XL Bully attack | 8 year old boy seriously injured

[ThisOldThang]

https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/schoolboy-8-seriously-injured-after-28610020

"A schoolboy is in a serious condition in hospital after being mauled by what is believed to be an XL bully.

Merseyside Police were called to Wadham Road in Bootle just after 5.20pm on Saturday following reports a dog had bitten an eight-year-old boy to the head in the communal area of flats nearby.

The boy was rushed to hospital with serious head injuries and required emergency surgery. He remains in hospital in a serious but stable condition."

IMHO the ban doesn't go anywhere near far enough and all XL Bullys need to be put to sleep.

AIBU?

Well I don’t think there is much disagreement on that @WhatsTheUseOfWorrying. The majority here whether dog lover or dog hater have agreed that no-one needs to own an XL Bully. I’m a dog lover but would support a move to euthanise them at this point.

XenoBitch · Today 01:01

I get companionship from my dog. She is my world, and has been a protective factor in me still existing in this one. I would have topped myself several times over if it was not for my dog.

My daughter and our dog absolutely love each other. She was really helpful during lockdown, when my daughter was off school and stuck in the house. She used to get in her basket and cuddle (not officially approved) and generally play with her. On walks, I stayed out with them as long as possible, usually driven back by the need for a drink.

The dog has no choice but to love you unconditionally, it is completely dependent upon you and furthermore lacks the ability to put conditions on its behavior towards you.
I'm not saying it isn't enjoyable to be 'loved' by a dog, I'm just saying don't flatter yourself. It doesn't love you because you're special, it loves you because it is dumb.

Same as kids then?

🙄

Not in the slightest. Kids in general develop and become less dependent on their parents until the point that they can be autonomous adults with more sophisticated relationships with others that are not solely based on complete dependency. Dogs do not do that.

Remember kids are not dogs, and dogs are not kids. It is really rather a simple concept that far too many people have trouble grasping.

I'm certainly not against all dogs - one of the reasons XL Bullies horrify me so much is the frequency of fatal attacks on other dogs.

@SomeCatFromJapan like this one? Poor little thing ran to get away straight under a car.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13086977/Moment-pensioners-Jack-Russell-killed-attack-street-Mastiff-dog.html

Apologies it’s a terrible story and I should have put a TW on it. I’m sorryif it upsets anyone.

Yes, exactly. So many sad cases like that, and of course most don't make the news if a person isn't also injured. I just can't imagine the pain and trauma of taking your beloved companion for its walk only for it to be killed in the most violent way possible right in front of you.

’Don’t flatter yourself. It doesn’t love you because you’re special’ is unnecessarily patronising and unkind.

I know damned well I’m not special. There is literally nothing special about me at all. But spending time with my dog makes me feel good and helps keep my mental health on an even keel. I expect you think that’s pathetic but so be it.

I’m sure you can understand why some people who are lonely or largely ‘invisible’ to the humans they share the world with might enjoy the feeling of being loved by their pet (even if it’s only an illusion).

Um excuse me, I am very special…..when I’m holding the bag of treats. If someone else is holding it, they’re also very special.

On a serious note, dogs can bond with humans and be very loving and attached but it is in a doggy way. We humans project our perspective onto them.

Very sorry, I dont mean that you or anyone else is not special, I mean that the dog has very simple needs, it loves you adoringly & unconditionally because it is totally dependent on you. It's level of cognitive functioning is orders of magnitude below that of a human.
I understand that dogs are valuable human companion animals, but I think humans would do well to recognize & mitigate the very strong impulse to anthropomorphize!

I agree!
You are very special to your dog, because the dog has very basic & limmited criteria by which it determines what is important to it.
The reason it doesn't judge you, or exploit you or undermine you etc (like humans do) isn't because it is morally superior to humans rather it is because the dog is too dumb to do so (ie it doesn't have the kind of brain that would allow such functions) .

Love is an abstract concept between humans. Dogs don't love you. Stop applying complex human emotions to dogs.

I agree with everything you have said here.

And your story of the family who kept the dog after it had attacked their child - and then re-homed the animal after a second attack is shocking.

If I had a dog which bit a family member I'd have it euthanised straight away. I wouldn't risk re-homing even to a child-free home, because who knows if they will have a young visitor? I'd feel totally responsible if anything further happened.

in many cases it really would only have been preventable if they didn’t have said dog.

I especially agree with this. Some breeds are not appropriate with children.

Most breeds (other than the subjects of this thread, and in my own experience, Akitas) give warning that they aren't happy. That's when the adults present should intervene and put the dog in another room - and if it persists re-home the dog before it gets a chance to air-snap, let alone bite.

Animals have very deep emotional lives.

And love is one of the most basic (though admittedly complex) emotions there is.

Love is an abstract concept between humans. Dogs don't love you. Stop applying complex human emotions to dogs.

Of course animals love. Their brains produce the same chemicals ours do, and you can see it observationally.
We're also just animals ultimately, apes with not a lot of body hair. Any notion of humans as somehow spiritually elevated is more of a religious than a scientific one.

Have you ever had a dog?

Yes. Grew up with dogs and my Mum bred them for a while. Still don't think dogs love in the way that humans do.

@Gloriosaford- you don’t need to apologise but thank you. I’ve been feeling quite low today- that’s probably why I wrote what I did. I’m not usually oversensitive.

I’m middle-aged, I’m perimenopausal, I’m anxious. My DH is a good man but we’re both just busy and working and doing all the chores. My teenagers are busy with their lives. I’ve realised that I do all this nurturing of other people and I don’t feel nurtured at all, so sometimes it feels like the dog is the only one who actually looks at me with what appears to be affection 😂 It might or might not be ‘love’ but it looks and feels like it!

Thinking on it more though, I think perhaps our pets do ‘love’ us.

Love is abstract isn’t it? I love my kids, my husband, my brother, my friends, my dog. But my feelings for all of those individuals are quite different to each other. I call it love in every case but it’s not the exact same feeling across the board. What it boils down to is chemical reactions in the brain isn’t it? I know that’s not romantic but it’s what I understand ‘love’ to be. If my dog is getting dopamine or whatever from being with me, then in my book he loves me. Not that it matters at all- he behaves as if he loves me and that’s a nice feeling.

I apologise for derailing but this thread has gone in some interesting directions.

I liked waitingfordoggo’s post - I think of love as a verb, as much as an emotion. I love my humans and dogs in so many different ways and they sometimes love me back - there are as many iterations of love as there are loving relationships.

I guess it depends on how you define love! I think dogs have strong positive bonds with humans, and it seems as if there is a good deal of loyalty and devotion there, my mother always used to refer to it as 'cupboard love'😁
( I hope you feel more uplifted soon🙏)