Yet another child mauled to death.

[Arrowfoot]

Isn't it time to prosecute the child's guardian and or the dog's owner (they could be 2 separate individual) for such incidents? We owe it to the child at the very least.

The forever mantra that my dog is different or that it is out of character should be set aside. Inevitably the poor dog is put down but nothing gets done on the people responsible for the dog or the child.

 

[Mo1959]

Such a waste of a child’s life. Not been confirmed yet but the reports I read said a neighbour thought it looked like a pit bull or staffy type and they don’t seem to know the history of the dog or previous owners which I find strange. I wouldn’t leave a dog like that alone with my cat let alone a child.

 

[gbb]

Without knowing the breed, its history, the family, its history, the days, weeks running up to the incident, the dogs behaviour, im not sure id want to make a consideration on it.
What i do think is some people enter into dog ownership without much of a clue (we pretty much all do that initially), and many people simply dont see the signs, or worse, do, and cant bring themselves to do something about it. Laziness is pretty much a human condition, its everywhere, just too much effort to take the right path.
Its us thats the problem, not the dogs per se.

 

[Dave7]

There are too many unknowns to judge but if.... IF someone has left the child alone with a dog they hardly know** then they should be held to account.
**with any dog imo but that is only my opinion.

 

[Time Waster]

It's OK! They're "nanny dogs!" Until they kill that is then it's totally out of character for the dog I despair sometimes.

As a dog owner of just over 4 years I'm a novice. Before that I helped out occasionally at an animal rescue dog walking and cat cuddling aka socialisation. I also grew up with my grandparents dogs when I visited. They all used to teach us about looking after dogs, in their way. I also learnt that even the nicest, most loyal dog will react if the circumstances are there.

My grandparents jrt would snap if we stroked him when he's trying to sleep in the sunny patch in the dining room. He'd let you stroke him so much then the signs, then the snap. We didn't know or ignored the signs because we were primary school age. It never connected but it was scary. Very occasionally it connected with a most gentle of bites, almost a mouthing than a bite. Enough to teach us.

Despite our obviously good relationship with that dog am adult was never too far away. I think that is the key. No dog should be unsupervised around children. I mean no dog at all. However I do believe big and/or powerful dogs should have even more care about how kids are allowed to interact. Any terrier with a locking bite isn't a nanny dog it needs to be considered potentially dangerous. Even the small ones like Patterdales even border terriers like we have. Bull breeds and other breeds that were bred for fighting or guarding need to be treated with care.

I know someone who had pinschers. Lovely temperament on the dog but protective. A strong guarding instinct a bred into it. She never got bitten by other dogs despite often separating her dog from them but her own dog occasionally bit her in the melee. Sometimes needing stitches, tetanus jab and antibiotics.

Postie friends still reckon the breed they're most wary about is the golden retriever. One friend got bitten 3 times by the same GR over 2 years.

I guess I'm saying dogs are what dogs are, different between breeds and even examples of the same breed. What is, imho, the same is negligence on the human owner. We're all negligent at some point. We try to create behaviour we want in dogs through breeding or training but in the end they will do what they want when they want to. Unfortunately that can mean a death.

I hope this gets fully investigated without easy shortcuts like just putting the dog down. The owners need looking at. Imho there needs to be more control of dog ownership. Even training/ licencing of dog owners.

 

[Time Waster]

There are too many unknowns to judge but if.... IF someone has left the child alone with a dog they hardly know** then they should be held to account.
**with any dog imo but that is only my opinion.

I heard they only had the dog a couple of weeks. If true they all didn't know the dog.

 

[Dave7]

I heard they only had the dog a couple of weeks. If true they all didn't know the dog.

I read just one week.

 

[markemark]

If one more flippin dog owner in the local parks tells me not to worry as their dog is harmless and just being friendly l’ll scream. You clearly have no control over your dog so I simply don’t trust your judgement.

I wonder how many dog owners whose dogs have mauled/injured people or other wildlife had said that prior to the attack.

 

[Cycleops]

Always seems to be the same sort that buy these dogs. Whether it be as a fashion accessory or to impress others or to enforce their own image.
Any breed of dog can turn but buying these aggressive types is just beyond stupid when you have young children.

 

[numbnuts]

A dog is a domesticated wild animal and can revert back when ever it wants too
“He's as soft as old boots” yeah right

 

[Lookrider]

Many dog breeds are meant to be on a lead and muzzled whilst out
This was law passed many years ago but we still see these dogs and owners in parks with those breeds running around freely
This must only show owners disregard

 

[bagpuss]

The Wolf in your living room.

https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/fc36ffda7f00422f97885121561b5253
https://wolfworthy.co.uk/blogs/word-of-the-wolf/5-amazing-facts-about-the-wolf-in-your-living-room

 

[SpokeyDokey]

Please, let's not let this descend into another anti-dog thread.

We are hardly standard setters as a species.

 

[Cycleops]

Please, let's not let this descend into another anti-dog thread.

We are hardly standard setters as a species.

Looks like a anti human thread to me.

 

[KnittyNorah]

As I wrote in my most recent 'your ride today' post, it's 'funny' (good word, funny - can mean anything from entertaining through puzzling straight to tragic) how dogs try so very hard to imitate and take a lead from their owner. They know no better.
Most dogs want to see its owner as the pack leader and 'instructor' if you like; with the best will in the world in this recent tragedy the owners had apparently 'bought' the dog a week ago so the predominant 'model' for the dog's ingrained behaviour would have been the seller - if indeed the seller was indeed the real previous 'owner' of the dog etc etc - and/or its previous owner/s.

And yes, to leave any dog - let alone a newly-purchased, and presumably adult, dog - with any child who is any of the following - unable, or possibly unable, to react appropriately to the dog/liable, or possibly liable, to react inappropriately to the dog /unaccustomed to said dog/unaccustomed to dogs in general/fearful of dogs and a whole host of other situations, for even the briefest of moments, is deliberately putting the child at HUGE risk and the height of irresponsibility. The less you know about the dog, the greater the risk ...

Yet most of us have at least read of - and I personally have experienced - dogs being the most wonderful protectors of 'their' pack, be they adult or child

TL; DR:
There are dogs which will warn of impending epileptic and diabetic episodes and I personally knew a working border collie which tugged and tore at a child's clothing while barking whenever it could, in order to hold back a small child from wandering onto a railway line. The child was not even one of its own 'pack' but had toddled out from the traveller encampment which was on the old brickworks next to the railway line. The dog had darted away from its owner (the farmer who neighboured the brickworks) as he was checking his own boundary fences (because of his 'new neighbours'); he must have sensed or been alerted to something 'not right' in some way. The family of the child were searching on the other side of the encampment, where it abutted onto the canal, thinking that water would be the temptation rather than scrubland leading to a railway line ...

When I was a child, my family took in a wandering mongrel which just 'turned up' one day; we called him Charlie and he was a very sociable dog. He used to play with us kids all day long when we weren't at school. One day we were playing in the woods, and the dad of one of the kids turned up with ropes and tools to build us a proper swing near our 'den'. It was soon finished and we all wanted 'first go'. After my friend Andrea had had a turn, Mr Martin lifted me onto the swing ; I screamed in excitement and as I screamed, Charlie hurled himself at the one he perceived as 'attacking' me ie Mr Martin. He put me down and Charlie was all waggy tail as he licked me as if to check I was OK. Then Mr Martin said to Andrea, if I lift you onto the swing again, will you scream like Norah did? I want to see if Charlie will protect all of you little girls. So they did, and Charlie did - not with quite the same degree of aggression as he had when it was me screaming but ... Mr Martin made sure that Andrea and I knew what a good dog Charlie was (I was trying to tell him he was a bad dog for attacking Mr Martin) and said he would tell our dads what a good dog he was, in case they got hold of the wrong bit of the story.

So I am inclined in favour of dogs and their responsible ownership, rather than opposed to them - but you know what, I think dogs should be removed forcibly and physically from those owners or keepers who do not take their responsibilities seriously.
There are very few inherently bad dogs - they are made so by irresponsible humans, and as such we humans should take full responsibility for their behaviour.