A fourteen year old girl has been killed...

[JustGiveMeFiveMinutes]

...mauled to death by four dogs.

RIP

I won't argue especially since my favourite goader has turned up to spread some more rubbish but some of us have the ability to feel compassion for more than just human beings. I may love animals doesn't mean I hate humans again I find it useless to defend myself to people who will make up their mind without truly knowing me.

Ignorance kills.

Well I know bugger all about you but if you insist on talking ' goading ' what the hell possessed you to make that poor taste comparison ?

even as a dog owner i feel the posts about dog shit rather repellent when we are talking about a child's life that has been lost
god knows what happened in that house, it makes me feel sick but it not exactly comparable to dog shit on the pavement or in the fucking park fgs

oh and I love my dogs but I do train them and don't enforce them on people--

threads like this get rather hysterical

Of course it isn't comparable to dog shit on the pavement, who said it was?

Context please.

threads like this get rather hysterical

Umm, yeah, don't they just.

are you always so aggressive?

Step by step it will happen.
If the dog lovers and dog owners don't manage and control and train their animals. then the dog dislikers will make the laws increasingly stringent. I've said this several times before.
Instead of wasting time arguing with those of us who don't want dogs near us or our families, put your effort into sorting out those who own dogs that are a source of danger, pollution and disturbance.
Every time someone is killed or maimed, the case against random ownership gets stronger.
I hope to see dogs microchipped, licensed, insured, only available from certain outlets, visited at home yearly by inspectors, forced to be registered and checked by a vet yearly, on leads and muzzled when in public.... and I think I will see a lot of those changes in my lifetime.

In the same way that 50 years ago, one could own a leopard with few restrictions, and now it is illegal without a great deal of legislation.
No one needs to die as a consequence of being too close to a dog. It keeps happening.

I am sorry, but what is the betting that the woman who owned these Teenage girl killing dogs had said to anyone who came across her dogs "It's OK, they're just being friendly" or "They are soft as anything, they wouldn't hurt a fly".

The owner of the dogs bred puppies. On her facebook profile where she was advertising them, she said about the bull mastiff- ''He's too protective though he doesn't like youngsters or screaming. He has gone to bite but had him castrated to calm him down.''

People from the estate have said how scared they were of the dogs.

These weren't well trained family dogs suddenly snapping.

Owllady, I haven't been in the least bit aggressive and it was you swearing 'fucking park'

peaches, you are a banned poster aren't you? what was the name of that agressive poster who was banned because of her postings on the doghouse? I've only ever seen her post that offensive shit before which is how I instantly knew. Except I can't for the life of me remember her name so can't report.

Do you mean Valhalla?

yes that's the one. I'd seen her post that vile line about dog breeds before on some thread about a dog in ireland which was about to be euthanised, never seen it anywhere else.

I do not know if this has been posted before but there is an excellent article by Malcolm Gladwell (Outliers, tipping point) which looks at the issue of 'dangerous dogs'...

www.gladwell.com/2006/2006_02_06_a_pitbull.html

Sorry Bee, I wasn't really thinking. I always rather admired Val, she was pure of purpose and took no prisoners. Honesty personified.

Do not understand why anybody would want to own these bloody dog"s (staff's, bull mastiff's they are bloodly bred for fighting and why anybody could own 5 in one house madness. Do not matter how you train these dog's i think they can still turn at any time, like any dog can only thing is with another dog cannot do as much damage you stand a chance. Also some owner's with these dog's install the fighting into them. Some time's i think with people they think it cool to be seeb with one of these dog"s some saw a young girl around 8 with one in lead no muzzle pulling and tugging at it lead the poor child could not control it ( staff) this poor little girl jade did not stand a chance with those dog's the owner's in my view have a lot to answer for and why can somebody be allowed to own 5 cannot believe it. Wonder when we will hear another sad story like this.

Definitely not on to accuse a poster like that.That ghastly poem is all over Facebook- it's not the preserve of a single misguided person

Do not recall last time i heard a lab or retriever kill, everytime you hear dog killing or mauling are dog's such as staffies, pitbull's doberman's or rottwieller's.

Dd 4yrs was attacked by a sbt 5 mths ago. It was entirely unprovoked as she was calmly walking by my side along the pavement. She was already wary of dogs so tucked herself into me as dog approached. Dog was on a lead but jumped and bit her. Only bottom jaws managed to make contact but I still had to use all my force to get dog off her. Top jaws were stuck in dd's coat. It left a hideous blood blister and bruise which is still visible 5 months on. Thank god it was winter and she was more protected by her clothing and it wasn't my toddler walking as it would have been his face. Dd has been left traumatised to the point there are days she is reluctant to leave the house.

This dog is owned by a responsible couple who were mortified by the attack. The dog came from a reputable breeder and was well socialised. I guess what I'm trying to say is no dog should be ever fully trusted regardless of its breed or upbringing. People in this village frequently let their dogs off the lead and do not call them back when they run up to me or my dc and it now terrifies me.They don't seem to believe their dogs are capable of such an act until it is too late.

The police seemed entirely unsurprised by the events and kept saying " this is what other people in your position do"... We're a small village but clearly the community police come across it frequently.

"Do not recall last time i heard a lab or retriever kill, everytime you hear dog killing or mauling are dog's such as staffies, pitbull's doberman's or rottwiellers." and how often do we hear of these killings? that's right - seven times in the past eight years. How many dogs are there in the UK? I'm unaware of exact figures but suffice to say there are milllions. And in one of the seven cases one of the dogs was a jack russell. Just because a labrador doesn't kill someone doesn't mean it doesn't have the capasity to cause some serious damage. Just because there are more retrievers than staffies in the UK doesn't mean that the fact more of them bite people is that relevant - seven deaths in eight years is incredibly, incredibly rare.

A bit of perspective me thinks.

Do dogs attack females more? The horrific fatalities reported seem to be more often than not girls/women, do they not? I wonder why?

People don't 'need' dogs, nor are they entitled to keep them. I think you should have to show that you are sensible and capable of keeping one, caring for it and training it before you can have one

and the reason why we hear of these deaths is because they are so incredibly rare...

Amber, the demographic of this site is going to largely reflect the type of owner who does pick up after their dog and train them. I don't think any dog owners on here are lying about doing that. I like to think that's a representation of dog owners in general but I agree that might not seem to be the case when you're dodging dog shit on a daily basis or being hassled by a badly trained dog in a park

Well that's sort of my point, it is blamed on demographics as though only one 'sort' are bad owners, my experience tells me different

One of the worst culprits in my old local park, was a MC woman with 2 choc labs [very Mumsnetty!] dogs off leads in the wrong areas and no picking up of poo. so I don't think its fair to talk about demographics as though that determines what sort of owner you are.

Sorry, this is turning into a rant from me about class and that wasn't my intention or my point.

It just seems as though there is very little done to challenge/address issues of low level bad ownership.

I appreciate that it is impossible due to sheer numbers though.

you can't compare people who don't pick up after their dogs to people who own and breed dogs for their agression though, people who knowingly keep agressive dogs - the cases in the past eight years where people have been killed all of the dogs concerned were known for being agressive. that's not a coincidence. In none of those cases was it the beloved family pet with just slightly irresponsible owner. Why are people refusing to see the difference here?

I don't think it is impossible. I think it will be hard but doable. The message given out by the law is very important, think of car seat belt laws. Lots of scoffing at the time but now it is well and truly ingrained in public consciousness. If even a few middle class types got slapped with massive fine there could be a shift in thinking.