Toddler dies after pet dog attack

[Caligula]

toddler dies after pet dog attack

Oh god I always feel sick when I read news stories like this one - that poor family and that poor child. I feel so paranoid about DS going to friend's houses where there are dogs. Especially after what that woman from the RSPCA said about the heat.

Sorry Fimbo.. didn't mean to annoy - I'm agreeing with you, its just that typing often puts things over with the wrong tone of voice, if you know what I mean! I can see what irritated you - it could look like I was criticising you for pasting the rules - sorry, and certainly not my intention

Would those people you see letting their dogs run riot care even if they were aware of the code is my point.

What can you actually do if a dog is behaving in a threatening way? Is there someone you can call?

We have a real problem with this round here. We have a recreation ground with a small playground. The playground does have grills at the entrance, which is a deterrant to some dog owners. However, I took ds there a few weeks ago, and there was a woman with a pretty big dog who was letting him run up and down the climbing frame, on the grounds that "dogs need somewhere to play just like kids"! and "he's got just as much right to be here as your child." WTF?

Dogs also start circling when ds, who is 22 months, and I start kicking his ball around, just outside the play area. The number of times I have heard "its okay, he's only a puppy!" (actually, I don't care how old he is, he's a metre high and barking at my child and scaring him, and you are half a mile away).

I've also been screamed at for flying a kite, as apparently it was "teasing" someone's dog, and this was unfair. Never really understood that one.

I have no problem at all with responsible dog owners. But I do think that owning a dog is a choice which has impact on other members of society, and so dog owners have a responsibility to reduce this as much as possible. And most do, IME. Now I've got 2 kids though, I'd just really like a simple way to stop the irresponsible ones.

Okay, posts crossed. Who are these dog wardens? Do I call the council?

Serah . I do agree with you - rules are wasted on some people. My dh worries that I am going to get into a fight one day, as I always say my piece if I see a dog off its lead around children.

Don't know where you live MM but here is a guide

merg yes ring the council (least that's where ours are)

not sure on the kite thing? ours arn't bothered by kites, balls however, yes they do chase and frizbys so easiest thing is on the leads for us. as for the play area WTF exactly, what would she have done if the dog had fallen over whilst on one of those things? they're not ment for dogs exactly.

Fimbo. No scrapping now!!

Yes, the Dog Wardens work for your local councils. They are usually very helpful.

I think all dogs should be kept on lead unless they are in a fenced off area. They could attack a child or another dog.

My poor dog was attacked and almost killed by another dog. That was about 4 years ago but I have been unable to walk my dog since incase he is attacked again.

My son at age 3 had his face ripped open by my ex mother in laws west Highland terrier. It was a totally unprovoked attack. My ds walked by the dog and the dog which had a history of biting leapt up and clamped his jaws around my ds face. He had to have stitches, the wound got infected and he now has a lovely scar on his cheek. This happened 3 days before he started nursery too All my dear ex mother in law could say was 'oh it's alright the dog didn't mean it' She also wouldn't speak to me for weeks because I hit the roof.

Any dog big or small has the potential to become a killer or at the very least maim a small child

Your ex MIL must have felt guilty that her dog had done it. Doesn't excuse her saying the dog didn't mean it, how does she know???

My mums dog bit my nephew when he was 2, right under his eye. The dog had been sleeping and my nephew went right up to her face. She opened her eyes and just bit him.

I took my sister and nephew to the hospital and my mum went all defensive. Saying how the dog wouldn't do it again, it wasn't the dogs fault etc. The dog hasn't bit anyone since (happened 5 years ago) but often growls at kids if they pester her.

she probably did feel guilty but to this day she has never once said sorry, In fact she defended the dog to the hilt and still insisted that it was safe to play with the kids!! I'm very wary about all dogs now

I wouldn't allow my children to go to a house where a dog who had a history of biting was. Isn't there some statistic about a dog who bites once being more likely to do it again? And I think they're more likely to bite children because kids aren't as aware of what's sensible behaviour around dogs - like walking straight up to their face, for example.

Let's hope her dog bites her one day Sheepgomeep!

sorry but i cant understand why anyone would keep a dog who'd bitten a child.

i wish it would caligula.. not poosible now though it died of a brain haemorridge last month

I didn't have much choice about sending the kids there as my ex lives with his mother and it is his house that the kids have contact. My ex for all his faults did make sure that the kids were never left alone with the dog and closely supervised the kids all the time, as he didn't like the dog either. It tore a chunk out of his ear six years ago because ex accidently sat on a real lamb bone that ex mil stupidly used to give him.

because ex mil is stupid and has little common sense. Even ex dp wasn't happy about it

and before anyone jumps on me for letting my ds in the same room a s the dog. I wasn't actually there in the house. The kids had gone on thier visit

We were at the seaside recently and a lady came over to us with her dog. DS bent down and looked straight into the dogs face. The dog started barking and jumping all over the place trying to get to DS. The lady (who I have never met before) told DS not to look at the dogs face?!

So, DS did it again and this time the lady shouted at him

He is 3 and generally does things you tell him not to. If her dog doesn't want kids to look at it, then why on earth did she bring it near us in the first place. We were sitting on a bench minding our own business. I was too shocked to reply to her and she just dragged her dog off down the road!

I wouldn't criticise anyone for letting their kids in the same room as a dog sheepgomeep. My sons in the same room as my dog now - the one that I'm in!

Its dog owners and the responsible adults that should be aware of what children are doing. As Caligula said, children aren't aware of the consequences of putting their faces into a dogs, particularly when it is sleeping - dog owners and the responsible adults should be. That said, perhaps the onus falls entirely on the dog owner, as non-dog owners sometimes are not aware either. Don't really know - just a thought.

(Dog has now stood up and gone to bed as his defiance in not moving to prevent progress of bouncy chair has lapsed. More to the point he was probably fed up of getting cracked on the heads with each bounce)

Thanks sereh. I personally think my ex mil dog should have been put down but at the end of the day i couldn't do anything about it. All I could do was take steps as far as I could to stop it happening again. I know many dog owners are responsible but then there are many that are not unfortunately. I also think that some owners are blind when it comes to thier dogs

I think you are absolutely right sheepgomeep. A lot of dog owners are blind to what can happen. I know that incidences such as you describe are all too common, and shame on those such as your ex mil who even knew about it!

We had a dog who was lovely but snappy. He lives with my mother in law now as he is not safe around children. She has another dog who frequently takes bites out of men and has made my BIL and Grandfather in law end up in casualty having their wounds cleaned. The dogs have to stay in their pen when we visit.

I know lots of people who have been bitten by dogs when they were children and some of them have the scars to prove it. I love dogs myself but I don't romanticise them and I wouldn't trust them around a child unsupervised.

I think that this incident was a tragic accident but this doesn't mean that I think it couldn't have been prevented. I think that people who own these "dangerous" breeds of dog and have children need their heads examined.

Parents need to teach their children how to behave around all animals. They will come into contact with animals and the experience is usually enriching.

The 1 month old baby killed by the bull terrier story mentioned in the 2nd link is my friend the baby (her name was Ashleigh)was sat in a bouncy chair and the dog was calm and showed no sign of attack and quietly went up to the baby and put its jaws around the baby's head, and my friend and her mother could not get the dog off (tried everything)as its jaw had locked.

The baby died of blood loss, and the dog had penetrated the skull so in effect had no chance of survival.We do have a dog, but i am very wary.

Its all very well saying that parents need to teach thier children how to behave around animals but as lilsmum has just said this was a totally unprovoked attack on a baby.

my own son was just walking past my mil dog when it attacked, my son knows better than to tease a dog and it still attacked him.

Lilsmum am truly sorry for your friends loss. I can't even begin to imagine what she's going through .

Yes being around animals can be a rewarding experience for children but on the other hand it makes sense to be aware of the dangers too.