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

Bookworm you clearly don’t care that a boy has lost his life. Early in in this thread you were speculating that he may be to blame for his own death. You have called me ignorant and stupid but I really don’t care. These dogs are not suitable to be in our communities and we see the terrible consequences of this far too often.

@bow
That is your ignorant opinion to have, to make sweeping generalisations with nothing but your personal hatred and that is what makes you stupid and ignorant. Do you extend your rationale to humans? If a person of a particular heritage commits a crime let's get rid of them?
For you to say all bull breeds shouldn't exist is vile, mine and 1000s live peaceful happy lives.

Look at the one that killed a child in my mother's village. It's a horrible thing.
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/11082729/Mother-tells-of-moment-pet-dog-mauled-her-daughter-4-to-death.html

Flaxmeadow It quite clearly says the photo is of a similar dog, not the actual dog.

And the rest of your post isn't really worth answering tbh

Flax you’re sounding bonkers now.
This is a tragic event. But you can’t ban all dogs because of the bad decisions made by one parent.

I've just read he was alone in the caravan at 5 am

Where were his parents wtf

Bookworm What a ridiculous thing to suggest.

It quite clearly says the photo is of a similar dog, not the actual dog.

Read it again. There is also a photo off the family friend/dog owner with a dog

This is so sad. Irresponsible parent mixed with irresponsible dog owner, resulted in a little boy losing his life. He was left alone at 5am with a known aggressive dog while his parent(s) got pissed.

People can defend the breed all they want but at then end of the day, my poodle isn't capable of killing a 10 year old.

I think unless an average size woman can overpower the dog, the breed should be banned. We arn't allowed pet tigers for a reason, so why giant dogs with bone crushing jaws.

Do you extend your rationale to humans?...

Dogs are NOT 'humans'

I can remember watching a documentary once about dangerous dogs. One man was actually crying, shaking and became aggressive when a dog warden wanted to check the breed of his dog to see if it was dangerous and for it to be kept in a small house , with a low walled small garden, in an urban street full of families. He screamed at the warden, and I quote, said 'what about his [the dogs] human rights' !!!
It would have been laughable if it wasn't so serious a situation

Any animal that takes harmless human actions as provocation to attack has no business being in public or near children. While it might not be the dog’s fault it has these reactions it is still not safe to interact with people.

Perfectly put.

And Flaxmeadow I agree with you. I think there should be at least a £5,000 annual dog licence and automatic lifetime bans for any owner not having a licence, failing to control their dog in public (to a very high standard), causing any harm to any person or their property or allowing their dog to foul.

These threads bring out some really weird and unpleasant dog lovers' views.

I would be in favour of dog licenses that work in a similar way to vehicle licenses. The bigger the dog/vehicle the more training you need and the more insurance you have to carry.

It's all very very simple! No dog, under any circumstances should be left alone with a child

Just this ^^. The problem with many dog owners is that they think ‘my dog would never’. I’ve heard my MIL, who has labs, talk such rubbish. Her puppy nipped a child recently. They were supervised by an adult (although I’m not sure it was very closely because of the whole ‘labs are such great family dogs they’d never hurt a child attitude’ ). This case is so tragic. The poor little boy was clearly neglected.

@Thelovecats85 I totally agree. When I'm out walking my dog I see people walking larger bull breeds who are being dragged about and clearly aren't able to control the dog. If their dog decides to go for another dog or a person then what are they going to do?

Puppies nip. I don’t think you can use that as an example. We have a puppy, he is constantly nipping us. He’s teething and learning bite inhibition. Your MIL should have the puppy on a lead until he stops nipping but this isn’t the same thing nor an indication of an aggressive dog.

@crazycatgal

Too often we are confronted by people walking large dogs they can't control. Dogs that could easily brake their owners grip on the lead. And what can i do if that dog goes for my dog and my dog hides behind me. I'm going to get mauled. And what if it goes for my kid, what can I do. I can't beat a rottweiler, I'm not Bronson.

isn’t the same thing nor an indication of an aggressive dog.

But the result is the same, a child gets bitten. This could cause injury.

Awful. What that poor child must have suffered is heart breaking.

No child should be left alone with a dog.

I rescued to pit cross puppies years ago and they were the softest, intelligent dogs of ever had. We had a jack russel when I was a child and it was really nasty.

Potentially dangerous dogs owned by inadequate none too bright owners. Recipe for disaster so sad.

Looks like an American bulldog which is the same breed that killed the little boy round the corner to my house a couple of years ago.

Not a staffie after all !

And from what I have read this little 9 yr old possibly died the same way as the 3 yr old I mentioned above.

No dog attack is unprovoked and anyone who thinks the dog bears fault doesn't understand canine psychology. Dogs have no sense of right and wrong or good and evil. Their brains aren't developed enough to make sense of complex emotions or thoughts. The dog was not evil it was a dog.

All the 'unprovoked' dog attacks are explainable. You only have to look at Facebook to see 5the amount of parents who think it is cute for a child to ride the pet dog, sleep on the pet, play with the dog's ears etc. And when you look at those pictures as a qualified dog behaviourist they're terrifying. The dogs are almost always showing signs of stress.

Dogs have several signals they give before they attack. Growling is the last one yet people still teach their dog not to growl thus taking away the only means of communication the dog has which its owners understand.

At the end of the day this dog attack happened in the exact same circumstances as 99.99% of fatal fog bites. A child who was not part of the dogs usual family was left unsupervised with the dog. The only blame lies with the adult humans who allowed those circumstances to arise.

In terms of preventing dog attacks I think dog behaviour should be taught in primary schools especially how to recognise signs of stress in dogs. Like or not dogs are ingrained into society. There is no way to get away from them. They lead the blind, they're employed by the police, they warn epilepsy sufferers of oncoming seizures, they are pest controllers, they herd sheep and the provide comfort to people. They're part of society and they always will be. Many people believe they were an integral part of our evolution allowing us to hunt more successfully. We need to learn how to live alongside them in the modern world as we seem to have forgotten.

A nip from a puppy (which my children get daily on their legs) is not the same thing as an adult dog bite.

Though I make sure my puppy is supervised and on a lead when visiting kids are around. Everyone who has had a puppy knows they nip this isn’t the same as an adult dog biting a child with an adult set of teeth when they are not teething/playing any more.

Ffs the dog could have been Ill or had a tumour or anything. I would pay money on it this poor boy didn't do a thing wrong !