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.

Agree. Maybe they’re imagining an elderly person who can’t object

I wouldn’t take the high ground on much hoping for that

Not as sinister as wanting dogs put to sleep, stabbed, shot etc like I've read on here!

No, you’d happily pay £500 pa because you could afford it. Many people couldn’t. And yes, all dogs should be insured (mine is) but that’s not what I was talking about. I was talking about whoever thought an annual £500 dog licence was a good idea. It’s like paying a ‘car owner licence’ fee of thousands of pounds each year on top of insurance, road tax, etc because some people drive like idiots. The answer to that hypothetical problem would to be to bring the law to bear on the idiots not penalise normal law-abiding families on low incomes.

You keep making the comparison to cars, but it doesn't work. We were rammed into on the motorway. Not at fault. Car was written off and our premium doubled. Lots of things have unexpected costs. You either pay up or do without. Same for pets.
It's not discrimination.

Yes - restricted space would have an effect on behaviour if they're kept alone, or crated 24 hours a day or left in a garden or one room for hours on end.
However, a large dog being kept in a flat or even a shared house with an owner who spends time with it and takes it out will be just as happy as a dog living in a mansion. A person could have a massive house but the dog wouldn't want a whole wing to itself, it just wants to be wherever the owner is.

You have dogs living in tents with homeless people and as long as their needs are met they are fine.

Road tax IS pretty much a car owner licence fee

@VeterinaryCareAssistant crueller than a person often a child being eaten alive by a dog?? You’re ignorance of the bigger picture here is a little disturbing.

The proposals are very sensible.
Neutering
Muzzles in public
Leads in public
Insurance

It would be great if they extended the last 3 to all bull breeds / larger dogs.

All 4 for all dogs would be most sensible

The reason I made the comparison with cars is that that’s what the original person I replied to used! My point is that a £500 pa dog licence when a dog costs, say £1000 means paying out half the purchase price every year on top of everything else. Dog licence: fine, ridiculous cost of £500 not fine.

So, in the comparison the original poster who mentioned cars used, car owners who’ve sensibly budgeted for petrol, insurance, road tax, etc would be suddenly hit with an extra £10,000 pa on top of those costs (assuming the average car is £20,000 to buy, for ease of Maths).

TLDR: £500 is a ridiculous and unnecessary amount to suggest for a dog licence. The licence is to register dogs not to penalise dog owners who aren’t rich. I remember the dog licence as a very young child. It cost 37p. Today’s equivalent cost would be something like £15 pa.

Well if you neurted all dogs then all the breeds would die off. Even if that's what you wanted it isn't going to happen.

A beagle does not need to muzzled.

You need contingency when making a commitment to a living being, even more so than owning a car. A hypothetical £500 isn't a vast sum if your dog is a priority. The price of the licence would need to cover the cost of implementation and enforcement, which £15 most certainly wouldn't.

The standard should be for all dogs to be neutered and spayed with exceptions for a small number of regulated breeders.
And I disagree. All dogs should be muzzled and on leads in public. I don't want even a little dog biting me or my children. There's too many bad owners to allow the current levels of freedom.

Not as sinister as wanting dogs put to sleep, stabbed, shot etc like I've read on here!

That’s a couple of posters @VeterinaryCareAssistant that’s not the prevailing opinion. You’re opposing having dogs ON LEADS in public spaces for crying out loud, while insisting it’s fine to keep them in small flats because they don’t need space but they need to be allowed to run free because they do need space. Are you actually a veterinary care assistant, because even the RSPCA won’t let you adopt a large dog into a small flat. If you insist on having one in a flat then allowing them to run anywhere off lead because of their needs and they don’t have that space at home, then you’re just deeply selfish and care more about your rights to do what you want than anything else. And yes, you wishing an XL bully gives a “cuddle” to a scared resident of a care home is pretty sick, and puts you on a par with the two crazy posters who suggested stabbing/shooting dogs. Well done you.

Do you know anything about dogs? Beagles are one of the most docile animals. That's why they are used for testing.

I don't let my dogs off the lead but I don't think they should be muzzled.

@Oliotya how can my dogs bite your child if they are on a lead?

I can't work this out, these xxl American Bulldogs are nothing like the American Bulldogs of 10 or more years ago, that were gangly, very tall and drooly. Obviously something has been bred into these xxls. Also, the same is being done to french bulldogs, yellow eyes and a round ball of solid muscle, again nothing like the original breed, the first 2 I ever saw, I didn't believe they were French bulldogs. These all link to drug dealers laundering their money. I don't know the answer, but I don't think banning them is, another Frankenstein breed will take their place again and again.

These are the type of American Bulldogs I used to see

@Rubyupbeat Quite different breeds https://www.bullandterrierdogs.com/american-bully/american-bully-vs-american-bulldog/

Licences.
Muzzles for all dogs.
Not off the lead unless in a designated dog walking area (eg specific enclosed space).

Yes I am a VCA. I'm not opposing dogs being on lead in public spaces, just not all the time. You can walk a dog along streets on lead and then let them have a good run in green spaces or other spaces where its safe to do so like the woods or the beach.

The RSPCA generally don't like dogs in flats because they don't like communal gardens. They expect adopters to have 6ft fences which are not usually found around blocks of flats.

Also, they may have an issue with large breeds in flats (without lifts) as it doesn't do their joints much good to go continuously up and down stairs.

I don't have a dog, so I shouldn't need to know anything about dogs.
Your dogs temperament or comfort isn't my primary concern.

I've got children and I've taught them not to approach dogs on leads. So as long as dogs are on leads most of them don't need be muzzled.

Also. There won't be a law that all dogs have to muzzled. Not in our life time.

My children don't approach dogs either. Ever. Plenty of dogs approach them though. I've had dogs take snacks out of my babies hand in the pushchair.
Not my dog, not my problem. Muzzled and on leads imo. No ifs, no buts.