Dangerous dog near miss?

[volcan]

I feel l Iike we had a near miss today and I feel awful about it. DC (5) was cycling around a housing estate where I was visiting a friend when he disappeared off round a corner with a group of kids. It was away from the main road so I wasn't overly concerned but when they didn't appear around the next corner I walked over to investigate. What I found was a massive bully type dog walking alongside my DC whilst it's owner was frantically trying to get it back into the house. The owner being a petite young girl holding a tiny baby. The dog was totally ignoring her and carried on tracking my DS. I told my DS to slow down so the dog would stop 'chasing' him and we got back to the car safely. My heart was in my mouth and still is. When I asked my DS what had happened he said the dog has escaped and he was trying to catch it to help the woman. I know this has been done a million times but my AIBU is that people should be prosecuted for allowing these animals out in public uncontrolled?

I don't understand why people are fine with the dog being loose! Jesus Christ do dog owners really have so little control over their dog it tries to run away or leave the house? I would definitely feel alarm at any dog unsupervised and if the owner is not strong enough to restrain the dog they shouldn't have it at all. Def do report to the police op as it certainly meets the updated law on being out of control.

Surely good evidence noone should be keeping any dog as they pet. Working dogs only I'd say.

Thank you for posting that link. I found the article very disconcerting.

There has definitely been an alarming increase in dog-related incidents in the last few years. Barely a day goes by when I don't see at least one post on our local Facebook group about yet another dog being out of control and attacking another dog, or intimidating a person out walking.

"these breeds are known to be dangerous"
Can you quote the source of that information please OP, i.e. the study which states it as fact. Or is it just your opinion based on media hype?

"some are even banned"
In this country ONE bull breed is banned, the American Pitbull Terrier. Staffordshire Bull Terriers, English Bull Terriers, English Bulldogs, American Bulldogs, XL Bullies, Alapaha Blue Blood Bulldogs et al are NOT banned breeds. FYI there are only 4 banned breeds in Britain, the other 3 being Japanese Tosa, Dogo Argentino and Fila Brasileiro.

You have very much over reacted to what was, essentially, a non event. Please EDUCATE yourself, supervise your child better in future and teach him how to behave around dogs, i.e. DO NOT CHASE THEM, and for goodness sake stop spouting your (misguided) opinions as facts!

But it is so offensive to pretend these breeds are not dangerous and then to say children should be constantly modifying their behaviour to stay safe, how about you keep the danger safe instead of pretending its a safe pet? If it was there wouldn't be this constant call to educate kids how to behave like that is even possible for very young children or people with severe special needs. It's such an awful thing to say i think.

If you don't know what you're child is going to meet then he shouldn't be out of your sight
My dog is a super friendly dog but if the dog got out of the front door accidentally then i would be frantic too trying to get him back for his own safety, just like this owner.
Fault on both sides here

Of course children have to modify their behaviour to stay safe. Hence teaching them to not talk to or go with strangers, not to walk out in the road, to be aware of reversing cars, to not pet dogs they don't know... If a child is unable to follow basic rules to keep them safe then they shouldn't be unaccompanied.

Obviously in an ideal world dogs wouldn't escape and would be well trained, paedophiles wouldn't exist, everyone would be an amazing driver... But that world doesn't exist.

I totally agree...media hype?? Yes there are multiple deaths

Are you out of your mind? What absolute waste of police time not to mention a downright lie. What a ridiculous suggestion

Yes, lying, possibly leading to an upsetting separation and, in the worst case scenario, the death of a dog which has (according to the OP) showed no aggressive tendencies. Horrible suggestion.

Is that the level? Tasers only?! It can still bite and cause serious injury to an unsupervised child.

I agree with this. Nothing can ever be perfect because there has to be room for human error. Well said @AAp24

@Boomboom22 Surely good evidence noone should be keeping any dog as they pet. Working dogs only I'd say

Well it's a good job you don't have a say because you need educating and to stop being judgemental on things you don't know.

I'm not saying there isn't a problem but there are ways to address this other than a blanket ban on perfectly good pets.

Can I add that last year 85 people died on bikes and only 10 died from dog attacks. Road deaths 1695.

"My 5-year old should be locked up and the bike binned whilst the dangerous dog is allowed to roam around unsupervised."

There's zero evidence the dog was dangerous. You're being overly dramatic about this.

You neglected to keep a close eye on your child, and the dog owner neglected to take enough care to not let her (most likely very friendly) dog out of the house.

Apart from those two random things, NOTHING HAPPENED. The dog wasn't growling or threatening to bite, and the owner was probably anxious because of this exact attitude from people like you who think all dogs that look a certain way are eyeing their child up as a potential thing to attack. They aren't!

Stop making a huge thing out of it and convincing yourself that your child was in mortal danger. That dog lives with a BABY and hasn't attacked it, so why on earth are you so determined that it was about to attack your child?! There is zero sense or logic here.

This is why we have a dog problem.

People too quick to blame the parents of the child for letting them have a little ride on his bike, and even quicker to jump to the dog’s defence because it’s a dog.

If that dog had attacked OP’s Ds, all you would hear are cries of, “Where were the parents?” “Should have been watching your kid.” and “Please don’t put that poor dog down. Boo fucking hoo.”

When a large proportion of you lot on here were kids, you played outside close by to your homes. So don’t go pulling the OP down for something your parents let you do in a reasonably safe area. We’re not talking busy main roads here. And even then, people still let their kids venture out to god knows where. OP’s ds went round one corner and then went to see him ffs.

Luckily when I was a kid playing out, I never got attacked by a dog. But my brother did when he was a kid and both of us were terrified afterwards. He got bit on the leg really badly. Not his fault, not my parents’ fault. It was the dog’s and its owner’s fault. I was only young so I don’t know what happened next to the dog, but as an adult and a mum now, I hope it was put to sleep swiftly.

The bikes are not an external force

You don't know anything about dogs at all if you think that being "safe" around their own family members correlates to any behaviours towards those outside of it.

@Boomboom22

The dog escaped out of the house. Accidents happen. Some children run away from their parents in supermarkets or escape out of the garden. Should social services remove these children from their homes because their parents are too irresponsible?

Children have to modify their behaviour around lots of things. It is hard for a small child to look both ways before crossing the road. Should we ban all cars accept emergency vehicles?

You clearly understand nothing about dogs.

After reading so so many posts insisting and commanding dog owners have their dogs on leads in public, I am very surprised at some of these responses.
Can’t believe you’re blaming OP! Such silly nonsense 😂

American data and as well as this it has escalated dramatically

Dog Bite Fatalities By Breed
Pitbulls have a bad reputation and are unfortunately responsible for the vast majority of fatalities associated with dog bites. From 2010 to June 2021, there were 430 fatal dog bites, with 185 of those coming from pit bulls, and another 41 that were pit bull mixes.
60% had pit bull in their bloodlines (either full-blooded or a mix)
7% had Rottweiler in their bloodline
4% had German shepherd in their bloodline

Pitbulls are BANNED in 12 countries. That's all apologists for this breed need to know.

I think you are crazy if you think a bully dig getting free is the same as a kid going out of sight or lost in a shop.
Children are humans by the way. No comparison ever with dangerous animals.

So much stupidity on this thread...cars serve a purpose for example. Pitbulls none.

Plus they’re fucking ugly too, so another great reason to ban them.