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?

There are some histrionics here, making absurd false equivalencies, which don't help anyone and rather step all over the reasoned points many of us have been making. But I'll make them again... owning a bully breed is not illegal, unless its found to be a pitbull. Reporting it will, at best, have no effect and at worse, result in a non-aggressive dog being destroyed. Literally nothing in the OP's post suggested the dog was dangerous.

On a lighter note, @PixieLaLa's post about the big burly bloke holding a melon made me legit spit my tea out over my phone.

@Mummyof287 Yes exactly, can't believe so many people are piling on the Op saying they would be complety relaxed in this situation.

All the people saying the dog would have attacked if it wanted to are naive and incredibly unaware of these dogs.
Have a look at the CCTV of the dog who attacked the poor little boy in Wales, it is jumping up and wagging its tail and seconds later lunging and snapping at random people in street. These dogs turn in milliseconds, a movement or squeal or Childs high pitched cry will trigger them to attack and get them excited. These dogs can be very friendly and good with children that's why so many families end up with them, they can also attack and kill, it is not one or the other, the two behaviour traits exist together.

For the PP who said bikes are not an external force (despite the fact the 5 year old was actually on a bike) - here are some figures regarding an external force other than dogs:

Pedestrian deaths as a result of a road incident increased by 15 to 376 in 2022.

67000000+ was the population in 2022
376 pedestrian deaths
10 dog attacks

Perspective please. And not a daily mail perspective.

Given the OPs 5 year old was on a bike - There is a higher probability of the external force resulting in the death of her child being something other than a dog.

I will say - I do agree far too many irresponsible people own dogs and have no idea to manage them - even the friendly dogs.

I sympathise with you op. My adult daughter was walking home and the guys walking upto her was clearly struggling to control his bully type dog !!! It was clearly intimidating that she was walking in the road to keep away. Should not be allowed

OP, hope you are doing okay after that, and not too bothered by the harsh replies here. Seemingly on MN you would have had to had your throat ripped out by this dog before any concern could be justified. There are bizarre false equivalencies in this thread, and I just do not believe for a second that PPs would see their 5 year old in a similar situation and feel totally zen about it, like hey it’s the same as a poodle following your child - that is complete bullshit.

Being wary of these breeds isn’t a sign that you are some hysterical suburbanite grasping your pearls at the scary big dog that doesn’t look like a golden retriever, it’s instead a sign that you are living in the real world.

You are exactly right. It's the latent potential these dogs have that is the problem as well as their absurdly high prey drive & also something referred to as "gameness" which is a selectively bred in trait which means once they have attacked nothing will deter them...they don't have the self preservation of a normal dog which is why tasers & any amount of battering them will not save their victim. The only think that can be done is to choke them out. Many people carry a spare slip lead for this reason. At the very least it should be legislated that these dogs (all dogs) should have a collar because if one is loose without a collar you are definitely screwed.

Yes waste police or ss time by making unsubstantiated complaints made by drama queens . Do you live your life with so much drama ? It must be really tiring .

Thank you. Clearly a very divisive topic!

As has been pointed out I don't know much about dogs but a bit of googling tells me that the dog we encountered was a merle pit bull. Definitely a red merle coat.

Was it like this image OP?

IF it was a pitbull legally it would need to be muzzled in public, regardless of temperament. Which would explain the owners panic that it was out.

more likely it was an XL bully.

@Boomboom22

My friend almost got hit by a car (missed by centimetres, literally) rescuing a child who escaped out of their front door and wandered into the road right as a car was coming. He could have been seriously injured or killed. Small children getting out of houses and wandering off can lead to dangerous situations. The car tried to swerve as well, it could have hit other pedestrians or another car, causing injuries/death.

Accidents happen, whether it is a child or dog getting out of the house. If it's a friendly dog, it's not a heinous crime. Obviously it would different if it is a dog that goes for the jugular of anything that moves, but those kind of dogs are extremely rare, no matter what the panickers on mumsnet say.

10 people killed by dogs in a year. Would you like me to tell you how many people are killed or injured by other humans in a year?

You have more chance defending your child or yourself against an attack by a human. Also there is NO correlation between a human and a dog. This is an idiotic thing to write. Do you also think people should be allowed lions as pets because they kill less people than humans? There is zero reason for these dogs to be kept as pets without legislation such as muzzling...which applies to EVERY dog over 20kg in Spain for example.

@CBAanymoreTBH yes very much like that picture but with actual ears and no white bits.

Good job pitbulls don't come in merle then.

Pit Bulls cannot be merle - it is one of two colours (along with Albinism) that's disallowed
https://www.ukcdogs.com/american-pit-bull-terrier#

@CBAanymoreTBH I'm not sure why it won't let me quote you but the idea every dog over 20kg must be muzzled in Spain is factually incorrect - no need to muzzle your fat Labrador, it's basically just big bull breeds

Even if your dog is not officially one of the listed breeds but has the following characteristics, you might require a licence:
Muscular, agile, powerful
Short hair
Strong character
Thoracic perimeter between 60 and 80cm and height at the withers between 40 and 70
Weighing above 20kg
Large head with muscular and pronounced cheeks
Strong, large jaws
Wide neck, short and muscled
Large chest, short, muscular back
Muscular hindquarters

https://blog.abacoadvisers.com/is-your-dog-on-spains-dangerous-dogs-list/

They can't be registered...it doesn't mean they don't exist! There are a load of Merle bully's about. Bossy bullies lines for example..a load of which are imported to the U.K.

Yep but we all know pitbulls aren't really muzzled in public. Even rescue centres call them different breeds

Yes sorry! Missed that important point. Fat labs..as you were

@CBAanymoreTBH I presume you mean this breeder? https://www.bossykennels.com/

They're American Bullies - which are a new breed that is related but separate to American Pit Bulls. They're not recognised as a breed by the Kennel Club or its American counterpart, and aren't banned in the UK.

American Bullies come in 4 sizes including the XL Bully and can be any colour. They are basically semi standardised mutts - as much a breed as cockapoos are.

It's entirely possible that OP saw a red Merle XL Bully, but it's a very important distinction when pit bulls are banned and XL Bullies aren't.

Should be banned though...it's a farcical law that bans pit bulls but allows XL which are pretty much the same temperament (bred for gameness, tenacity, prey drive, bite force & muscularity)

Bull breeds should be banned.

FFS. Your young child was out alone and chasing a strange dog on their bike.
Yet the dog is the issue here.
Get a grip and keep a closer eye on your child OP.

@volcan

I would have been absolutely terrified as well m

Obviously the dog had no recall and was more interested in your son than its owner.
On an estate depending on which one i wouldn't panic about a child safely having a bike around. Isn't that the beauty of many estates.

That children can safely bike around!

I would have been v concerned as well op and I hope you have recovered.