AFTER THE PIT BULL THREAD ADVICE NEEDED DESPERATLY...

[kittylette]

i need advice,

BIL and SIL have a rotweiller/alsation cross, its huge,

theyve just had a baby son

weve told them the dangers (shouldnt have to really) but they sent a pic of the tiny baby lay across the front paws of the dog

i have two sons and havent visted them for 2 years because i wont allow them near the dog

in my pre-kids days the dog attacked me, tried to bite me BIL had to physically beat the dog to subdue it away from me,

its not a nice dog

im fear for the safety of my nephew

should i phone someone?

social serices?

i dont want to but how would i feel if something happened?

when you first meet the dog, you have to sit low down on the floor with your arms crossed and not give it eye contact

surely thats not right?

sjould a dog like that be near a bay?

they say is soft as anytning, its a big baby

very good email kitty,hope you get a good response

Kitty - don't want to be the voice of doom but what is your next step if they don't respond positively (ie. rehome the dog) to the email? Because having read the whole thread and seen that picture (which made me feel physically sick) I'm not sure they will.

mine are Addison and Dexter :D

Totally agree with all of the stuff on the thread.
Apart from the police aspect.
In my experience the police are not very helpful on matters such as this.
if no offence has taken place then they won't have a policy or a way of dealing with this... IME they are pretty clueless.

The RSPCA and SS are working together more and more and it may well be that the RSPCA should be your first point of call.

I think your email is great, i just think i'd cut the phrase "you CANNOT do that"... you are totally right, of course, but it may be just a bit confrontational and the rest of your email isvery well worded otherwise

HTH

brilliant email kitty..making the baby;s welfare paramount....

FWIW, I don't think talking to them will do any good - may just make them dig their heels in and think 'there she goes again...'
They believe they are doing the right thing, otherwise they wouldn't be doing it.
So just report them.
Now, please.

Sorry this is a harsh post, but I can't believe that there is any dithering going on when a baby's life is at stake. I would have reported them immediately and bollocks to the relationships.

that is exactly my own thoughts incognitovet.

its the RSPCA's job to check on such situations and once they do they will very likely contact social services who will then also take the refferal more seriously as teh dog will have already been assesed as a danger.

If you do report it to the authorites make the emphasis on a child being in danger not necessarily a dangerous dog .

More reports have to be written out about someone reporting a child in danger than a dangerous dog.

more people are likely to take notice if they see 'child in danger' on a report than 'dangerous dog' if you get my drift.

It isn't exactly the job of the RSPCA, the dog isn't suferring. But I am sure they will be able to help and give advice and hopefully help you and the little one out.

Kitty is there a surestart in your area? What is your HV like, is she nice/friendly/helpful? ...... do you share the same HV?

no, were in different areas Z (im going to call you that cause i keep misspelling your name!)

Is there time to go down the HV route? I'm panicking here.

Please, please, please do something about it.... You say you don't want to break up the family, but imagine what would happen to the family if the worst possible thing occurred..... Sorry.

lol (Didn't realise you were a fellow ICP fan?! )

Did you try the Battersea advice line in the end?

Maybe not Droile. I'm panicking too but at the same time I can understand how hard this is for Kitty - and how urgent it is at the same time so am racking my brains to think of a way to do this so it works out for everyone.

was that ICP thing a joke? can never get sarcasm on here, pmsl

perhaps Bil should be reminded of this event a few months ago aswell

rotweiller and baby

I've emailed Battersea asking for some advice asap....

Not sure if a Monday reply is quick enough though.

God. That rottweiler story was so awful. It makes you wonder how people recover from something as awful as that.

You poor, poor thing. Yes you may upset your family by sending the email but weigh that up against the guilt you will feel if anything happens to your nephew.

Your email is great but if they don't respond to it you WILL have to take it further and risk upsetting them. If they think the dog is more important than the safety of their child I wouldn't want a relationship with them anyway, but that's easy for me to say.

How many more times must we hear dog owners say "they wouldn't hurt a fly". They are bred to attack and I should know. I was attacked by 2 rottweilers 6 years ago. I was pulled to the ground, clumps of hair pulled out, claw and bite marks down my back (despite having a thick cagoule on) and ended up with over 50 stitches and skin grafts on my arm. My husband rescued me and ended up with post traumatic stress disorder because of what he witnessed.

Sorry for the long message but if that's what they can do to an overweight 30+ woman it makes me physically sick to think what could happen to a baby. Our world was turned upside down by my attack and I would hate for that to happen to anyone else's family.

I hope you find a solution but you can only do so much and if they don't respond to you the police need to be involved.

So sorry to hear what happened to you, Roberta.