To think something needs to be done about all these dog attacks?

[BattIestar]

And if so, what? What is the solution? My kids witnessed an attack recently, it hasn't yet made the news, and it wasn't deadly nor did the victims require overnighting at hospital, but my children are now wary of walking to school, and being in the playpark. I hate that we are living in fear of dangerous dogs, and really think it is high time something proper was done about it.

https://www.warwickshireworld.com/community/several-dangerously-out-of-control-animals-seized-and-man-arrested-after-dog-and-walker-attacked-4996021?fbclid=IwY2xjawIrCq1leHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHa1YUA3bHzoq_pxI7TwdO4w9hshfrow9PxUD0VpJG1LbgSkwc4JPRA0euw_aem_JMCCUtSRtxMqwxBAThDhBQ

https://www.kentonline.co.uk/herne-bay/news/teen-injured-in-dog-attack-in-residential-street-320351/?fbclid=IwY2xjawIrC0tleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHTWY4zAPIYc8FEZfB9beTtbmrCASCSz_xUnQVseSIC2sDP3eKSeXP06AAg_aem_BA0Cw6SxxhlAErwSGsGZBA

https://yourherefordshire.co.uk/all/news/breaking-police-would-like-to-speak-to-a-man-following-a-dog-attack-in-herefordshire/?fbclid=IwY2xjawIrC1pleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHXq3Pnj9d5fXTDfAXCDes_X_9Hk7-CnsblXBfc4lQXCcvvLqwLGgAh4QzA_aem_N61Z-O4i2e6VG67vPLaQkA

https://www.warringtonguardian.co.uk/news/24960445.armed-police-bardsley-avenue-bewsey-xl-bully-dog-attack/?fbclid=IwY2xjawIrC2hleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHRHREId8LTMtQgHjS8JVw9q7gVYWWakhqlKayXA5e-fuBkMMicfFfjsvVg_aem_HYpvfZuhY_Iq_EMgSlGrIQ

The above are all very recent incidents, which I found when I was looking to see if the one my kids and I saw had made the news. I bet there are many more thst don't get reported too. And then we have the crazies spouting "it's the owner not the breed", or "something must have provoked it". In the incident we saw, the dog bolted out of its owner's front door and jumped up at a stranger walking along, knocking them over and mouthing their sleeve - I think the only reason it wasn't worse than it was is because the guy had a very thick coat on. If that had been my kids in their thin blazer uniform, I dread to think.

https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/two-attacked-family-dog-after-31015876?fbclid=IwY2xjawIrDB1leHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHVBbWJkkOJJ_O5mEFgA-RfzzPiud9QsanPcMUQ2HkKpScEqfubC4X1eSbg_aem_WkZXswfnJpUMgERlgNERRg#amp-readmore-target

https://www.wigantoday.net/news/crime/wigan-dog-attack-police-issue-picture-of-pet-owner-4960583?fbclid=IwY2xjawIrDDNleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHZ9q6tFB-TD2O-mqoHbZkh7kN_JpCyESva9LgrhtWlRto5ExCTUbHAxh3g_aem_gC6a5KoO1hOuXYBQ01w1jQ#w2e4b783th709kb31uiwoxny8q94akg

I think we need to get tougher on owners - any dog bites anyone, the owner goes to jail as if it were them who directly caused the injury.

I also think we need to actually properly ban the top dangerous breeds (we all know which they are).

Yes, I agree about future generations being horrified that this has been allowed to continue.

20 years ago there were smoking rooms in workplaces and 38 years ago my parents brought me home in the car after I was born in just a Moses basket in the back seat. We look back and can't believe that was the reality, but it was just normal at the time.

Once we know better, we can do better - so why aren't we doing better on this?

To put these attacks into context, 36% of UK households own a dog and the dog population is 13.5 million. The Dangerous Dogs Act makes it an offence to have a dog "dangerously out of control in a public place" with fines/a jail sentence for any owner whose dog injures or kills another person.

I've read of 2 XL Bully attacks today alone. It's a banned breed but still they're "escaping" from their homes. I've kept dogs for 35 years and no dog of mine has ever escaped from my home. These people are clueless but we can't legislate against stupidity. I believe stiffer sentencing should be introduced but what else? Dog licensing won't prevent attacks. Compulsory puppy socialisation and obedience classes for certain breeds is possibly an option but how would that work? Local councils don't have the money and the police are busy elsewhere. There's no easy fix to this.

That's so awful, that poor baby.

What are the top dangerous breeds? Is it anything bigger than a Yorkie? My brother had a Dogue de Bordeaux which was huge, and around 6+ stone. Big, daft, lumbering thing he was. He used to try and hump the cat 🙄 and sit on your knee. But he was also a big boy, and there's no getting around that. We've also had...

Border Collie
Yorkshire terrier x2
Staffy
Victorian bulldog
Cairn Terrier
German Shepard X

None of our dogs ever bit anyone, nor ever acted aggressively. The above Bordeaux, the staffy, and the bulldog all wore muzzles outside. Absolutely zero need beyond ensuring other people weren't scared in public (which they often are around sizable dogs). Two of the dogs were repeatedly attacked by small dogs off the lead by crap owners. All it meant was that the dogs became fearful of others as they had no means to defend themselves.

I would at least start by a total ban on the main breeds that are causing death and destruction.
The current ban isn't a ban in any actual sense. What is the point of an exemption certificate - the dog won't decide not to go a'mauling just because their owner got an exemption.

There are 13.5 million dogs in the UK. If you look at the human fatalities caused by dog stats year in, year out only half a dozen breeds are responsible out of 75 + breeds and crossbreeds. I would support a £1000 a year licence for the latest fad of XL Bullies and similar but for all the other breeds, not a chance.

Well perhaps then we need a total overhaul about our relationships with dogs, and stop gloryfying them. I think the main problem is a) the bully breeds and b) the sheer number of dogs. I think we need a massive re-education about dogs. I don't like living in fear, and it is a genuine, valid concern, certainly round here.

It's absolutely ridiculous yes something needs to be done to eradicate the attacks

19 times that's crazy!

By that standard we shouldn't allow teenagers/pensioners to drive cars either as they often cause the most accidents 🙄

Nobody is complaining about the amount of them that need banning.

Small breeds can significantly injure a baby or child. When I was younger a friend rehomed a Jack Russell. A small child had fallen from a sofa onto the sleeping dog who attacked the child and severely disfigured him.
Bit you’re obviously right, larger dogs are more likely to kill people, particularly if there is more than one of them.

How awful. I have a friend who was bitten really badly as a child, the only saving grace is that it was not her face. :/ I don't know exactly what breed it was, but it was a medium-small thing, she says.
I also have a friend with a JR, and it bit her postman.

I saw this latest attack being reported while I was at work today and then on the way home on the train there was a man with one of those dogs! I just don’t understand why the ban is not being enforced properly.

It really worries me.

I'm actually ok with the concept of not letting teens drive, and pensioners too. I am actually looking forward to giving up my car once my children don't need driving around any more, well before I am of pensionable age. I would LOVE to see cheaper public transport for the under 20s, and the over 60s, to help make this more attractive - actually, it should be much cheaper for all of us, that would really reduce the number of RTAs. Yes, I am all for that!
And also for doing something about all the dog attacks.

Yes, same. And I am majorly worried for my children, growing up in a society where they aren't safe from these dogs. What an absolutely horrible way to die/be attacked.
I still feel traumatised from what I witnessed, and it wasn't anywhere near as serious an attack as some I have read about.

I knew some who had a deaf dog. His was fast asleep, and the neighbour's kid sat on the dog. He was startled awake, and bit the kid.
Kid's parents made such a fuss, the poor dog was PTS.

Not all bites are from aggression.

There are a number of reasons for this.
The Pit Bull Terrier, an American import, was rightly banned in 1991 due to a disproportionate number of fatal attacks in the UK. Unbelievably, the importation of Pit Bull Terrier sperm was not banned, I kid you not.
In recent times, when the XL Bully - a considerably more powerful dog AND a direct descendant of the Pit Bull Terrier, comes along the powers that be allow the importation of the breed rather than immediately banning it. The XL Bully breed has caused significantly more deaths than the Pit Bull Terrier did and finally it is now banned.
Dog charities including the RSPCA and Dog's Trust campaigned against the government's XL Bully ban on the grounds that not all XL Bullies are dangerous and a large number would needlessly have to be put to sleep. Whilst I sympathise with their stance, the breed shouldn't have been allowed into the country in the first place.
We have a small section of people in society who believe that it is appropriate and safe to have in their homes a breed that is demonstrably highly unpredictable and highly dangerous. Some have been killed by their own dogs. The "my dog would never do that" mentality is strong with these people until it actually proves them wrong....

Whilst that is unfortunate for the dog, I think we need to be far more vigilant of our young people around dogs who can bite, which, well, is all of them. It's such a high risk, and I can't really understand it being worth being maimed for life.

Kids should be taught how to behave around dogs.

So are you suggesting we just eradicate all dogs?

No. But I do think the big bully breeds should be eradicated.

And more awareness for smaller dogs in homes with children/anyone with children visiting a home with dogs. And ULTRA vigilance. Zero room for accidents.

Life is for murder. This would’ve been classed as some form of manslaughter.

We already have a ban on the XL Bully which is responsible for at least 60% of human fatalities. By law exemption means the breed have to be muzzled and on lead in a public place, insured and cannot be bred from or sold on. However, if the half-wit owner allows the dog to escape from the house unmuzzled, the likelihood is someone is going to get hurt which is the reason why I believe tougher sentencing for the owner should be introduced.

In regards to the other breeds causing fatalities you might have one or two in a year out of tens of thousands. Is it fair to ban all members of that breed when only one or two badly raised examples have been rogue?

It's just horrendous.
The selfishness of the owners who don't give a sh*te about anyone else's safety.

Why would you want one or three as a pet ???

But then that falls on the responsibility of the owners part, not the dogs. The main issue here is that unfortunately some (a lot) of people in society are basically a bit dim. Dogs are just dogs, and that concept hasn't changed pretty much since they were first domesticated by humans because it suited us.

Nobody is going to move a badger into their home, and then be amazingly surprised if it doesn't work out well 🙄 But many people expect their pet to be a 'good dog', and to put up with their children being dicks to it and the dog remaining well behaved.