Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
The doghouse

If you're worried about your pet's health, please speak to a vet or qualified professional.

Original poster

Whippetty Boy attacked tonight by two other dogs

33 replies

UnseenAcademicalMum · 30/03/2011 00:21

Just wanted to say, our new rescue dog, Whippetty Boy,was attacked tonight by one staffy/rotti/english bull terrier pup (5 months old) and another staffi cross. Both dogs were off the lead and the pup, who was the more aggressive had only been with the chav owner for 5 days.

Whippetty Boy got off fairly lightly because he "only" has teeth marks in his rear end - if the pup of the two dogs had been full grown, I dread to think what injuries whippetty boy would have had. He came home, went to his crate and hs refused to come out since Sad.

After the "owner" of these aggressive dogs had finished threatening dp, he then stood and beat the pup with his fist Sad. We have reported him to the police (I dread to think if it had been a child as opposed to a dog which was attacked), but the police were not so interested Angry. The f*ing "owner" said the pup had only attacked once before - in the five days he has had him. The dog was off the lead, the guy was face down into his mobile phone. Is this really what the world is coming to?

Those poor dogs. What kind of life to they have in front of them, to be owned by chavs like this? Sad (and also Sad for whippetty boy, and my ds2, who just awoke with nightmares about the strange dogs)

OP posts:
Scuttlebutter · 30/03/2011 01:28

So sorry to hear this. Please contact your local Dog Warden immediately in the morning and insist the complaint is logged. On a practical level, if this is where this idiot hangs out, don't walk your dogs there in future (even if inconvenient). Also make sure you report this to your Councillor and if you are in or you think the other owner is from social housing, please contact the local housing office to report the matter as anti social behaviour. And again, get it LOGGED. Go back to the police and insist on an incident report. These incidents continue because too many idiots can get away with it.

For future reference, use your phone to take pics of man and dog. Also ensure you have local Council call centre/ PCSO/ non emergency number in your phone memory as well as your vets. Hope dear Whippetty Boy will soon regain his confidence. May be worth getting his bottom checked over by vet if the skin has been broken - might need a course of ABs to be on the safe side.

WhereTheWildThingsWere · 30/03/2011 07:51

Oh poor you, what a horrible experienceSad.

It is very important to get him out socalizing again with dogs that you know to be safe, whether this be friends dogs, or joining a puppy class. Whippets can be very sensitive and you will need to build up his confidence again in order to prevent him becoming wary of/agressive with other dogs.

In the mean time be very careful where you walk him, I know he is new and you need to keep him on the lead atm, but many dogs communicate very badly when on the lead, all sorts of arguments arise which would never happen if both dogs were off lead (I am not saying this was neccesarily the case yesterday, but is worth bearing in mind).

Also if you haven't already, it might be worth joining us on The Whippet Forum where there is a wealth of whippety advice and knowledgeSmile.

Original poster
UnseenAcademicalMum · 30/03/2011 09:05

Thank you for your kind words and advice. We contacted the police yesterday (much sighing ensued from the police officer), but an officer is coming over tonight and we have an incident number. It makes my blood run cold to think what would have happened if the puppy got hold of a small child. According to dp, the puppy came from behind and even after the owner put the lead back on, the dog was still trying to have a go.

I hadn't thought of reporting to the local councillor, but will definately do so, and also to the local dog warden.

OP posts:
chickchickchicken · 30/03/2011 09:56

this makes my blood boil Angry
poor whippety boy, poor other dogs living with an abusive owner
second all the advice above

Vallhala · 30/03/2011 10:15

Calling the local dog warden is essential in getting these type of incidents dealt with - PLEASE follow ALL of ScuttleButter's advice, she is entirely correct in what she's saying. (Not that you needed assuring of that SB! :) )

You said "It makes my blood run cold to think what would have happened if the puppy got hold of a small child." - please can I make it clear that dog-aggression and human-aggression do NOT go hand-in-hand. Yes of course SOME dogs are both but this is RARE. I handle a lot of dog aggressive dogs as a rescuer, as do my own children, their dog-aggression does NOT make them a danger to us or any other human.

Inaccurate assumptions are part of the reason why so many dogs, bull breeds especially, are being killed in pounds across the country week in, week out, as people believe what they hear and as a result refuse to adopt a dog but go to dodgy breeders instead leaving the unwanted pound dogs to die.

I hope to feck someone catches up with the bloody owner and takes the dogs off him and into better care and would have no hesitation doing it myself.

I hope to that little Whippy Boy is soon recovered from his dreadful experience and that he is none the worse for it. Please give him a gentle hug from me.

Vallhala · 30/03/2011 10:18

Oh, and you witnessed a crime in the form of animal abuse contrary to the Animal Welfare Act so damn bloody right you want an incident number AND should insist that the police investigate to the best of their ability.

Vallhala · 30/03/2011 10:20

Tsk! "I hope TOO that little Whippy Boy... "

I must learn to preview.

BorisTheBold · 30/03/2011 10:36

Poor whippetty boy - hope he's back and boucing soon and your ds isn't put off other dogs because of this experience.

Lucky escape really for your whippet, my two older ones were both attacked (at different times) and ended up with tears along the rib cage. Painful for them, expensive and a PITA for me, as I had to make sure they didn't lick the stiches as well as keeping the other three away too!

If you can, try to find some other whippets, or whippet-types, for your boy to play with. It's a real joy to watch whippets playing together - they go mental together! You're not in Hampshire are you? Grin

JaxTellersOldLady · 30/03/2011 11:04

you have had some sound advice above, so no point me reiterating, just wanted to say hope your whippety boy is ok soon.

This also makes me so fucking angry! And I have to say, shame on the 'rescue' Angry

Original poster
UnseenAcademicalMum · 30/03/2011 12:05

Jax, the other guy's dogs were not from the rescue. He said he'd taken the pup from a friend who couldn't handle him and "oh, his Dad has a bit of an aggressive streak too". I think the pup has been bred from at least one vicious parent (possibly two), with the deliberate intention to produce a dog which is big and aggressive. This was the second time the dog had attacked in a five day period - yet he still had both dogs off the lead.

Whippety boy has puncture marks in his flank from the upper teeth and the skin in front of one of his legs is torn from the lower teeth. If the pup would have been fully grown, I dread to think.

Unfortunately ds2 was sick in his sleep last night due to nightmares about big dogs coming to our house.

OP posts:
Original poster
UnseenAcademicalMum · 30/03/2011 12:45

Or was the comment about the rescue refering to our dog? In which case, why angry?

OP posts:
JaxTellersOldLady · 30/03/2011 13:07

no, apologies, I misread your OP. Have you contacted your local dog warden yet?

It sounds to me that this dogowner and his dogs will be known in your local area. If not, they soon will be.

Do you have some responsible dog friends who could help your son know that not all big dogs are aggresive?

Original poster
UnseenAcademicalMum · 30/03/2011 13:53

No worries.

Am getting dp to contact the dog warden, as he can describe the man/dog, though I've seen the guy in the park before with the older of the two dogs, I only have dp's description of the pup. The owner also threatened to "set the dogs on" dp too (which the police didn't even react to) - so I think the guy is deliberately training (for want of a better word) the dogs to be aggressive. When the younger one attacked Whippety boy, the dogs were a good few hundred metres away when they started running up to Whippety. Then they circled and came at him from behind.

When Whippety is a bit more settled in, we were going to allow him to play/run with a friends greyhounds, but we wanted to have him a bit more settled in/sure of his character/sure of his recall first.

OP posts:
higgle · 30/03/2011 15:37

Poor poor Whippety! What a dreadful thing to happen. I hope you can rebuild his confidence. My old PBGV was attacked by a German Shepherd when he was young and had lots of puncture wounds, that was a dog that had only been rehomed a few days and really should have been on a lead, unfortunately it made my dog very aggressive with any large dogs he did not know, and always at risk of getting more of the same.

Vallhala · 30/03/2011 15:42

Higgle, please put me out of my misery! PBVG.... Petit Bassett? :) Confused

mamatomany · 30/03/2011 15:46

If she'd took a photo of chavvy owner I dread to think what might have happened, i doubt he'd have posed so you could get a good shot.
The police unfortunately seem to be unconcerned even when a human is attacked, goodness knows what the answer is other than to keep away from the morons.

WhereTheWildThingsWere · 30/03/2011 16:10

Val PBGV = Petit Basset Griffon Vendeen, my sil has one, she is bootiful.

higgle · 30/03/2011 17:11

Yes, Vallhalla and WTWTW he was a Petit Basset Griffon Vendeen, noisy, smelly and a total wimp ( but much loved) just about as opposite to a Staffy as you can get!

Vallhala · 30/03/2011 17:43

higgle, she sounds lovely... and in personality just like my late Staffie cross!

:o

Original poster
UnseenAcademicalMum · 13/04/2011 22:39

Just thought I'd pop back with a quick update on this. We reported to the police (got an incident number), they did nothing. The dog warden in our area has apparently been scraped (budget cuts) and wrote to the local councillor, who passed it on to someone else, who has been diligently ignoring it.

In the meantime, I know of another 4 dogs in the area which have been attacked by this dog. All cases have been reported to the police, who refuse to act.

I have also seen the "owner" of these two dogs with someone else in our town chasing people down the road with an English Bull Terrier (possibly the father of the pup which has been attacking). They were deliberatately getting the dog to snap at people from behind. I should add, this is not a rough inner city area, or even a rough town, just a small rural town. So, it looks like the chavs win as the police refuse to do anything about them Sad.

OP posts:
Vallhala · 13/04/2011 23:27

Please would you tell or pm me the district council you contacted, Unseen, because, as far as I understand it, the Environmental Protection Act 1990 requires ALL councils to have a dog warden. He may not be called that, he may have other duties as well (very often pest control) but there must be someone appointed to deal with dogs nonetheless.

If this is the case (and I'll check with legal experts first) then the council concerned needs hauling over the coals.

Joolyjoolyjoo · 13/04/2011 23:38

How is your poor wee dog now? I only ask because sometimes bite wounds can look like not much, then abscess and get infected- has he had some antibiotics?

This kind of thing makes me so mad. The police are almost always reluctant to do anything, yet they DO have the powers to do so, under the Dangerous Dogs Act, which states that any dog which is outwith the control of an owner and which could reasonably be viewed as dangerous is contravening the law. Angry

I agree with Val that interdog aggression does not always correspond to dog-human aggression, but what if a child was on the other end of the attacked-dog's lead?

I don't really know what else you can do, unfortunately, except insist that the police take your statement, and record all your correspondence with them. They are so disinterested in stuff like this, and it riles me. A dog attacked by another dog can end up being seriously injured and can cost hundreds in vets bills. If someone caused hundreds of pounds of damage to your car (an unfeeling hunk of metal!) they would take that more seriously. Grr!

Let us know how you get on, and I really hope whippety boy is ok.

ensure · 13/04/2011 23:44

How dreadful. I hope your dog is recovering well by now.

Original poster
UnseenAcademicalMum · 13/04/2011 23:50

Val, the council website gives a number for a dog warden, but if we call it, there is persisently no-one there. I then heard from someone else (whose dog was also attacked by the same pair) that our borough does not have dog wardens any more Confused. Will pm the local area to you.

Whippety boy does seem to be healing ok (aside from the bald patch on his back end) though he has become much more nervous with other dogs. Otoh, I took him to his first obedience class a few nights ago and he was all wags for the whole session Grin. It may have had something to do with the teacher's preference for sight-hounds, so he had a HUGE fuss made of him.

It is unfortunate that we have a really nice park a few minutes walk from us that no-one dares use (after lunch, since the chavs are in bed till then) because of these dogs.

OP posts:
Vallhala · 14/04/2011 00:18

Poor little boy, he must be so scared. :(

Thanks, unseen, I have a contact in animal law... as soon as I can track him down I'll see what he has to say about the legal position.