American XL Bully dog

[BettyALJF]

My ex and I have two sons (7&9) and share them 50/50. His girlfriend has an American XL bully dog that now lives with them. I’ve had reservations about the dog as it’s massive but I can’t stop them having it and know all dogs are different etc. I asked my ex to never leave them unsupervised with the dog, which the boys tell me they are on a morning when they go down for breakfast and their dad and gf stay upstairs and god knows when else. I pick my sons up on Saturday afternoon and the boys tell me that my youngest has been bitten on the ear by the dog on Thursday. My ex didn’t tell me this had happened. Once we are home I look at the bite and it’s pierced the skin. I asked them what happened and he said he got on the sofa and the dog barked at him and got his ear. He said it hurt and bled a lot. They tell me they didn’t go to the drs to get it looked at. Obviously when the skins been broken it can cause an infection, so I ring 111 to ask what to do and they send me to the hospital to get it checked out due to it being a Saturday. The doctor cleans the cut and says they have to report it to the police. I let my ex know all this and he has a go at me saying he didn’t know what I was trying to do and that I should have contacted him to find out what happened. I basically think they’ve not taken him as they are worried what will happen to the dog, therefore not putting our son’s safety first.
Regardless of what happened, it’s pierced the skin and as his father he has a duty of care and he should’ve taken him to the doctors for it to be checked, cleaned and given anti biotics. It may have been an accident, but I don’t want to risk ‘a second offence’ which may be a lot worse next time. I’ve told the police I don’t want the dog in the house when the boys are there, I don’t trust them to put the boys safety first anymore. Would you do the same thing in my situation?

Mate. It's hyperbolic to talk about agencies working together and immediate safeguarding and calling 999. It's been explained why on the thread many many times. There's no point encouraging OP to report things again when she's already done it and nothing can be done anyway. Only the OP can protect the kids from this dog.

Draco. I am not your mate. Stop dismissing the concerns of this mother, your post reeks of ‘calm down dear’. Of course her first action should be to speak to a solicitor.

Many people would say that a child being sent to a house with an xl bully that has already bitten them is a child at risk of immediate and grave harm. As such the school could reasonably decide to call the police- we are talking about a very high risk situation.

Jeez, your posts are frustrating.
the dog has been reported to the police. The police have confirmed the dog is legal. Therefore how on earth do you think the police would agree to take police protection (which is the only way they can prevent a parent taking a child) because of a dangerous dog which they have confirmed is legally kept and they aren't going to take any action on? Please think about it.
I am not dismissing OP's concerns. I am simply advising her not to waste her time and also trying to dispel myths about the role and powers of children's services to all the people posting on and reading this thread who think there is something they can do.

I don’t understand why the Police are not acting on an XL bully who has bitten a child that required further treatment? Whatever the reason, don’t want to get involved with a marital dispute, have been persuaded by the Father and girlfriend it was trivial, they are in the wrong to not investigate further? OP don’t assume the Police are in the right. They do sometimes act out of prejudice. Be assertive.

Draco. Your lack of understanding of the gravity of the situation is very worrying. And your tone is patronising. You are implying that the OP should either give up on protecting her children or keep them off school indefinitely.

The child is at risk, the police don’t seem to be taking it seriously, a call from the school would encourage them at least to visit the Father. They should be investigating a bite from a dangerous breed and it’s concerning that they aren’t.

Very frequently when child deaths are investigated it turns out that numerous people had concerns but didn’t act on them or pass them on.

OP needs to make a ‘fuss’ to ensure that doesn’t happen here.

It is imperative that the children don’t go to the house. As it stands the OP can’t stop the school handing the kids over to the Dad. She needs to take immediate action to remedy this - by speaking to a solicitor, the Police (until they take action) and the school so that they are aware, can support the children (who are caught in the middle of this all) and follow their own safeguarding policies. They can’t just ignore an immediate and grave risk - their policies will cover this sort of situation.

Draco - the dog may be being kept legally but it has already bitten a child. This is the fact you seem to be failing to understand. My brother-in-law was bitten by a non-dangerous dog recently, the hospital notified the police who visited the owner and instructed them to use a muzzle. And that was despite BIL asking them not too as he was embarrassed!!The police should be investigating and OP needs to keep in touch to check that they are- just as she would if a stranger’s dog had bitten her dc.

🙄

Draco - really? Go on a safeguarding course.

I'm a social worker of 18 years experience and have been managing a frontline child protection team for 4 years. Obviously you have no reason to believe me but I assure you I know what I'm talking about.

It depends on individual officers whether they do that.

Where I am dogs, including banned breeds who should no longer be present in the UK, are free to bite you and even your report is backed up by a hospital absolutely nothing happens.

I see reports on nextdoor regularly of dogs biting people. They also regularly bite other dogs. I also have had a DD who was bitten by a random dog in the last 18 months. The dog then tried to start fighting with another dog who was minding it's own business.

The dog actually has to maim you for any action to happen.

What nonsense. This is not the schools remit.

No no, you should do a safeguarding course! 😉

Op you need legal advice, like I said before you may get more sensible and much cheaper advice from a direct access barrister who actually works in court rather than a solicitor. I would speak to a direct access barrister and then consider getting a specific issue order.

Bodykeeping - it is!!!

Of course the school needs to know why the child is off school.

of course they need to know that the children might be upset at school because of what’s going on - that they might be upset about not seeing their dad / scared of the dog / feeling somehow guilty.

of course the school needs to know that the dc had a hospital visit due to a dog bite.

if the op tells school they obviously can’t ‘do’ anything, but they will phone the police and ss for advice. Why? Because they will be worried about the child (as any sane person would be) and they will want to fulfill their safeguarding duty. If ss / the police tell them that it’s not a problem then so be it, but the school will have done their bit.

Teachers and schools care about the children they teach and have it repeated every year that if there is a safeguarding concern you MUST pass the information on.
This is the flow chart schools follow (from .gov).

And this is what ss should do. Draco it’s really concerning that you are undermining school’s vital role in safeguarding and that you don’t think ss has any responsibility to protect children from being negligently exposed to dangerous dogs and parents that don’t seek medical attention after s dog bite.

The police won’t do anything.Section 3 Dangerous Dogs Act they have to act.

But at this moment the children are not at risk of harm, Op is acting protectively by not allowing them to go to Dad’s, therefore the dogs are not a risk to the children.
That may change if Dad picks them up from school but he has said that he will keep the children and dog separate, which also migrates the risk.
Lots of parents don’t seek medical help in a timely manor however OP did when she became aware of the situation, and the child was treated.
What else do you think SS can do in this situation?

Keeping the dog separate does not mitigate the risk. If the father left the dog unsupervised with children then clearly he and his girlfriend are not experienced and responsible dog owners. Keeping the dog separate without adequate training and behaviour management could make the problem worse. Whilst I have trained my dog to go to his basket when strangers come, if I could not supervise him I would not put him in another room when children turned up regularly without first training him that it was a rewarding place to be. Otherwise he would try to get out (and he has worked out how to open a door) and might come to regard the children as a concern / threat. He isn’t an aggressive breed so that would just manifest in not letting them near him, but this dog is.

OP needs the evidence of a dog behaviourist, one with a track record of understanding the breed. I am absolutely sure they would not advise for the children to be in the house with the dog, after there has already been a nip that broke skin.

I can’t emphasise enough how irresponsible the Father was in leaving the dog unsupervised with children. No responsible dog owner would do that even with a Pomeranian. He certainly cannot be trusted to manage separating the dog without making things worse

Contact someone senior at the police station and ask them what they are doing about a banned dog biting a child.

It's not a banned dog. XL bullies are legal if registered.

Less popular with police after it's bitten a child, one would hope!

OP said it's been reported to police and they aren't doing anything.

Shocking really