Another child killed by a dog...

[tnorfotkcab]

Another poor child is killed by a dog.... We already know this is an XL Bully, don't even have to wait for confirmation.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ce35zkl9dg3o

Oh give over. Of course men kill. So do some women. So do some kids. Doesn't mean we have to add dogs to this list.

Why are you adding dogs to this already list of dangerous risks? Death by dog may be rare, but being bitten is not. People are living with disfigurements, scalpings, limbs torn and shredded, fingers bitten off. I'd rather fall down the stairs and break my neck than be bitten to death by a dog.

You are tedious about dogs.

People are also living with disfigurements from accidents.

By all means, do not have a dog, but live it up to others to take that risk. I had my beloved greyhound for over 15 years, and the only thing she made holes in was the throw on my sofa.

You can't ban accidents. Or ban men for that matter. Dogs could easily be banned.

They wont be though. Ever.

They will definitely be banned at some point, the only question is when.

How can a chihuahua kill? It takes them four hours to chew through a chicken wing.

Only when you go to bed and have some dream about it

When you choke on them 😅

I tell ours that every time he attempts to start a fight with next door's French bulldog. The only danger he poses to that dog is when it chokes on him

If they could kill, he'd be a serial killer by now. As it is, he can't even win a fight with the cat.

Easily?
Police dogs, military dogs, service dogs, guide dogs, search and rescue dogs... all of which rely on a substantial population of other dogs for the development of new training techniques and the availability of new breeding stock.

Yeah, no.

Probably be replaced by AI robots at some point

If you think dogs are a danger…

Ban cows. Cows kill people.

Cows provide milk and meat.

Not to me. Ban ‘em.

False comparisons being made . Cows aren’t used as pets roaming around in parks or sitting on seats in cafes or blocking the aisles on trains . Or living next door to others in a flat building or terraced street and barking at night . There would be no real reason to ban cows even if I didn’t like them.

I mean I don’t like (or eat) pigs but wouldn’t make sense to want to ban them. They are just chilling in their farms minding their own business then the poor things are served up to meat eaters.

You can’t ban accidents or a group of people.

I suspect what most people are talking about when they talk of a ban is a ban on pet dogs as opposed to working dogs.

I have little if any contact with working dogs. And when I do it’s always been fine -eg, guide dogs in buses haven’t bothered me. I don’t live on a farm so I don’t come across farm dogs. I am not keen on police dogs as they are obviously bitey but thankfully haven’t had any encounters with police so they haven’t went for me and at any rate, I know police dogs do a huge amount of good for the police/ society.

Pets dogs are the ones that cause people significant inconvenience and sometimes distress. They are increasingly impinging upon the lifestyle and comfort of others who don’t have them.

I live in a fairly nice town that IMO is spoilt by the fact there is so much shit. Literally. I’m not talking about on grassy bits or in parks - I totally avoid those. I’m taking about the pavement that I walk down on my way to the doctors, train station, library etc.

That said I don’t think a ban on pet dogs is realistic or achievable.

I know police dogs do a huge amount of good for the police/ society.

A fair number of people have been bitten by police dogs. Not just people who regularly 'encounter' the police, but as you say they have a benefit. Speaking of which, there is mountains of research literature outlining the benefit of pets dogs on everything from cardiovascular to mental health.
What you are talking about isn't, in the main, poor behaviour by dogs, it's poor behaviour by the people looking after them - not picking up poo, letting them bark, failure to train. Address that. In fact the problem with dogs - including aggressive dogs - seems largely a people problem, specifically an anti-social behaviour problem.

@BackToLurk that is why mandatory training and licencing for all dog owners would be a better option - just like we have with cars.

If you want a dog you have to go get your dog handling licence, written and theory exam. You can lose your licence, get points on it etc. just like with a car.

Probably prohibitively expensive but I would support it!

^Yes to all of this.

Yes they are bitey which is why I’m not keen on them as I stated. And no doubt they do bite non-criminals also which is why I give them a wide berth where possible, but yes they do provide some greater good for all society. And I think that part is key.

I recently saw a video about one who found a kidnapped person within hours.

How do you address it though? It’s really not that simple or easy to do and the issue is getting worse with the explosion of dog ownership we have seen over the last decade or so.

The end of the day there will always be - at least in this country- huge amounts of people who will behave like this.

That’s the thing - it’s impossible to police really. So I assume that’s why some people are just throwing up their hands and saying just ban them all.

Not saying guns and dogs are the same and obviously guns have a far worse impact, but the argument is similar in the sense that we (in many countries) accept while guns may not be intrinsically evil the fact is many people aren’t responsible enough to own these deadly weapons - so we ban them except for very limited purposes.

I would support dog licensing IF it was properly enforced. Something does have to be done and - as I’ve said - banning pet dogs isn’t realistic (although I understand why some do want that).

Just shortly after I posted my earlier post I went out to get some errands. On my way back I was walking on the pavement that runs just outside of the small park in front of my building. I could see through the fence what looked like 3 adults very likely on drugs or alcohol sat/stood smoking on a bench with 2 huge dogs that were wearing leashes but the owners were not holding the leash . It’s ridiculous. I saw a similar thing in the same park the other week too with one guy on his phone why what looked like some kind of bully sat on a bench with the handle of the leash trailing on the ground.

I don’t walk through that park (or any park) as a rule hence I was walking on the pavement outside of the park - but tbh I shouldn’t have to avoid parks.

I was also in Boots, there is a “no dogs sign” and yet I saw some women who will probably claim the dog is a service dog march through with it and it was nudging products with its big head 🫣 she pretended not to notice when things toppled over.

Not sure if this is true or not and I wasn’t around the first time they did licensing, but from what I heard they did it before in the UK back in the 70s or 80s. A significant proportions of people didn’t sign up and supposedly all in all it just wasn’t very successful. Not sure if it was mandatory back then though?

Does anyone have any evidence of a country where dog licensing has actually been in place long term and worked?

Passing a driving test doesn’t seem to ensure drivers don’t exceed speed limits, use a mobile phonewhilst driving, drive carelessly or aggressively, or foster any sense of care, of reasonableness or respect for the law and for the public at large.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c05d2675pelo

A woman in her 70s mauled to death in the home, a 37 year old man arrested, two dogs not of a banned breed.

@Cocabuta

Does anyone have any evidence of a country where dog licensing has actually been in place long term and worked?

It's difficult to assess as reporting mechanisms differ by country. However, Germany appears to have a lower occurrence of both dog bites and fatalities. They have licensing schemes that are overseen by the different federal areas. These often have different requirements for some breeds and require, for example, that the dog is trained and the owner passes a test. They also require that dog trainers are regulated - not the case in the UK. Some breeds are banned for import, but you can travel with them in the country. They also, like other countries, have muzzle laws for some areas, such as public transport. Muzzle laws are quite common in Europe and can apply to all breeds, or breeds over a particular size or weight. I've seen laws that apply to any smaller, enclosed area, such as shared stairways in apartment blocks.

As I said earlier, there are countries, such as Italy, that have very few laws regarding breeds, and also have very few fatalities. Italy does have some muzzle laws however.

Finally, regarding bull breeds specifically, there are hundreds of thousands of bull breeds in the UK. Many crossbreeds have a 'bit of bully' in them. They are not routinely attacking either people or other animals. Address ownership. Address anti social behaviour.

I wish the train companies would restrict them to one carriage and be strict about it. (where I live trains are 4 carriage units and you can have 12 carriages, so they'd still have a choice of three carriages to sit in).

But that would probably be as successful as having a quiet carriage

Just seen this one the BBC - yet another case: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c05d2675pelo

But still people will say that their fur babies won't hurt anyone and we're all being nasty and unreasonable for not wanting them near us. I know these attacks are generally happening in the home but I still think more needs to be done.