A fourteen year old girl has been killed...

[JustGiveMeFiveMinutes]

...mauled to death by four dogs.

RIP

Hello snuffle. To be fair, the (extremely apologetic) owner told me his lab had been attacked by a staffy and hadn't been right since... But this dog was off lead, just came running up to mine, stopped dead then without growling or other warning just went for my dog. I ended up swinging my staffy round my head, still on her lead as I panicked.

I am lucky it didn't bite me. It was a very large dog. Ever since then it has been on a lead.

But the owner knew his dog was a problem and had it in a public park, off lead. So I don't blame the dog.

I agree that enforcement is going to be a massive problem. We allegedly have a dog warden round my way but I have never seen him. I can only suggest that we bring back licensing and put the money from that into some kind of enforcement, however skeletal. Or can the RSPCA have more of a role?

If the dog on a string brigade knew they had to prove ownership and responsibility even if it was just a £20 dog licence and a micro chip then that would be something. They would be stopped more than others precisely because it is these types of people who has these sorts of dogs.

I can spot a dodgy dog owner a mile off and so could community police officers and the like. Any reports of trouble would be reported to the police who would then pay a visit....

And for those of you who say there is no money. I had a visit from a community police officer when my number plate fell off! I said it wasnt necessary but they insisted it was the process when a 'crime' was reported.

I should like to see compulsory licencing and microchipping with fines for failing to update the database - like DVLA for cars - and the licence fee for entire dogs and bitches aged more than 15 months quadrupled.

Not sure RSPCA should be allowed more of a role Spero until they can restrain themselves from spending silly money fighting unwinnable court cases against the Huntin Shootin Fishing Brigade.

Bloke just on BBC news saying how his Rottweiler/Akita cross can be aggressive sometimes so he always keeps it locked up and nowhere near children - why the f* has he got a dog like that?????!!!!! Sorry but he was your stereotypical gormless bloke in a hoodie standing on some run down estate grrrr.....

Can I derail this thread slightly?

Did anyone else watch the ITV coverage of this story this afternoon? They played a recording of the dogs being shot. It was recorded by a neighbour. It was utterely pointless - I could imagine what gun shots sounded like - and completely salacious.

I agree with dog lisencing, microchiping and compulsory nurtaring for all dogs. With specsial breeding centres and lisencing that have a watchdog or govening body to oversee the treatment and nuating of the pups and mothers.

I also think some breeds just are not ment as pets and should not be sold as such.

Dogs don't need to have any training whatsoever. Sadly the 'tough' breeds are the ones that are favoured by (some) neds. These are people who don't look like they can look after themselves, let alone discipline and train a dog. Yes, there are bad owners, but some breeds are more aggressive than others - they have been bred/are still being bred to fight.

Its not hard to train a dog - you just need to be arsed to do so. The people in this case seemed to have been breeding - and I can only assume they know little beyond 'boy dog + girl dog = £££.

There's a beautiful staffie lives around the corner from me, shes not the best treat dog
and shes of course owned by the typical owners but whenever she see's me or DD coming round the corner she throws herself at out feet and rolls over waiting for a belly rub and a cuddle. She runs like hell from people she doesn't know and other dogs terrify her she is probably the sweetest dog I have ever owned but I've heard her owner describe her as useless and a complete let down because she isn't aggressive enough for him. Training love and compassion works so much better with any dog than a stick and fear.

Punish the deed not breed

I guess the easiest and quickest thing would be to change the law to make owners responsible for the behaviour of dogs in the home as opposed to just in public places.

If you tried to charge (excluding guide dogs, OAPs, hearing dogs, housebound-folks etc) then thickos would start screetching about their 'yeeeeooooman roights!' to keep a dog.

Make the feckless only able to get licences for miniature poodles or mexican hairless breeds.

I think if licensing will not work, the keeping of these breeds of dogs has to be banned. It works in other countries. People may not like it but tough.

Its not so black and white. Aren't some breeds banned here? People would just get around it by saying that its a cross breed (part lamb, part tazmanian devil). And the type of people I see around here with the mad muts on a lead, don't look like theyd give a shit about a ban.

Why do the twats prefer dogs that are high mantenence? Huskies need hours of exercise every day or they go loopy.

It's not the breed is it? My grandad bred pit bulls
He was adamant about a few things. Breed good to good - never breed from a dog with a bad or unknown temperament
Bring them up properly, train and handle them
Treat them like dogs - exercise them and feed them and continue training

The indiscriminate breeding means aggressive temperaments are being inbred. The lack of exercise and training means they run wild and do what they want
It's a combination for disaster. I don't believe the owner would have trained each dog and found the time to walk them properly for an hour plus a day

RIP

First, they came for the Pit Bulls,
but you didn't speak out because you don't have a Pit Bull.
Then they came for the German Shepherds,
but you didn't speak out because you don't have a German Shepherd.

Then they came for the Akitas,
but you didn't speak out because you don't have an Akita.

Then they came for the Boxers,
but you didn't speak out because you don't have a Boxer.

When they come for your dog,
will anyone speak out for you?

Also please read this so you can fully understand why banning breeds is such a bad idea. "There are over 150 breeds banned in different countries world wide. The lists include Pit Bulls, Boxer, German Shepherds, Rottweiliers, Corgis, Collies."

Dogs end up being killed just for looking wrong, it doesn't matter their temperment or how much someone loves them just because they look wrong. What happened to that young girl was a tragedy but it is rare and because it is so very very rare means we shouldn't be looking at banning breeds of dogs. We are the supposedly responsible ones after all.

We brought them into our lives we bred the wild out of them and made them rely on us they are our responsibility now.

if they are banned, enforcement is not a huge problem. It works in other countries and they don't have these problems with dc killed by dogs. Simple as that. Of course if you want that type of breed, that's your business. I don't and I don't want to live near one either. Fine with me if they are banned, I welcome it.

Its not a matter of banning breeds. Its irresponsible/dangerous breeding of dogs through either ignorance or plain stupidity that is the problem.

Add to that feckless owners and you can easily have a bat-shit crazy dog with a temprament of Mike Tyson on steroids and an owner that has no control over them. Its like going out on a Saturday night into the town centre - there may be hundreds of folk there but you know there will be a handful of barmy buggers who have too much god knows what in their system just looking for a fight.

Can I just point out that if a breed is bred to fight other dogs (or bulls or wolves or whatever) it doesn't necessarily mean that it will be more aggressive to humans.

In fact if you watch rescue shows where they're often taking injured dogs who are not only bred to fight but actually used for fighting, it becomes pretty apparent that they are generally extremely UNaggressive to humans.

They have to be. Their owners have to be able to handle them when they (the dogs) are hyped up to the max and full of adrenaline. Often they have to perform patch ups of wounds received through fighting. They're not keen on taking these dogs to the vet for obvious reasons.

Strange how all these Rottweilers, and Dobermans and GDSs and mastiffs and all the rest are always as soft as butter.

Its not 'professional' breeders who go for the aggressive streak that are the main concern. Its all hard money/gambling to them. Its the feckless idiots who think that they can make money or look hard with an aggressive dog. They haven't a clue how to handle them and think that because they have had the dog since it was a puppy, they can handle it. If they have treated it badly or with agression, then yes, there is a chance that the dog will one day see the red mist or think the doggie eqiovalent of 'fuck this for a game of soldiers' and attack a human.

Yes, there are soppy mastiffs, as there are aggressive labradors (we had one as a rescue and he'd been badly beaten and trained to be aggressive) but arguing that the exception proves that some breeds are more aggressive my nature/breeding is like people who say 'smoking? My nan smokes 500 a day and lived to 102, when she fell off her hang glider'.