To think all dogs should be muzzled in public?

[ToughTalker]

By law.

Many things have been banned as dangerous where less people have been injured and killed.

Obviously we can’t ban dogs but it should be law to have them muzzled outside of your own property to reduce the injuries and deaths they cause.

@poshme - okay. So maybe that there are relatively few police. You take a calculated risk not to put your dog on a lead.

Now, why do people maybe want a lead law. Probably because they are going to areas like parks or other public places for recreation and dogs are in some cases out of control and it matters more. That is what you might try to deal with. So of course the fact that the lead law does not apply evenly or is even enforced more in one area is not fatal to the idea. Most law in reality works like that.

Sorry, criminal law

This👍 x

More women die at the hands of men than dogs. Shall we muzzle men too?

Stricter vetting/breeding/selling. Mandatory yearly checks for dog and training classes for owners.

Inhumane idea.

My 13 y/o chihuahua is not a threat - which is just as well, seeing as her tiny size inspires some strangers to pick her up with no warning, like a cuddly toy.🙄 She gets upset and refuses to walk if you put a jumper or coat on her to keep her warm, I imagine she would freak out at a muzzle.

😂🤣😂

This fucks me off so much, why should my well behaved dogs have to put up with this shit. Some people drive like wankers the rest of us are still able to get behind the wheel.

YABU - humans are a far bigger threat, statistically, than dogs are. Should we handcuff all people outside the hone as well?*

• obviously not, for the hard of understanding

The most dangerous dog I ever knew was a chihuahua. Seriously.

But I don't agree with muzzling every dog. My dogs are always under my control and small. Horrible idea, poor things.

My dog's favourite thing to do is play fetch. How would she do that with a muzzle on?

No

Velcro 😂👍🏻

I'm sick of hearing about war, stabbings, paedophilia, terrorism, kidnapping - The most dangerous thing on this planet to humans, is their own kind... but yet we are not all in straight jackets. Get a grip.

This.

Most deaths happen INSIDE people's properties. Also, the most recent case is not a typical dog attack case at all. She was a professional dog walker walking EIGHT dogs, which is insane.

It's a nasty suggestion made by someone who must be happy to be cruel to animals.

I am not sure that the case for not muzzling is better made if a professional dog walker is mauled to death in public.

To me, it suggests the exact opposite. She presumably had some professional experience, liked dogs, had them on leads but lost control for whatever reason (too many animals?) but again, she would have lived perhaps if the dogs had been muzzled.

She must have loved dogs too and had more experience than most. It did not protect her.

Or just make it a requirement to have a dog license & also to breed.

My dog has about four teeth now so not sure a muzzle do much other than piss him off🧛🏻‍♀️

Just no.
On average there are 3.5 deaths from dogs each year in the UK. Tragic and awful. But 1660 deaths by car accidents surely you want cars banned.
93% of murders are carried out by men. I think they should all be forced to remain indoors...
A life with no risks isn't possible.

I think the thing with very small cutesie breeds is that people respect them less as a dog.

I've seen videos online of people annoying their clearly wound up little dog, then laughing as it tries to snap at them. If it were a staffy they a) wouldn't do that and b) would get a nasty scar.

I admit I didn't take mine to training classes, but she's toilet trained, has good recall, knows "wait" to mean "stay" and "house" to go inside.

There are no regulations around dog training or dog walking. Any old tom, dick or harry can declare themselves a "professional" dog trainer with zero education or experience. You only have to look at some of the "trainers" recommended on here to see that. Almost everything they teach flies in the face of the actual science surrounding canine behaviour.

You can love dogs and still be clueless about their behaviour. The fact that pack theory is still touted as law by well-meaning, otherwise-loving dog owners (as seen on this very thread) proves that.

Also, I've seen many, many walkers walking large groups of dogs off lead, some of whom had very little control over their charges. I tend to avoid popular spots with "professional" dog walkers for this very reason.

There needs much more regulation around dogs in general, breeding, training, walking, and rescuing all need to be tightly regulated.

Good grief how to miss the point….

@Frequency - the reports are grim, it appears that some of these dogs were chasing people and horses before the attack and another woman is in hospital.

Probably professional dog walkers need limits, and muzzles for their charges. This woman would have lived then.

Yes to the first paragraph. It's rude for people to just pick up your dog anyway. If your dog bit someone who just picked them up, it would be blamed on 'the awful dog'.

Mine are on the larger side of small so get more respect, but people just don't get that they are still dogs with teeth and instincts if they feel threatened. It's never been a problem and I don't think it would be, but stay off my dog! They are not cuddly toys, even if they are cute.

I disagree with your take on my post.

Muzzling legislation like suggested would be disproportionate to both the issue of dog attacks and the benefit that would be achieved by implementing and trying to enforce it.

My point was, you will end up with a whole lot of dogs who are muzzled unnecessarily and the dogs who are owned by irresponsible owners still wont be muzzled while roaming or running off lead in places they shouldn't be.