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.

I agree that a lot of parents don't teach their children to treat dogs with respect.

I had lakeland terriers, and they seemed to be very attractive to children (possibly because they were quite small and looked like toy dogs). I socialised them both with children from the day they came home from the breeder, so they were absolutely fine with them, but I've had small kids run across a campsite and try and pick them up when they were tethered, crawl under a pub table and poke them, grab their tails from behind and all sorts.

Every time something like that has happened, I've given the child involved an age-appropriate talking to and told them never, ever to touch a dog without asking the owner first. A fair few parents have then had a go at me for telling them off, to which my response was always "Better to be bollocked than bitten".

I would support something like this, too. Or at least a ban on certain cars (based on size, emissions, etc.).

On a lead and muzzled. Automatic put to sleep any dog not on a lead or muzzled in public.

this kind of ridiculous and cruel rule will never happen. Thank goodness.

Totally agree. Might also help with all the dog shit. Can't let kids play on the grass these days lest they get covered in the stuff.

It only costs £25/year for £1m liability insurance.
Not a major expense if you're already feeding and caring for a dog.

But taking out insurance is betting that things will go wrong Which doesn't address the problem.

The dog haters don’t seem to realise that these dogs are a far bigger risk to ordinary dog owners and their dogs. It doesn’t make for a relaxing walk, having to assess every dog we walk past….we have a neighbour who I know has been fined because his dog has bitten people but he acts as if I’m mad for wanting to keep away from him. The owners of unneutered, adolescent dogs seem to be the worst because they’ve go no idea that their dogs now have hormones, which are making them behave differently around my dogs.

I’m not going to be muzzling two elderly bichon frises who are always on leads. It would be cruel and I doubt a muzzle would stay on because their faces are quite flat. For the dog owners who are so people-pleasing and obedient to the detriment of your dog, you need to develop a backbone.

But the whole point would be a deterrent to get another dog.

If someone said that you had to pay £500 for a license then a lot of people would think twice about getting the dog.

The issue is the fact that people get dogs without being to provide decent care for it.

If it wasn’t so easy to get a dog then we’d have a lot less problems.

I can see why they are going to be banned, but it won’t make the slightest bit of difference. People who, for whatever reason, want this type of dog, will simply get a similar, but not banned, type of dog. Cane Corso maybe, or Pressa Canario and the problem will just shift to a different breed.
Until breeding is properly licensed and anyone who wants any type of dog has to prove that they can care for it accordingly, including controlling it in public places, dog attacks will continue.

People who work full time shouldn't have massive dogs anyway.

Good lord, what a crazy post.

Oh and the dog poo issue? That’s worse for us too because people think “Oh it’s fine, it’s at the side of the path”. Just where every other dog walks!!

(Making the assumption that you're talking about Third Party Liability insurance through membership of the Dog's Trust?) It is a wonder to me that the DT insurance doesn't seem to exclude banned breeds - bit of an omission on their part really. I wonder if they will change it, given the sheer number of dogs that are about to join the banned breeds list.

Mind you, I don't imagine a signficant proportion of owners of dogs of this type insure their dogs in any form really, so probably not huge numbers.

Well it isn’t. if you don’t have the space to accommodate a large breed in accordance with its needs or the time to attend to
its needs, then your shouldn’t have one. No ifs or buts

Why just massive dogs? What's size got to do with it?

Exactly this!

I’m against the ban, simply because it just won’t work.

We have to get to the route of the problem if we want to try and solve it and that means tighter restrictions on all dog ownership.

Well given that the 'XL Bully' was born out of the pit bull terrier, the ban hasn't worked, has it?

Turkey has quite a big problem with feral packs of dogs. They banned pitbulls and lots of owners abandoned them.

Across the world it seems that dog attacks both fatal and non fatal are rising. This paper gives stats for Europe. Scroll a little way down to see the table.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0379073820304540

Exactly the kind of attitude that has led to part of this problem. Develop a backbone? Your dog doesn’t trump a human and that’s the end of the matter.

Until breeding is properly licensed and anyone who wants any type of dog has to prove that they can care for it accordingly, including controlling it in public places, dog attacks will continue.

Exactly this!

It has largely worked.

Well I was responding to a list of massive dogs, but yes, same goes for any dog tbh

Surely that's obvious? Large dogs are capable of killing people, and especially children. A small dog attacking, whilst it can be equally aggressive, is much less likley to end in a death. Check the stats on people killed by dogs.

Oh, has wee man Sunak been making impossible promises again?

The DDA is failing because it's BSL. It's like trying to tackle antisocial drinking and alcohol-related domestic violence by banning Stella, Special Brew and White Lightning. The problem just moves to Carlsberg and Heineken and the whole merry dance starts again.

And at least one of the dogs involved in recent attacks was a mongrel (aka cross for the '-doodle' owners) rather than a 'breed', so that's an immediate failure in terms of breed legislation.

I love dogs. Had them as a child - don’t have one as an adult as our lifestyle doesn’t suit a dog.

But I strongly support the XL Bullies being banned. It’s not enough though. We need to bring back dog licences, we need mandatory training for owners, and a massive crack down on unlicensed breeders, better regulation for licensed breeders, certain breeds should be muzzled and neutered and people should be sanctioned heavily for breaking rules.

I was attacked by a dog a while ago (it didn’t bite me just tried to and had me up against a wall but a passing man rescued me). It was only a rough collie but it was absolutely terrifying. I can’t imagine what a bully attack would be like. I did not have the time or wit to rummage for a bonkers dog knife, load up my completely insane dog gun or shove my finger up its arse I can tell you

I don't normally agree with a lot of Spains animal treatment but if this article is correct and all the measures are in place, it looks like a good idea.
Not just because of the banned breads but the weight = muzzle law.
And yes I know some idiot will bread a new type of aggressive dog that comes under the weight restriction but for now it's as good as we can hope for