Boy 10 mauled to death at holiday park

[Witchofzog]

I can't link on this phone but it is on most news sites. The owner was found off site after a police hunt so possibly fled when she knew her dog had killed a child. It's just awful - a young boy probably just going to the loo in the middle of the night on a campsite having his life ended because of a dangerous dog and an owner who can't control and/ or keep it securely away

Why are people “loopers” because they want to take effective steps against the misery and harm created by dog ownership?

*you have changed your tune!

I thought you wanted every breed banned?*

I do but I'm trying to compromise as well

I've been bitten (blood drawn, no permanent damage) by both a dog and a hamster, and the hamster hurt an awful lot more.

I really don't get your point here at all. That they should be glad it was a dog and not a Syrian fucking hamster?

Come on now, a child is dead and you want to tell us how a hamster bite is worse.

Have a wee think about that.......

Your tagging hasn’t worked since you can’t spell!
So how do we choose which dogs to keep unneutered? Do we keep breeding from the same few bitches and have a whole new set of problems?
Dogs off leash and unmuzzled? I live in a place swarming with dogs. Unleashed and unmuzzled. But dog attacks? Incredibly rare.
Unnatural? Walking my dog across the fields? Subjected to training? My dog loves training. She gets rewards and praise and meets friends!
You are completely overestimating the threat and making zero sense.

the current legislation bans pit bulls and three other breeds. The way those breeds are identified is via a tape measure. That legislation has done fuck all to reduce dog attacks, and the tests are a very blunt tool.

The current legislation only bans 4 breeds of dog. I would include any breed of dog to fall within the measurments

The current legislation hasn’t reduced attacks. Are you hard of reading Flax?!

I think it is unkind to keep 'pets' as it is a 'wholly unnatural environment' for them. This is particularly true for dogs, especially when you see the amount of 'training' they have to be subjected to

I try to set the dog free every day at the park. Trouble is he keeps coming back, even without me telling him to. Perhaps the dog has Stockholm syndrome?

Trust me when I say that if he didn't want to learn new tricks he wouldn't engage - but he likes the mental stimulation and is happy to work for little bits of cheese (he's well fed on top quality food, so this isn't a matter of hunger).

it's a good thing that organisations in the UK have such strict criteria when it comes to rescue dogs however we know that if you are refused by UK organisation you can import a feral dog from overseas

Some have very strict criteria, others seem to have barely any at all and are prepared to rehome to anyone who will hand over some money (and don't even get me started on the overseas rescues ...).

Add to that the proliferation of bull breeds languishing for many weeks in rescue at times (not a good environment for many dogs), with many more waiting to take their place when they are rehomed and unfortunately I feel there needs to start being some very tough decisions taken about rescue in this country. 'No kill' rescues are very unfortunately not always the right thing.

I have the utmost respect for people who dedicate their lives to rescue, and I know it's not easy, but there are just too many dogs for rehoming. Unfortunately I am very sceptical that the new breeding legislation will touch the idiots and reduce the problem significantly, it will just be hoops to jump through for the responsible.

This also then leads to dogs being passed on via Gumtree/man in the pub as there are no spaces in rescue, so dogs change hands with no professional assessment at all.

My father managed to get hold of the previous owners who said, that the mastiff had brought down a horse.

I wonder where the personal responsibility from the previous owners came in - a dog capable of doing that is not a problem that I would have passed on to someone else!

Avocados
I release my huge hound every day and the stupid thing leans on me for cuddles and attention.
Mine will do anything for a bit of dried fish skin.

@AvocadosBeforeMortgages the previous owners did give all the information about incidents to the shelter (the woman only sheltered bull mastiffs) she eventually did get taken to court, and the shelter was closed down.

I'm not saying at all that those breeds of dogs are dangerous! After that bull mastiff going back to a different shelter, we got a puppy bull mastiff..who was the most loving, loyal, well trained dog.. my childhood best friend 

What I'm saying is that there are animal shelters out there, that are not what they seem! Stricter policies need to be put into place for them also.

@Bookworm4 😂😂 you are my new favourite person on here..I think everybody needs to just ignore flax the nutter from now on 😂😂

I think it's important to remain sensitive on these threads, I've been guilty of speculation inthe past but it's really quite ghoulish tbh, and let's not descend into a bunfight about dog control, a poor boy lost his life and his parents have lost a child, and no I'm not saying there's no fault to be placed anywhere. I'm saying let's be respectful

@wolfifan

I apologise, I wasn't aware this was some kind of spelling accuracy topic.

Dog attacks are not 'incredibly rare'
No we would not keep breeding them. The type would all be neutered, to take effect immediately. Any owner who does not comply would have their dog put down. The whole point of the legislation i suggested would be to phase out the breed.
To walk your dog you have to 'train' it
Your dog, any dog, is at your command because you feed it. Obviously

unfortunately there are lots of people who would see the ability to bring down a horse as a selling point in a dog
Dogs are used as weapons, we need legislation to control them in the same way that we have legislation to control gun ownership
these are not cute harmless pets, they are dangerous powerful predators
a dog that can take down and kill a 10-year-old boy can do the same to a small woman, how many people have more than one of these types of dogs?
two or three of them working together would be much bolder than just one dog

leans on me for cuddles

This is the dogs are human or feel human emotions sentimentality again. This is what we need to put aside when it it comes to the safety of the general public with regard to dogs

I think we really need to be careful on this thread Mumsnet seem to be 'trigger happy' when it comes to threads like this, we all know this is a very emotive subject and things can become polarised very quickly
Please everyone can we refrain from mocking and personal insults

@AvocadosBeforeMortgages 😂😂 Stockholm syndrome you've made my morning!

I am genuinely concerned about the dangers posed by certain breeds of dogs, I really think we need increased legislation to deal with this problem

The pet industry lobbies against legislation to control dogs, for them more dogs just means more profit, organisations importing feral dogs from abroad are just making money out of abandoned and discarded dogs which ought to be euthanized

who can we speak to, where can we go to voice our concerns, what organisations are working to deal with this problem does anyone know?

I try to set the dog free every day at the park.

This is something else to be legislated against. Beaches as well. It should be against the law to have animals capable of killing humans in these kind of public places

@Hearhere exactly what I was thinking..we can all debate/argue about this situation. But none of us, me included are doing anything to help change things.

I don't know where any of us would start on making our voices heard to the right people. Does anybody know the how the process works? Who we need to speak to?

We are all in agreement that things need to change.

Im also interested in anything we could do to make changes. Really hope we can keep the topic going and share ideas on this

in many cases the needs of dogs to roam freely and be off the lead are incompatible with the needs of humans to feel safe from dangerous powerful predators

If all dogs were small and not able to do much damage (as is the situation with cats) it wouldn't be a problem, I do not hate dogs, I know that many people find their lives enriched by having an animal companion I am not against that.
I just don't want to have to encounter dangerous predators in an urban environment

The problem is not dogs
the problem is that we have predators capable of killing humans in urban environments

please everyone stop the mocking and derision, a boy was killed

Predators. Pfft.
By far the majority of dogs at large are not threat to you at all.