Dog Attack - Faith in Humanity + 1, Faith in the Police -1

Demon

Demon

Demon

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Near Cheltenham
Yesterday a dog escaped from a house (windows left open, dog left home whilst they are at work) whilst my Mrs was walking our dog down the street. The dog made a bee-line for the Mrs and attacked her first (Jumped up attempting to bite her arm but ended up just getting her thumb), then our Dog, clamping on to our dogs leg where it effortlessly dragged it down a driveway. My Mrs was screaming hysterically and by sheer luck 4 neighbours came out and managed with a lot of effort to sub-due the other dog, using a broom handle and quite some force to release it's jaw, another person then quickly bundled the Mrs and our dog (Legs covered in blood) into their house as they all feared the other dog would repeat attack. (Faith in humanity +1)

However, without going in to too much detail, the upshot from the Police is zero action is being taken and zero sanctions or other repercussions on the dog (and more importantly) it's owner.
1. With my wife bitten first and then the dogs leg savaged, how on earth can there be no consequences what so ever?
2. The dog has shown how it behaves should it ever get loose in public (clearly when it saw a stranger on what it considered it's territory it didn't bark to ward them off, it went full on attack mode) and just on a 'sorry' being used by the owner we are all meant to have faith they won't ever make a tiny slip up again and that the dog won't do exactly what it did before? My Mrs is going to be petrified walking by that house again..

I am trying to see what I can do.. But already just questioning the decision already resulted in a veiled threat that our dog could also be considered 'dangerous' because it nipped the arm of one of the people trying to get the dog to release it's grip..

When I mentioned the 'what if' scenario of next time the dog gets loose that it may be a child or it's first bite may be a bit more fatal etc, I was told that the law does not work with 'what if's'.. The hilarity of seeing their reaction when I said "Funny that, when I got caught doing a 'few' MPH over the speed limit on a motorway, despite causing zero harm, not causing anyone to have to take any form of avoiding action etc, the fine, points and sanctimonious lecture I received all very much revolved around 'what if'...

Is it really so wrong to think a fine or something would be appropriate in this situation?

I get the feeling from the incessant need for the people involved on the police's side to keep bringing up the dogs breed (staffy) and telling me it's the most docile and best family dog ever (I've never questioned the breed) that perhaps the Dog Warden is a Staffy lover?

Of course a well behaved staffy, like any well behaved dog' is lovely.. but sadly it's 'tooled up' for fatal attacks so if your staffy proves that when anyone comes near your 'family' it's first reaction is instant savage attack you then have a problem..


Anyway, I'm sure this is simply the sad aspect of the law being not quite what people think it is, so any suggestions for what the Mrs/Daughter/Myself could carry to defend ourselves/our dog should this situation ever arise again? (Humane options much preferred!)
 
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Sounds horrendous but lucky in a way it wasn't worse since other cases have been.

I don't think you can buy pepper spray but maybe a pot of white pepper might cause the dog to release it's grip sooner.
 
Sorry to hear about your Mrs and your dog OP. Hopefully they recover from this incident fast.
I think they need to heavily regulate the area, ban dangerous dog types or have all owners be registered and take some kind of mandatory training. Those that don't follow should be fined heavy/prosecuted/dog license taken away. We have already seen so many incidents of late on how dangerous some of these dogs can be, a lot of it down to bad owners/dangerous cross breeds?

I am no expert but can you not take civil action against the owner of the dog for negligence? I am sure the bill for you dogs medical care will be high, and not to mention the mental trauma etc.
 
No idea what you can do but dog should be put down and owner banned from keeping animals.
 
Slam62 said:
No idea what you can do but dog should be put down and owner banned from keeping animals.
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I would agree witht he first part but why the owner? Context is everything here, it could have been a rescue dog which they were retraining for example. Too many variables to simply ban someone from owning a fog.
 
As an owner of a small dog, this is one of the things that absolutely petrifies me.

In all honesty i would be writing to my MP to say that you're unhappy with the lack of action the police have taken against the owner, and i would also raise the same complaint with the police.

I would also be sending my vet bills to the owner of this dog, followed up by a small claims if they refuse to pay - frankly they haven't got a hope in hells chance of defending the claim.
 
I hope you wife and dog get better soon it was a good job that there people around who could help. You could take civil action against the dogs owner regardless of police action, ultimately there responsible for the dogs behaviour (they might even voluntarily have the dog put down if you let them know what happened).

The whole troupe of 'no such thing as a bad dog just bad owners' is tired and nonsensical. Yes there are bad owners out there but these stories are always about the same breeds. People's objectivity always goes out the window when talking about dogs and they become oblivious to the fact that there beloved pet was once bred for a purpose and for certain breds that purpose was for protection which means there DNA is inherently aggressive.
 
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The root cause of the incident is the unsupervised dog getting out, so I think the owner should be held accountable for that.

Op I hope Mrs and dog make a speedy recovery.
 
There is no way the owner should be let off for that. They are also wide open to being sued for the injuries, which should be done.
 
If the police are useless (sounds like they certainly are) maybe there’s something you could do via the civil route? (Sue them like they do in the US)

Might be worth speaking to an expert either way, as from what you’ve described it sounds like a lot more should be done.
 
Demon said:
I get the feeling from the incessant need for the people involved on the police's side to keep bringing up the dogs breed (staffy) and telling me it's the most docile and best family dog ever (I've never questioned the breed) that perhaps the Dog Warden is a Staffy lover?

Of course a well behaved staffy, like any well behaved dog' is lovely.. but sadly it's 'tooled up' for fatal attacks so if your staffy proves that when anyone comes near your 'family' it's first reaction is instant savage attack you then have a problem..
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LOL the "dog of peace" strikes again....

Not laughing at what happened to your missus, hope she's recovered, just the attitude of the staffie/bull terrier zealots: they don't understand risk. Some bull terriers might typically be rather docile, they're still way way riskier than the typical dog because (and this is the super basic thing they don't get) conditional on them being aggressive bull terrier breeds are probably the most dangerous type of dog out there... we have some half baked legislation re: "pitbulls" but realistically there are plenty of bull terrier type dogs out there which aren't necessarily easy to classify as a "pit bull" or some sort of staffie/other bull terrier type crossed with whatever.

see some replies in this thread: https://www.overclockers.co.uk/foru...n-mauled-to-death-in-her-own-garden.18925215/

I think the concern about kids is warranted too, like this isn't some incident from trespassing on the owner's property here or a scrap in the park between your dog and theirs this is just the dog getting loose and immediately attacking someone randomly, that is a dangerous dog, especially given the type of dog! Did you not point out that this particular dog obviously isn't docile and that's the key issue?

I'd certainly look to make the neighbours aware of the issue if the owner isn't willingly putting down the dog, also I'd look to take the owner to the "small claims court"/county court for some damages. If the owner doesn't voluntarily put the dog down then the neighbours ought to know about it for future reference and perhaps they might want to kick up a stink too and see if they can't get the decision changed. I dunno if there is an appeal procedure or way to complain about it but if you get a bunch of neighbours complaining to the police then you might get somewhere.

Did they not even place some requirements on the owner/dog like must always be kept on a lead and muzzled in public, must not allow it to escape again or there will be serious consequences etc..?
 
VincentHanna said:
Slam62 said:
No idea what you can do but dog should be put down and owner banned from keeping animals.
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It's not illegal for dogs to be left at home and it's not illegal for dogs to accidentally escape the house.
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Wrong, you're missing a rather fundamental bit here this is an out of control dog, it was dangerously out of control the moment it escaped also it didn't just escape it escaped and attacked someone:

https://www.cps.gov.uk/legal-guidance/dangerous-dog-offences
Under section 3(1) of the 1991 Act (as amended by the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, (the ‘2014 Act’)), if any dog is dangerously out of control in any place, including all private property, the owner, or person for the time being in charge of the dog, is guilty of a summary offence. That offence becomes an aggravated offence, and triable either way, if the dog injures any person or an assistance dog while out of control.
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There is an offence here of a dog being dangerously out of control and the police have a duty to investigate.

I can't read the full post as I'm at work, but were the police called at the time of the incident?

Force policy in the area I work dictates that an incident like this would be treated as an "I grade" which means it needs an immediate response. The dog in question would very likely be seized if no owner is present.
Even if it's a follow up report, a warrant will need to be sought to seize the dog from the address for an assessment to ascertain if it's dangerous.
This is speaking from experience of having to execute a warrant for a similar incident several years ago.

Pretty poor response if this hasn't or isn't happening.
 
VincentHanna said:
It's not illegal for dogs to be left at home and it's not illegal for dogs to accidentally escape the house.

Sorry this happened to your wife and dog OP.
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Err it is if the dog is dangerous, the bar to reach such a status being surprisingly low.

At the end of the day the dog is the owners responsibility and was not under control and is violent towards other dogs and people. I have a dog and I keep her under control as much as I possibly can, she has escaped the garden a couple of times but we got her back very quickly. If she ran in the road and caused a car to swerve, she could be classed as dangerous. It's really not difficult to be a responsible owner, if you leave a dog alone it should not escape.
 
Ah yes, the perfectly well behaved family pet that just decided to break free of its owner’s control and attack someone that just happens to be one of the bull terrier breeds. Time for the Dangerous Dog Act to be updated and rigorously enforced.
 
file a complaint against the actions (or in-actions in this case) of the officers you dealt with? contact the police again and demand action be taken or else be given reasons why it can't?
 
If you have the evidence of where the dog came from and that it escaped then the owner would be liable and you should be able to sue them for your vet fee's etc.
 
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