Aibu to say more needs to be done to protect the public from dangerous dogs?!

[Beatricebotterx]

In the headlines today, a 14 year old child was in a park and has been attacked by a dog which has caused physical injury and no doubt a life time of fear and anxiety from other dogs.

This is becoming a regular occurance, it was only a few days ago there was another similar incident, and the police were looking for the dog and owner believing it to be dangerous after an attack.

Myself, I no longer feel safe taking my child out to the park with a genuine fear that if a big dog came hurting towards us, at 5ft nothing there is very little physically I could do to protect myself and my child. Even if the bigger/stronger dogs were kept on a lead it's not much use when the owner isn't strong enough to keep the dog at bay should it make a dart for it. I regularly see owners struggling to control their dogs on a lead and it is worrying.

Aibu to say more should be done to protect members of the public? I am not sure what the answer is though, I don't doubt that the majority of dogs are safe and have a good temperament, but it's that small percentage that really does pose as a threat.

What can be done though? Anyone else have the same fear?

There is a pit bull on a housing estate near us, the owner is a young lad early 20s, thankfully he does put a muzzle on the dog, but I have to walk past their house to get the train to work and I get so nervous! (Worried the dog will escape, or the muzzle comes off)

Well measures have been put in place for some dog breeds eg XL bullies. I’m not sure what else you think could be done?

YANBU. I expect it was off lead and out of control with the owner saying he's friendly, he deserves freedom blah blah then changed to oh he's never done that before
Not the dogs fault if so, selfish and careless owners.

The existing law re dangerous dogs and banned breeds is not enforced. Councils with stretched budgets have chosen not to invest in dog wardens - we have one person working office hours to cover a whole county. I would bring back dog licensing (which obviously only the law abiding owners would pay) and use the income to massively beef up dog warden and police DLO services.

I'm still more concerned about the aggressive predators on two legs. I've had far more reason to be concerned about them in my lifetime. Ditto for my kids, sadly.

I'm five foot nothing, as well. I'm not saying I haven't had my issues with aggressive dogs, but on the whole, I've found them a lot more manageable. Well, apart from the two rotties that caught and killed my cat in front of my eyes on my property.

But I felt so sorry for those dogs. Given how badly they were treated and controlled by their utter cunts of whitepower members, they were actually really very nice dogs, in general.

That might be the case, but attacks resulting in severe injuries / fatalities are still occurring regularly so current measures aren't working which is why I think more should be done, I'm just not quite sure what would realistically work.

I was trying to think what 2 leg predator you were referring to (in my mind I pictured a bird ha!) And then realised you meant people 🤣 also true.

Sorry to hear about your cat, that must have been awful to witness.

All domesticated wolves should be muzzled and on a lead in public. There's absolutely no excuse not to do this.

It's all about context. I don't disagree that we need to do more about dangerous dogs (bull breeds etc) but the reality is, as someone else said, you are far more likely to come to harm from a human than you are from a dog. You are also, statistically more likely to have a car crash on your way to the park than be seriously injured/killed by a dog. Denying your child play opportunities, getting outdoors, access to nature etc in parks on the very unlikely chance that you'll be mauled by a dog is a step too far. Please get some help with your anxiety so that you don't pass it on to your children.

If it's the same clip from yesterday your talking about the dog in question looked like a bull breed, the woman trying to get it off the boy, wasn't small, and you could see her leaning all her weight to get the dog off the kid, and clip the lead on. Then she legged it. Poor lad, his physical wounds will heal, but the psychological effects are likely to be life long, he was already fearful of dogs.

They could be enforced?

The law on out of control dogs could be enforced as well.

All dogs on leads in public places. There can be designated areas for off lead dogs. Quite frankly dog ownership in this country has gone crazy. Everybody seems to think it’s their right to have a dog with no responsibilities. Dogs should be trained, chipped and dna tested. Dog licences should be required. The money raised from them to help fund more wardens. Fine for leaving crap should be £1000 minimum. Insurance should be compulsory.

The current legislation needs to be enforced but it won't therefore something easier to enforce will have to come in - sadly this will affect decent dog owners of breeds that are not a problem. I'm talking something like all dogs requiring muzzling in public rather than figuring out which ones should and shouldn't.

I don't even think more restrictions on dog breeding will work because the shit bags that breed these monsters will do it even if it's banned. It'll only be decent dog breeders that are affected. I could see the end of lots of nice dog breeds as the breeders of those tend to be decent and law abiding anyway!

We've got single brain cell pondlifes to thank for this, they'll destroy dog ownership for everyone just because they all have tiny cocks and want something to wave around to look hard.

Nothing that induces eye rolling more in me than xl bully/pit bull/cane corso/similar owners. All arseholes.

Give over.

I love dogs, I have two, and I agree.

One has fantastic recall, she is allowed off the lead when we are alone (and in a park etc). When the other is with us, both stay on the lead (I've tried and given up on that one- she's a little cow).

I am SICK to death of off lead dogs running around either ignoring their owners, or with owners that are paying no attention, or even worse- ones that are paying attention but don't give a shit.

I also see a surprising amount of dogs being walked off lead down roads, just walking beside/in front of/behind the owners. Again, pisses me off because at the very least, the dog could be seized and owners don't seem to care.

I actually do believe there should be dog licenses, public liability insurance and more importantly far stricter rules on breeding.

Yanbu these attacks on children are so concerning. They just seem to be accepted now and it's very sad

XL Bully owner weeps in court as she is jailed after her two dogs attacked young mother mol.im/a/14049825 via https://dailym.ai/android

Sighhhh

https://eveshamobserver.co.uk/news/seven-year-old-girl-rushed-to-hospital-after-xl-bully-attack-in-evesham/

And another..

one way to minimise public risks in public is all dogs on leads

I totally agree. We have a lot of problems with lockdown labradors here. They haven't been properly trained and when they behave badly the owners either ignore it or act as though it's cute and we should be in love with the dog. This is even when the dog it jumping and barking in my disabled son's face and he is terrified stiff. The dog owner need to get a grip.

All dogs on leads would really be a good idea. No exceptions. None at all.