A fourteen year old girl has been killed...

[JustGiveMeFiveMinutes]

...mauled to death by four dogs.

RIP

'Muzzling the dogs in public places would have had no bearing in this situation as she was in their home.'

I agree, but it would stop both a lot of the random encounters when dogs are out, and it would calm a lot of the fears that many of the public have about dogs.
Dog owners often complain about how ridiculous people's reactions to their animals are. If the teeth were restricted, a lot of the responses would change.
Being bounced at, snarled at, barked at an occasional leg-rogering is altogether less frightening that the threat of being bitten.

Most children have been killed in someone's home. Because these dogs don't tend to go out. That is a large part of why they are aggressive and dangerous. They are not socialised and are isolated, because their owners are often isolated.

I would be happy to muzzle my dog in public if it would reassure people. I would like there to be areas where I could let her run free, perhaps these could be policed by wardens with powers to issue fines on the spot. Fund this by dog licensing.

Muzzling dogs in public would stop nips and bites in parks, dog on dog attacks.

Half of all dog attacks occur on the owner's property. So that's over three thousand people a year bitten while out in public. And those are just the bites that require hospital treatment. I think that's a fairly good argument for muzzling them. Dog-owners have had their chance and have proved that they can't control their animals. Even the owners on here who bang on about how "lovely" their dogs are admit that their dogs bite.

Make the law clear that if you dog bites or kills someone on your property or anywhere, you will be charged with assault or manslaughter.

All the bad encounters I've ever had with dogs have been in public.
I have several friends with dogs, they are responsible owners and I have no issue with their pets as they don't bother me and I don't bother them.
Yes, people will still get bitten and maimed in the home, but muzzling dogs in public would help to contain a growing problem of biting outside the home.

I find it hard to care about dog on dog attacks when dog owners are so resistant to any change in the status quo. Muzzles would indeed prevent those happening too.

No, my dog has never bitten anyone or anything. Got into a few tussles with other dogs but neither wounded in any way.

But if it would reassure people, I would muzzle her.

As long as the law is still going to go after the dangerous idiots who can't look after dogs. Because I still say that is the real problem. muzzling my dog solves nothing because she doesn't randomly attack children or cyclists.

My DS doesn't randomly stab people on the street either, but he's not allowed to carry a knife by law.

I don't get the analogy. Unless you are saying all men are capable of killing, but most thankfully don't go around hurting others?

I suspect that a massive contributing factor to the dogs' behaviour was the pack. I see it with my dogs. Their behaviour is very different when they are together than apart. If I carry the cat through the 'dog zone' while one is around it'll follow with a look of desperation on it's face, waiting for a chance to chase. If both dogs are there they go crackers, frantically jumping up and trying to drag the cat off me (thankfully they can't jump so the cat is safe). When I also have my friend's beagle staying I don't even try to cross with the cat as it wouldn't be safe because the beagle goes just as nutty and she can jump. The beagle lives happily alongside 3 cats, she doesn't have or need the segregation we have, and yet she completely loses it when the terriers start.

See, I just don't get posts like yours, WestieMamma. Why on earth would you want something in your home that behaves like that?

Well yes, everyone with full use of their arms is capable of stabbing someone if they have a knife on them Spero.

All dogs bite, although most don't bite people in public.
However the potential threat means that dogs should be muzzled.

Oh, and all people in the UK are banned from carrying knives with a blade longer than 3", not just men.

FWIW I would resent muzzling my dog. He's less than 6 months old and a Springer. I spend hours training him. He's not perfect with people he knows (other dog owners in he main) but, because I have spent the time and effort training him, he will not react to runners, cyclists, horse riders, walkers etc. If I am in doubt about this, he is asked to wait and I then hold his collar until said distraction has passed. As he is a Springer, his main aim in life is to sniff, so muzzling would hinder this!

I would also resent not being able to use a certain restaurant on the assumption that my kids will be badly behaved, when we (as most I supect here) have spent time, effort, love and patience into making them (hopefully!) lovely kids. Probably a bad example but I am multi tasking

I wouldn't be at all bothered though about dog training up to KC Bronze level being compulsary however and puppy socialisation classes also being so too. That's the bare minimum I would expect to do as a dog owner.

Plus far far tighter restrictions on breeding.

Just my opinion though and rather selfish too

Wallison - be great to have the link to the stats re half of attacks being at the owners property if you have it? I love a stat

I wouldn't want animals in my house that behaved like that either. My dog was trained to stay away from my cats, which was so successful that one of my cats now follows us to the park to slap my dog.

I think there is too much tolerance from some dog owners of unacceptable and aggressive behaviour. Small yappy terriers are the absolute worst. I am more wary of them than any of the bigger dogs I meet as they tend to be aggressive and yappy to everything they see.

Behaves likes what? Desperately wanting to chase a cat? Our house is set up in such a way that normally their paths never cross, it's once in a blue moon. Plus they don't want to hurt the cat, they want to chase it. My mum has 2 mean cats who never run from the terriers, so the terriers are scared of them and leave them alone.

sorry re spelling etc, DS's laptop is dreadful, half the keys only work!

But most people wouldn't dream of stabbing anyone?

Because some people are murdered by knives, you are not saying 'ban knives'. You are saying, surely, find and arrest the dangerous people who stab?

Of course you resent muzzling your dog. Which is why we can't afford to leave it up to the individual.

Westie - so what would they do if they caught the cat?

They caught it once. Then let it go and barked at it and nudged it and terrified it into running again so they could chase it again.

No, I'm saying keep knives in appropriate places and if they have to be transferred from place to place, then do as several friends of my sword-owning do and put them in a secure container.
I'm not trying to ban dogs in public, just control their ability to use their teeth.

That sounds a hideous existence for any cat, and you seem indifferent to its fear.