AIBU to think dogs should be muzzled in public now?

[TraitorsSandwich]

I’ve just seen the awful news that a man has been killed by a German Shepherd - I can’t even imagine how awful and scary his final moments must have been.

Dog attacks seem to be happening all too often - AIBU to think dogs need to be muzzled outside the home now ?

For too long dogs have been humanised but the bottom line is they are animals.. who are ‘friendly’ until they are not and attack someone.

Dog owners seem to be getting more and more selfish & irresponsible- our local recreation ground has signs up everywhere stating dogs must be on leads but it’s completely ignored despite their being a free and secure dog field 10 minutes walk away. Therefore meaning that no one else is able to enjoy the rec ground.

I see so many adults being dragged around by their dogs and it’s so obvious that they would not have the strength to intervene if their dog did attack.

So surely it’s safer for everyone to muzzle dogs ?

My dogs don’t need to be muzzled, but if muzzling mine meant that everyone else’s dogs would be muzzled then I’d happily do it. The problem is that most of these idiot dog owners with the vicious dogs will not be following the law

Problem is though is that it’s only responsible dog owners who would bother doing that if it became the law, and the dogs of responsible owners are the ones already under control etc.

Agree that measures to seek to reduce attacks by dogs on people (and other dogs and animals) should be looked at, using relevant evidence on what works.

Many of the possible measures would difficult to enforce with current police, court and local government resources.

I think aggressive dogs along with their stupid irresponsible dog owners should be muzzled, yes!
Every dog, absolutely no way.

People have become ridiculous with their dogs these days though, they are not babies and they do not belong everywhere. I also think there are an abundance of regretful dog owners who did not fully appreciate the amount of dedication, hard work and consistency it requires to raise a good dog. I don’t think some people realise how much you have to socialise dogs right from the day you get them and a lot of owners are anxious themselves which rubs off on their animals leading to dangerous situations.

We’ve just returned from a popular holiday destination which has always had a lot of families visiting with their dogs, all shops dog friendly etc usually all is ok but this year the amount of out of control dogs lunging and snapping at other very well behaved animals out of nowhere and diving at my toddler was insane! It’s always accompanied by ‘oh Mr Fluffykins, don’t do that’ ‘oh they’ve never done that before’ like it’s the hugest surprise to them followed by a tinkly laugh. It isn’t funny, control your animal or keep them out of hugely busy and, I thought, massively overwhelming environments for poor animals to be subjected to.

The dogs on holiday snapping at/attacking other animals were all smaller, fluffy, doodle type ‘cute’ breeds. I’ve only ever been bitten by small, yappy dogs too. The three German shepherds we’ve had within our family have been the most intelligent, loving and loyal dogs I’ve known. But we train them adequately and raise them well and appreciate that, at the end of the day, they are a dog, an animal. And just to add, I love dogs, I would get another German shepherd tomorrow if my circumstances allowed.

I think dog attacks come from massively let down animals with lazy, incompetent owners as well as some who use their dog mainly as a status symbol.

About a month ago I was attacked by a small terrier dog as I was out on an evening walk. It was so out of the blue and the owner, again, just went ‘oh dear, are you feeling grumpy?’ I mean, what on Earth kind of reaction is that? I had to jump and run backwards pretty quickly before the owner yanked its lead back. I’m pretty sure if I’d have kicked the dog to protect myself she’d have been fuming!

I think dog owners should be made criminally liable for any damage their animal causes to people, animals or property. I would support muzzling in public too. As with everything else these days, people are just too self centred and dappy to control themselves, let alone their animals (or their children).

(I might still be feeling cross because of the woman who let her massive “friendly” dog sniff and lick my cat’s carrying basket at the vet last week and took offence when I asked her not to).

In this particular case though, the man has been arrested in suspicion of murder, as well as having a dangerously out of control dog. So it sounds like he has deliberately set the dog on his victim. Not sure how having all dogs muzzled is going to prevent that? And German Shepherds are not inherently aggressive, so it sounds like this particular one may have been trained to attack

This exact thread was done a few weeks ago and the answers haven’t changed since then. No, all dogs shouldn’t be muzzled in public.

Do you think that the people you are referring to would comply?

More people have been damaged by humans! Should they be chained up? It's hard enough for some breeds and they'd hate wearing a muzzle, plus then they can't protect us from humans.
A cyclist knocked over an old women. Ban bikes?
A kid on a scooter hurt someone. A kid ran into someone. Teenagers left BBQs and needles on the beach.
Ridiculous idea when dogs cause hardly any damage compared to humans.
When a young child or dog harms someone, the blame should be on the adult supposed to be looking after them.

What abput cows, they kill more people than dogs in the uk. Yet another knee jerk recation to media sensationalism

I think they should be muzzled on public transport. There was a staff on a packed tube train today, obviously distressed. It upsets me that owners put it in that position.

Completely unreasonable. It’s dog ownership that needs to be regulated and improved. There’s no way I am muzzling my harmless Labrador just because people who are scared of dogs get paranoid. I am a responsible owner and my dog is well trained, why should he and other trained dogs suffer? My dog is not reactive.

Wise up.

The owner has been charged with murder. This seems to have started as a fight between the two men. There were witnesses who said their was arguing before the attack. My well trained German shepherd would have attacked, if someone threw a punch at me, so as if yet, we don't know if it was instinctive or the dog has been used as a weapon. You can't have a fight and the dog not get involved, though.

I wouldn’t and it wouldn’t work anyway

Exactly. On op’s argument humans should all be muzzled.

Dogs should just be banned, it would prevent all these deaths. We banned gun ownership for far fewer deaths.

Or as it is usually men, perhaps we need to think about restricting their movements. If they are as unpredictable and not capable of their reactions, as the courts would have us believe, especially in older rape cases, we really need to put them under control.

Dog attacks are proportionally very low. Employing people to enforce it would not be worth the investment. I prefer money goes into reducing teenage attacks.

yabu - the majority of dogs are pussy cats (so to speak)

there are def a number of out of control dogs (nearly always because of out of control owners) - they should be muzzled. German shepherds. XL bullies those sorts.

But surely not the teddy bear poos?

we should ban cars, that'd stop car deaths too

Shame on your vet for not keeping species separate. Ours has separate areas for cats and dogs at opposite sides of the room and they've built a low 'wall' with Kallax style units to limit visibility.

Agree. It’s the rule in several European countries, enforced to a greater or lesser extent, that dogs are muzzled on public transport (or carried in a carrier).

I also think it’s more likely to be enforced if it’s some places rather than everywhere. From memory examples from Europe include shared confined areas like lifts and shared spaces in apartment blocks, and around schools.

That’s quite bizarre. Are you all so irresponsible that you need a wall to keep your pets away from others?