Another dog attack, man killed, can this just go on?

[IthinkIamAnAlien]

Just on the news - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-stoke-staffordshire-66817795

Week after week, there is something wrong with dogs (and the owners) today, I grew up with them and this never, ever happened. Maybe because dogs were treated as dogs and not trophy animals. Awful for everyone.

Adjusting legislation is pointless without effective enforcement being in place.

More and more people are unable to control their dogs and I am now regularly jumped up on by dogs whilst out walking in our local park when that never used to be the case.

My view is that all dogs should be muzzled in public and stiff fines in place if you don't do it and that this is strictly enforced. This would ensure that the potential of any dog to cause harm in public is significantly reduced.

Possibly with an exception at certain venues that can be properly secured so that dog owners and unmuzzled dogs are segregated from the general public.

I do think it’s a valid question as to whether or not a foreign body inside an animal could cause sufficiently irritation to affect behaviour. However, as it’s only certain breeds of dog it’s probably not the cause.

I'm sure I remember hearing how to fight back against a dog, by grabbing their front legs and pulling them as far apart as you can. No idea where this came from, but I have the sort of brain that stores these sort of facts if they seem to be from a reliable source, usually an expert on the telly.

Can anyone confirm this method?

I get that you're not being serious but I'd support this where the person was able bodied. You can add in the deaths linked to car fumes there too. It would also help tackle the obesity problem.

Dog owner here.

I support muzzling in public for all dogs. There are simply too many idiot owners that are totally inconsiderate of others.

You probably don't read their press.

Maybe the flip side of this is to ensure all small children are kept on reins so they don’t run up to dogs on leads. Many Parents are appalling at teaching their kids to be respectful of animals and how to recognise animal behaviours.

THIS!

I'm also sick of having to avoid dogs in restaurants, shops and shopping centres.
Last week I watched a dog - on a lead - wee on the floor in a shopping centre and the owner just kept walking.
On Saturday I was in a clothing store when a dog pooed on the floor.
It's unhygienic and a nuisance.

I also agree with @Needanewnamebeingwatched that dogs should be muzzled in public.

Because it's not removed dangerous dogs. It's meant that the dangerous ones now are of different breeds to those specified in the Act

Unless we ban all dogs (fine by me) we cannot ban dangerous dogs. There will always be some dogs that are dangerous due to crap owners. However what we can do is ban the breeds that are the more naturally aggressive an often cause the more serious injury when they attack.

I'm also sick of having to avoid dogs in restaurants, shops and shopping centres. Last week I watched a dog - on a lead - wee on the floor in a shopping centre and the owner just kept walking. On Saturday I was in a clothing store when a dog pooed on the floor. It's unhygienic and a nuisance

I also agree.

Size and breed obviously does make a difference. I came across someone with an XL bully on the school run recently and because the path was narrow my children had to walk right past it. The thing was built like an absolute tank. The assurances of ‘oh it’s friendly’ didn’t make me feel any better having to go near it. Seeing it next up my 4yo makes you realise how big and powerful they are. Small children wouldn’t have a chance if one went for them. Yes a lab could also bite but you’d have more chance of restraining it and you’d be likely dealing with a nasty bite rather than a fatality.

you will be handed a tag with the council crest on it (that your dog has to wear 24/7) and your dogs registration number, photo of mutt is kept on file and on the licence given to you, cost to you the owner is £500 per dog

£500 is ridiculous! I’m on benefits with two children with additional needs who adore our little dog (poodle cross). I’d have to take out credit to pay that. Why should we be penalised because of aggressive halfwits and their out of control status dogs?

The solution is simple:

1. Ban XL Bullies and all variants of them
2. Have a list of Controlled Breeds for which you need to pay for a special permit and prove a need, eg rotweillers, dobermans, etc
3. Use similar legislation to limit/control other breeds such as Staffies. I love them but they’ve been taken over by knuckle-dragging thugs who shouldn’t be allowed to own a goldfish.
4. Make everyone have a dog licence which you have to have stamped with the approval of your specific dog each year.

The Bullies terrify me. I was in our local park and a young one ran up to me, my DC and our dog. It had been taken out alone by a young child of around 6 yrs old with a completely inadequate lead that had snapped. She couldn’t catch it. I called for help to a bulky looking man who eventually got it and managed to carry it to the house of a relative, but I could see he was scared too.

Another time while walking my dog near the vets, I met a lady with a dog who I assumed had had a major operation or been hit by a car. It was a tiny spaniel with huge amounts of its fur shaved off, covered with large red/black gashes and missing bits of flesh. She told me it had been attacked completely unprovoked by an XXL Bully and had almost been killed. It was very upsetting.

In our town, there are a number of huge Bullies, all walked by scrawny young men who can hardly hold them back. I cross the road if I see one. They’re an accident waiting to happen and they should be banned. They’re not suitable pets.

You are completely insane.

I have two dogs, I was walking them recently in a local field, they were off the lead. A man was heading in our direction with an XL bully straining at the lead. Mine looked interested but I called them back and put them on a lead just in case.

The man in question shouted over 'he's friendly! I just have him on a lead because I'm fed up with people shouting at me when he runs up to them'. I carried on walking, but he came right up to me and continued his monologue about the dogs having a bad name, his dog wouldn't hurt a fly, he wishes he could let it off....all the while this dog was glaring up at me, whilst being restrained by a metal spike lead (spikes on the inside of the choke chain that dug into his flesh when he pulled).

It was very unnerving and I am a huge dog lover

I agree, parents should control their children in public.

But just to make it clear I am an adult and I don't go running up to dogs. However I am regularly jumped up on by unmuzzled dogs off the lead (I'm sure most are being friendly but it is not acceptable behaviour) whilst I am just minding my own business walking in my local park. Many owners seem totally unconcerned by this, take little to no action and those that I have confronted about it seem to think it is my problem that I am unhappy about having dogs jump up on me.

Your dog may never have been a public nuisance (in your opinion) but it has that potential.

Plus I can't tell by looking at you and your dog whether or not you are a responsible owner.

I don't dislike dogs, though I hate it when they jump up on me. They've become so ubiquitous though. It's too much.

And I ask again - so what? Why does the fact that some irresponsible people have dogs, that there are too many dogs in some areas, that some breeds of dog are clearly dangerous, and that you (and others) don't like dogs have any effect on me and how I live my life with my dog?

I walk my dogs in woodland where 9 people out of 10 I come across are walking dogs. If I see runners, walkers without dogs, dog walkers I don't know or people on bikes, I put my dog on her lead. Everyone makes space for one another and it is all fine.

Anyway, I don't know why I'm getting wound up by yet another anti-dog thread. There is not a cat in hells chance of any UK government passing a law that mandates muzzles and leads for all dogs in public.

😂

Right but giving everyone a gun would be so much safer than dangerous dogs??!

Americans have shown how well that works....

😳

I've been getting more and more enraged by the inaction over ear cropping. It should not only be illegal to crop a dog's ears, but also to be in possession of a dog with cropped ears. There could be an exemption for dogs which were already cropped and rehomed from rescue.

If no-one wanted dogs with cropped ears, people would stop cropping.

Imo it's an awful thing to do to an animal, and I can see no reason for it.

@ComtesseDeSpair Generalisation much? Been a while since I've seen such a good bit of social housing stigma!
If that asinine rule came in to play, Then the council would have to remove my extremely large 35kg spaniel 😁

My friend is practically blind because of cats pooing in his mums garden when pregnant,

Are you seriously suggesting a toy poodle is as dangerous as an XL Bully? Would you seriously not be able to assess the difference between a small dog plodding through the park and a large bull breed pounding towards you with its lip curled back?

This is quite interesting re other countries. https://blog.dogsbite.org/2021/05/european-study-of-dog-bite-fatalities-1995-2016.html

It is illegal to crop ears, and to dock tails on all but some working breeds (with proof that there is an expectation of the working).

Doesn't stop scumbags doing it though.

Following on from this link, exemption certificates are in theory available. I say in theory because getting the required third party insurance seems close to impossible. The RSPCA support these pitty type dogs through campaigns, but won't insure them. Massive hypocrisy.
These are valuable dogs, legal in some countries; plus Canada dog rescue has taken some from the US.
There also is the issue of Pitbull type dogs not being a defined breed. There was a Panorama program a while ago about dog owners with dogs on the dangerous dogs list. The Forbes article mentions dogs who look like banned breeds. I agree with whoever posted up thread that there will be more interbreeding for aggression, but at this ban will slow things down.
There is no perfect solution.
I like Spain's idea re all dogs over a certain weight being muzzled in public. All dogs can bite, but larger breeds do more damage.
The bottom line is that the rights of humans, and their children, trump the rights of dogs.
The aggressive dogs and indirectly their owners, often responsible for these attacks are not bred or brought up to be pets. They are a massive danger to genuine pets and people.
So I'm glad a ban is being arranged.

You do realise many, many people work full time and live in social housing.
What you're proposing would mean perfectly responsible people would not be allowed to have great danes, mountain dogs, mastiffs, rotties, deerhounds, etc.

Plenty of public places local to me already have notices up saying dogs must be on a lead and owners can be fined.

It's really not a stretch to see that being extended.