Does something need to be done about dogs?

Screeeech said:
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.
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Thanks for that reply, i agree with most of that.

Irresponsible owners are most of the problem. However, I do think that certain breeds are inherently more risky, due to size and aggression- pit bull types being one. Presa canarios are another.

Weirdly the roid monsters where I live tend to go for French Bulldogs and the like. I guess they have nothing to prove, though.

If we accept that regulation and liability insurance is required for certain risky items, it's hard to argue that it is not appropriate for others.

I honestly think most dog owners are responsible. The problem lies with a small minority of morons.
 
VincentHanna said:
Never mind the fact that it's usually the parents who often get these dogs from a mate down the street who is selling it, and just introduce them to toddlers and young kids with no real thought.
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This is pretty much my view of it. You can't target the specific breeds, because in most cases even the breeds that are most known to cause attacks (Staffies etc) that are many more dogs of that breed that have been trained well and are friendly. It's akin to banning humans because of a small minority that commit murder.

In reality there's nothing you can do to stop these attacks. Any sensible parent with common sense would not leave a dog unattended in a room with a young child - as sad as that sounds.

Dog ownership licenses (even though I'd happily agree to have one as a dog owner) wouldn't make any difference here.

The only real thing that could help is a crack down on breeding by "those types". Without any evidence, I would still bet it you traced back these dogs to the breeder, you'll likely find someone who's only it in for the money and doesn't care about the animal welfare.
 
I imagine more details will come out, but the red flag yet again is that a two year old toddler was attacked; I'm wondering exactly how or why a two year old, ended up being in the vicinity of three dogs where an attack could take place?
 
This one in January wasn't widely reported:
https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www....s/lampeter-dog-killed-john-jones-22731805.amp

"The man who died after he was reportedly attacked by three dogs in west Wales has been named as John William Jones.

An inquest has been opened and adjourned into the death of the 68-year-old.

A woman was arrested on suspicion of being in charge of a dog dangerously out of control and a police investigation into the death is now underway."
 
Screeeech said:
I imagine more details will come out, but the red flag yet again is that a two year old toddler was attacked; I'm wondering exactly how or why a two year old, ended up being in the vicinity of three dogs where an attack could take place?
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Also "an An eight-year-old boy and a girl, six, are both in a stable condition in hospital where their injuries are not thought to be life-threatening".
Horrible scenario to imagine what happened.

Totally agree about that being a red flag though. My dog is great with kids, but there's absolutely no way I'd leave him alone with a 2 year old child, let alone three dogs (and having an eight and six year old with them still counts as 'alone' to me as far as dog supervision is concerned).

I think I'd be keeping my dog physically separated, or with me holding his lead/right next to the two year old at all times.
 
GreatAuk said:
Totally agree about that being a red flag though. My dog is great with kids, but there's absolutely no way I'd leave him alone with a 2 year old child, let alone three dogs (and having an eight and six year old with them still counts as 'alone' to me as far as supervision is concerned).
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Yeah I mean it sort of feels similar to leaving young children around a garden pond, or in the kitchen when the stove is boiling or whatever, I mean you might get away with it once or twice, but it's only a matter of time until the worst happens.
 
A relative of mine, not a close one, had a dog known to be a bit unstable around kids bite a child in a park a couple of years ago.

Mind-blowingly, they had told the child's mother (they didn't know each other) that the dog was good with kids! It was even in their local paper.
 
it's a real shame to see the current spate of attacks happening; My extended family had similar when at a young age a young boy was bitten by a dog and face was disfigured. I now have a daughter and I'm yet to teach her to not touch dogs - I myself am a dog lover, but I'll be teaching her to ask before touching, don't touch with any toys around the dog and don't touch if the dogs eating - as that's when they're at their most defensive.

I'm not for banning breeds of dogs, for example a Staffy is seen as a fearsome dog - because their bite is so strong. The dog itself isn't a bad dog, in fact a staffy has probably one of the best temperaments a dog could other (other than say a golden retriever), but the issue is their bite is so strong, so if they go they'll do real damage.

Don't ban the dog breeds, ban the owners. Educate the owners and if they step out of line, then impose criminal convictions on them as well.
 
Yes - do something about dogs.

Reasons:
1. There's dog poop everywhere.
2. There's annoying barking everywhere.
3. Dog attacks happen.

The "it's not dogs it's people argument"...
4. It's not people. It's specific types of people. Lazy people who don't pick up poop. Shouty homes with barky dogs. Violent people with violent dogs. What am I saying... target chavs.

What to do?
5. Chavs don't have money. So use money as a barrier to dog ownership. Something like 1k/year should do it.

Problem solved.
 
Screeeech said:
I imagine more details will come out, but the red flag yet again is that a two year old toddler was attacked; I'm wondering exactly how or why a two year old, ended up being in the vicinity of three dogs where an attack could take place?
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It's fairly standard though, the dogs go for smaller prey. If you look at the age distribution for attacks children are the most likely victims, children and the elderly the most likely fatalities.
It only takes a moment for a dog to bite and cause devastating injuries so they needn't be unsupervised.
 
Dis86 said:
It's fairly standard though, the dogs go for smaller prey. If you look at the age distribution for attacks children are the most likely victims, children and the elderly the most likely fatalities.
It only takes a moment for a dog to bite and cause devastating injuries so they needn't be unsupervised.
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I would imagine the vast majority of parents who shouldn't have dogs near their children, also shouldn't be having children
 
I don't really see a way of solving this type of problem, or really think that it needs to be solved - because it essentially boils down to stopping idiots from idioting which you can't. I don't think people like this can really be educated, you can't effectively legislate it; people will just get dangerous dogs off social media and leave them with kids, because they're idiots.

Ultimately, in the grand scheme of things these dog attacks are very rare, compared to other causes of death I'd say the numbers aren't really anything to be concerned about. It's just an unfortunate fact of life, that bad things occasionally happen, and that's the price we pay for living in a free society. The benefits of dog ownership can be enormous and with the number of dogs owned in the UK, the pros drastically outweigh the cons in my opinion.

This idea of banning things just doesn't make sense to me, if the problem was 1000x worse than it might start to make sense, but not until then.
 
I find many dog owners are irresponsible and simply do not care until something serious happens.

I love animals and I really like dogs but some are out of control. I've seen dogs killing/injuring ducks in my local park, people having mud splashed on them from dogs. Dogs running up to people aggressively while barking. In some case dangerous dogs let off there leads in woodlands because the owners think they are the only ones there. People having picnics and dogs wanting there food.

I had word with some idiot about his guard dog getting out because he didn't have secure fencing I was nearly attacked but luckily I was able to get to safety.

Licenses should be issued for larger dogs.
 
arknor said:
I've been seeing loads of dog mess outside recently, I'm thinking it's the irresponsible people who bought dogs for covid
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could be worse, i live in rural wales and there is horse / cow / sheep mess everywhere. Its all over the car everytime you drive anywhere lol
 
Dis86 said:
Walked through Gosforth, Kenton and on to Fenham not long back. It's everywhere.
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I was walking from Arthurs hill > Fenham > Cowgate Morrisons and back when I realised people just don't seem to care any more.

never seen so much poop smeared or trodden into the pavements.. white dog poop will be making a comeback with how underfunded the council seems to be.

dave28 said:
could be worse, i live in rural wales and there is horse / cow / sheep mess everywhere. Its all over the car everytime you drive anywhere lol
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we get cows on the moor that like to poop on the tarmacked footpath instead of eating on their food source :rolleyes:

seems no where near as inherently evil as dog poop imo, at least you must get nice views in wales.
 
throwaway4372 said:
Yes - do something about dogs.

Reasons:
1. There's dog poop everywhere.
2. There's annoying barking everywhere.
3. Dog attacks happen.

The "it's not dogs it's people argument"...
4. It's not people. It's specific types of people. Lazy people who don't pick up poop. Shouty homes with barky dogs. Violent people with violent dogs. What am I saying... target chavs.

What to do?
5. Chavs don't have money. So use money as a barrier to dog ownership. Something like 1k/year should do it.

Problem solved.
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The cost to a responsible owner is already more than that, your idea and all the other here do nothing to target irresponsible morons rather you are just advocates for another tax on good people.
 
It is the owners fault that most of these incidents happen. Because they keep acting like they, the dogs, are little babies. A dog is a wild animal. It follows the rules because its part of a pack. But many people, even those who should know better, end up letting them get away with things they shouldn't. So the dog challenges for the next position up and something bad happens.

Maybe there needs to be a mandatory license system that involves a test.

If an owner can't physically restrain their dog then they shouldnt be allowed to own it.
 
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