Can we muzzle all dogs in public yet (warning, graphic image of mauled hand)

[lfYouLikePinaCoIadas]

“Whilst out walking a route that Tom has been on numerous times, he was the victim of an unprovoked attack by an unleashed dog. The dog attacked Tom multiple times as he tried to protect his puppy from being mauled by the dog and was left with horrific injuries. What is more horrifying, however, is that the owners of the dog didn’t try to help and fled the scene leaving Tom bleeding from his artery on his wrist.

Wife Katy recalls the moment that she opened the door to find her husband standing there after the attack: ‘‘Tom managed to get home where I had to tourniquet, to try to stem the bleeding, while waiting for 999. He lost several litres of blood in the short time until the ambulance arrived. Our two children were at home at the time and were woken up by the commotion. My 7-year-old was terrified and thought that her dad was doing to die from the blood loss.’’

https://www.familiesonline.co.uk/news/dad-of-2-viciously-mauled-by-dog-trying-to-protect-family-puppy

Imagine it had been a child’s face, or neck, or little body, instead of an adult’s hand.

Absolutely sick of nothing being done to protect the public.

YABU - dogs are man’s best friend
YANBU - something needs to be done

We have been told no dogs allowed at work now because somebody brought their chihuahua in and it bit a colleague. Caused significant enough damage to require surgery. I wouldn't say small dogs are harmless.

Dogs should be on a lead at all times except in a secure house or garden, or a properly fenced in dog field.

I really really wish all dogs had to be on a lead in public. I have had too many bad experiences with dogs.

You are being unreasonable. The overwhelming majority of pet dogs never bite or attack anyone; muzzling or never letting them run off the leash is unnatural - it could actually create behaviour issues- not to mention its being inhumane. What SHOULD be happening is licensing for anyone who wants to own a dog, and swift action against owners whose animals cause a nuisance, or whose treatment of their animals is cruel or irresponsible.

100% leads need to be compulsory it’s ridiculous the amount of dogs off lead now as none seem to be trained and are jumping up at people etc

This makes me laugh. My boy is so friendly he rolls over and shows his tummy to everyone he meets. So no, I wouldn’t muzzle him so not every dog is getting a muzzle!

Is says in the article that hun protecting the puppy 'saved it's life' but doesn't mention any injuries

Would you mind giving details of the surgery?

There has been a dog attack this evening in Birmingham,news coming through about it now locally.More than one dog involved.

Ah, the Daily Dog Kneejerk.

The vast majority of dogs won’t do any harm. Most of the dog incidents happen when a family pet attacks. How are you going to prevent those?

There were dogs running around a street in Birmingham today, the school had to keep all children in instead of sending them home. More people bitten.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-65315850

Absolutely not. The majority of dogs do not attack. The small minority who do have rubbish irresponsible owners who probably wouldn’t even muzzle if it was legal. Like a pp said, dogs need off lead time to explore, smell and run. Dogs like my lab who are perfectly safe to do so in fields and woods. If a dog is a risk then of course it should be muzzled

I absolutely won't muzzle my dog. It ain't happening.

Wow what a scary text that would be to receive!

Yes. I definitely think all dogs should be on leads and we should have more specific dog parks where they can be off lead. It’s just getting out of control now sadly. Too many dogs and worse, too many crap owners.

There's no reason to muzzle a non reactive, well trained and controlled dog. I think then you'd have a problem where responsible owners would muzzle and their dogs would be defenceless if attacked by non muzzled dogs. I think the answer comes with the licencing. I think you should have to attend training classes and demonstrate understanding of the breed etc as part of obtaining your licence. We also need dog wardens to be more active and visible in communities and given more power to effect actual change. Ethical breeding is also part of this, there should be more onus on breeders to ensure dogs are going to responsible homes and the over breeding of bully breeds especially needs to stop since they're so over represented in rescues.

Out of interest what tiny dogs do you have?

Dog parks would be amazing . It’s horrendous in our local parks especially in summer - toddlers can’t freely run about as there are so many dogs and also when it’s really hot the sun just heats up the dog shit and the whole park just smells foul

No to muzzles but yes to leads, and licensing.

No I don’t think all dogs should be muzzled & I wouldn’t put a muzzle on my dog.

leads should be compulsory imo. I always have mine on a lead. He is 11 years old & I trust him implicitly & he has an unblemished record. Never even grumbled.

dogs that have previously shown aggression should be muzzled.

There needs to be more regulation too around rescue dogs from abroad. I know of 3 families now who weren’t approved for a rescue dog in the U.K. so they adopted dogs from Romania , no checks and a dog just dropped off to their house a week or two later

The only dogs I've been bitten by needing stitches were little yorkies

Definitely. And can also we give all men a curfew to keep women safer at night?
And how about all teens need to go everywhere with a parent -to keep an eye on the ones who behave in an antisocial manner?

The article promotes a Go Fund Me page! Seriously OP? Fair enough bring awareness to injuries caused by dogs but to promote a Go Fund Me page is in poor taste.

Muzzles. Leads. Licenses.