suckers to be attacked and mauled to death so long as they have the freedom to have whatever dog they like.
Well luckily we don’t live in the US - we live in a nanny state where I’m sure it won’t be too long before there are tighter restrictions around dog ownership. I just hope we don’t have to hear about more child deaths (or any other attacks) before that happens.

The upcoming recession will mean there is a lot of wailing about affording dog food, let alone vet bills so hopefully the number of dogs will reduce.

Yeah that's exactly what I want. You've got me down.

Just ignore all my other posts.

I really can't decide if some people are being deliberately hard of thinking here?!

If you are a parent of a child who may go home with school friends, is it safer for your child if they are taught to ask 'do you have a dog at home, will your parent be at home when we get there' and if the answer is 'yes' and 'no'... say 'I won't come home with you today'.

Or is it safer not to bother teaching them that dogs unsupervised by adults may be a danger?

I don't believe that that simple action will save ALL children, for a start many cases involved children too young to do that, and children for whom adults were present - but it is hardly a difficult thing to teach ages 8+ is it?

But my main point is not that we teach children to avoid being killed by dogs - its that we teach children to hopefully avoid them/their relatives OWNING dangerous dogs.

Btw the last few cases of dog related death involved:

XL American Bulldog (not a pitbull)
Chow x GSD (not a pitbull)
Cane Corso (not a pitbull)
Rottweiler (not a pitbull)
Husky/malamute type (not a pitbull)
Bulldog (seized by police, put into kennels so they'd have made a statement if it was an illegal breed)

But yes lets keep shouting about pitbulls - that will obviously solve the issue.

I have no particularly strong feelings about pitbulls either way, I have worked with some lovely ones, I have met some distinctly unlovely ones who I believe were that way as a combination of poor genetics and horrific handling/training.

I can say the same about most breeds I have worked with though - but the most dangerous dog I ever worked with was a spaniel x golden retriever, who would bite repeatedly, without warning (those warnings having been beaten out of him early on), over a trigger no one could see (guarding bits of fluff or tissues or even a smelly patch of floor!). He was, at my recommendation and the agreement of the rescue, euthanised.

I do believe that focus on 'illegal breeds' is a misdirection, it isn't helping anyone fix the problem - people behaving irresponsibly in a variety of ways, with an animal capable of inflicting injury and in some cases, of killing.

The Mirror newspaper has again done an article with information on their campaign lobbying the government for stricter laws on dogs. Please support their campaign.
Info in these of these, sadly many, recent articles
Link to Mirror Newspaper all about dangerous dogs
www.mirror.co.uk/all-about/dangerous-dogs

It is sounding increasingly like some of the posters on here are happy for some other poor suckers to be attacked and mauled to death so long as they have the freedom to have whatever dog they like.

Shame on you. You started a thread about the tragic death of a child and now you’re slinging shit like that around? Shame. On. You.

No one is going to ‘nanny state’ dogs away for you, so 🤷‍♀️.
Stricter legislation on who can breed dogs and for what purpose, higher prices, compulsory insurance and annual licenses that can fund meaningful hours for dog wardens. Those are my suggestions. If you want to carry on claiming you are bitten every time you leave the house then I can’t stop you. But neither do I have to believe you.