Does something need to be done about dogs?

Screeeech said:
I read about the one in St Helens, was an American Bully XL.

From what I read, it sounds like the owners are to blame here, because you never ever ever ever bring an adult dog (regardless of breed) back to your house (rescue, doggysit, and leave it with children. You simply can't know how it's going to react to a child, or how the child will be with the dog..

It's just a bloody stupid irresponsible thing to do.



It's funny, a lot things I've seen where somebody brings an out of control dog to a trainer, I often find myself thinking "If I was the dog, or even a kid, I'd walk all over this person" the way they behave and act, is just not condusive to being a leader.
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The 10 year old lad who got killed in Caerphilly a few months back was also killed by a newly acquired American Bully XL.

The dog was called Beast, and had been passed on by the previous owner (breeder) a few weeks before, as the breeder couldn't keep it due to aggression to his other dogs. I live about a mile away, and know more than I need to about that one...

Charges have been brought in that case.
 
We made the decision to hand a very soft, but very large German shepherd over to a rescue agency just before the birth of our daughter. He was a fantastic dog, very friendly but used to growl when eating from his bowl. We'd tried to train this out of him whilst a pup but failed. In the end we decided we couldn't take the risk with a small child, as we all know how fast they move when they learn to crawl.:(
 
Screeeech said:
I read about the one in St Helens, was an American Bully XL.

From what I read, it sounds like the owners are to blame here, because you never ever ever ever bring an adult dog (regardless of breed) back to your house (rescue, doggysit, and leave it with children. You simply can't know how it's going to react to a child, or how the child will be with the dog..

It's just a bloody stupid irresponsible thing to do.
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Exactly what I said earlier in the thread.
Feek said:
In the case of the baby killed by a dog that had only been in the household for a couple of weeks, I read comments about a neighbour trying to pull the dog off but there was no mention about the parents being anywhere near. Terrible situation but surely if that's true, the parents should be held culpable.
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As with pretty much everything else it comes down to education and awareness on both sides (dog owners and general public).

We're looking to get a dog later this year, neither of us had a dog before so we'll be looking to get older, gentler dog from a shelter as we don't feel like we'd be ready for younger dog let alone training a puppy.
 
Dis86 said:
22 deaths in 6 years, sounds like an acceptable number eh?
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Almost 70x that amount were killed on the roads in 2020 (most of which in lockdown) alone. Just to put things into perspective.

There aren't killer dogs around every corner, the same way there isn't a paedophile on every street, it's just reported more and in your face due to media amplification.
 
potatolord said:
The 10 year old lad who got killed in Caerphilly a few months back was also killed by a newly acquired American Bully XL.

The dog was called Beast, and had been passed on by the previous owner (breeder) a few weeks before, as the breeder couldn't keep it due to aggression to his other dogs. I live about a mile away, and know more than I need to about that one...

Charges have been brought in that case.
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I think it's a really difficult one, and I honestly wouldn't even claim to know what the answer is.

When it comes to breeds like the American Bully XL, I think I'm in the camp that believes that if you take a puppy, socialise properly from a very young age - by a responsible owner who knows and cares about what they're doing, it's likely to be (despite its looks) a perfectly decent dog for life.

But I think in reality many of these breeds (pitbull / bully) attract a certain type of owner, who wants to either "feel tough" or have the dog as some sort of status enhancer, or in extreme cases - maybe even weaponise the dog. You only have to scroll through a few videos on youtube, where people are training American Bully XLs to bite and attack. It's not like these people are breeding dogs for pets and companions, they're breeding highly dangerous dogs, which are desirable to people who want something that's highly dangerous.

As a result, we might always see a disproportionate amount of attacks being attributed to these breeds, simply because they attract an owner who is less likely to give a ****.

I also think social media probably plays a part, people see these great big hulking dogs snuggling up with babies and such like, yet they don't see the training and time that went into creating that situation for years in the background. They just see the end product on Instagram and think "I want that, lets go and get it now" then collect an adult dog, of unknown history - being given away because it's a nightmare.. (maybe I'm making a bit of a straw man here, but some of these cases feel like this is what's happened)

I'm a dog lover, and at some point I'd love a Bullmastiff. However - I've spent about 2-3 years researching the breed, spent time with the breed and some owners, and I'm not doing it until I'm in a suitable period in my life, where I have the perfect environment, and plenty of time available to dedicate the first year to socialisation and training.. I just feel that the sort of people who get a big dog on a whim, wouldn't think like this.
 
Fubsy said:
Almost 70x that amount were killed on the roads in 2020 (most of which in lockdown) alone. Just to put things into perspective.

There aren't killer dogs around every corner, the same way there isn't a paedophile on every street, it's just reported more and in your face due to media amplification.
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Unfortunately cars are essential to the modern lifestyle in this country
Dogs aren't.
All deaths should be prevented where possible, not one of these deaths by dogs is justifiable.
 
Dis86 said:
Unfortunately cars are essential to the modern lifestyle in this country
Dogs aren't.
All deaths should be prevented where possible, not one of these deaths by dogs is justifiable.
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On average 30 people accidentally drown in a bath a year. A bath is not essential when we have showers. Should we start banning baths?
 
Dis86 said:
Unfortunately cars are essential to the modern lifestyle in this country
Dogs aren't.
All deaths should be prevented where possible, not one of these deaths by dogs is justifiable.
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Well then Dis86, hazard a guess how many murders there were in the last 6 years? Happy to be PTS "just in case"?
 
Dis86 said:
Again, too many. It's already illegal to own people though.
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You see, this is where things get interesting.

A child could be brought up in such an awful manner, then go on to kill innocent children as a result of the mistreatment. Why aren't the parents held responsible?

I know I'm being absurd, but the logic applied makes the case to ban children.
 
In the UK around 13 children (under 5 years) die from drowning each year, and 1 in 4 of these deaths occur in a bath. For each drowning fatality, there are 8 non-fatal drowning events that are serious enough to require hospitalisation.
 
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