spikey

I saw this on several news sites today, couldn't find it posted anywhere here already https://www.9news.com.au/world/balck-hawk-dog-food-product-recall-after-mould-found-growing-in-batches-manufactured-last-year/53ed71cd-f820-44cf-bab7-67a5c4e4f873 Black Hawk – voluntary recall of certain dry dog food. The quality of our products and the health of pets is paramount. As part of our ongoing quality control processes, we have discovered an issue with specific batches of Black Hawk that were manufactured last year, resulting in mould developing in some products. To date we have had no reports of illness in any animals and if product is affected the mould is very obvious to consumers. We have made the decision to VOLUNTARILY AND IMMEDIATELY RECALL all of these batches from the market to ensure that we can deliver on our own quality expectations, as well as those of our Black Hawk customers and their pets. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact our customer service team directly: For Australia: 1300 654 279 or [email protected] For New Zealand: 0800 738 546 or [email protected] These are the affected products – please check either the Black Hawk Australia or Black Hawk New Zealand website for the best before dates of each product that are affected. Black Hawk Adult Chicken and Rice (3kg, 10kg and 20kg) Black Hawk Adult Lamb and Rice (3kg, 10kg and 20kg) Black Hawk Adult Fish and Potato (3kg, 10kg and 20kg) Black Hawk Adult Large Breed Chicken and Rice (20kg only) Black Hawk Puppy Large Breed Chicken and Rice (20kg only) You’ll find the best before date on the rear of the bag towards the centre, stamped horizontally in black, near the ingredients listing. Required actions Immediate removal of all products that match the disclosed best before dates within your stores. Affected stock must be destroyed and disposed of and can be reconciled for credit. Notify your customers using the communication we have provided to return their affected product to your store for replacement. Please get in touch if your store hasn’t received this communication. Non affected stock is available for order and replenishment immediately as per your normal process.

The dog has now been put to sleep, thank goodness, so at least no one else is in danger. There's been plenty of news coverage of the attack here (along with plenty of graphic footage of the owner, covered in blood and gashes, being helped into an ambulance), and no, it's not the first time the dog had attacked his owner. I can't understand these people - no dog of mine would EVER get a a second chance if that happened.

Doesn't look much like a bull mastiff X to me either, but apparently that's how the owner herself has described the dog. My thoughts are with the poor young lad - he's probably going to have a very long road to recovery, involving extensive plastic surgery, not to mention the emotional and mental scars he'll carry for the rest of his life

Couldn't agree more. Some animals - and let's face it, some people as well - are simply born with something wrong with the hardwiring of the brain, which can be due to a number of factors. They can't be rehabilitated, or saved or "fixed", no matter what you do or how hard you try. It's not their fault, it's just a fact of life that needs to be accepted and sometimes hard (and unpalatable) decisions need to be made.

There's been nothing I've seen in the various reports about how old the dog is though. If he's a former abuse case - and who knows, maybe from a backyard breeder? - it's possible he wasn't microchipped until he went into rescue and/or until she got him. In any case, I'd assume she would have filled in the paperwork for his council registration (especially if she moved from another council area, as you can't transfer between councils here in Perth - not sure if you can in other places?) so she would have had to indicate a breed - or cross-breed - when completing that.

Some news reports here in Perth have described the dog as a Bullmastiff X (which is quite possibly correct, given the look of the dog), however both dogs were microchipped and registered and those who have spoken to the media on behalf of the local council have referred to the attacking dog as a Bullmastiff, so that may well be the breed the dog was registered as on council records.

"Ms Lindsey said she looked at the vision of the dog issued by the pound, and it was exhibiting signs it was frightened and anxious." Well, that's hardly rocket science, the majority of dogs I've seen in the pound look like that when they've just been brought in, it tends to be a very distressing experience for most dogs so of course they're "frightened and anxious" - it's more the reports of the dog's previous behaviour and past history that would account for it being "behaviourally unwell" rather than just seeing the footage from the pound, but maybe her comment was taken out of context or badly edited? And the comment "that has led to the inadvertent injury and death ..." I'm sorry, but no. A dog doesn't just "inadvertently" attack and maul someone, especially seriously enough to kill them. It's not as if he accidentally knocked her over and she suffered a head injury and died from the fall (unless that comes out later, and is a possibility I suppose, but there's no getting around the fact that she had numerous bites from the attack). I certainly agree there was obviously a trigger and that this situation was very unlikely to happen for no reason, but I think the use of the word "inadvertent" was a poor choice on her part.

I was in fear the whole time they had her that something would happen. We tried to persuade them to get rid of her but you know what parents are like! They can be a bit stubborn LOL and I think because she was a young dog, they wanted to persevere with her but yes, I am very glad they made the right (and the only sensible) decision in the end.

This tragic situation has brought back some chilling memories for me, of what might have been ... I think my in-laws were fortunate not to end up in a similar situation a few years ago. They've owned dogs for years so are pretty sensible people and absolutely adored our girl (sadly passed now) and it had been quite a while since their previous dog died, so they went to the pound and got a Mastiff X puppy from a litter that had been dumped. She seemed OK at first but as she grew, she had a very unnerving habit of just staring at people, not in a curious way, but almost in an intimidating fashion. I never felt at ease around that dog at all, there was just something "not right" about her and she soon started to dominate the household. You couldn't stand on a certain mat because that was the one she liked to lie on, she didn't like being corrected - she shoved her face towards some food I was eating on one occasion and I lightly tapped her on the nose and said "uh uh" - my mother-in-law immediately said in a panicked voice "don't do that, she doesn't like that". She certainly didn't, the dog literally glared at me and I just felt my skin crawl, and I don't think she would even have been 9 months old then. There were a lot of similar behaviours as well, which my in-laws tried to deal with, but she just didn't respond to the usual training, positive reinforcement etc, and I wouldn't have trusted the dog as far as I could throw her. I've done obedience for years and have handled and trained a number of large dogs, but I wouldn't have touched her with a barge pole. My father-in-law didn't have too much difficulty with her as he's got a very strong personality, but she had it all over my mother-in-law, who was becoming increasingly nervous around her and I was always terrified we'd get "that" phone call, saying that the dog had badly injured MIL ... or worse. They discussed the situation with their vet numerous times and she recommended they put the dog to sleep, which (much to our huge relief) they did when she was just over a year old. A necropsy revealed that she had a brain tumour, so all the training and love and care in the world wouldn't have made any difference to her behaviour, which was becoming increasingly dangerous.

Yes, it's a very very sad situation - it sounds like her heart was in the right place and that she meant well, but those same attributes may also have led to a massive error of judgment as far as this dog was concerned and it's now cost this lady her life. Such a terrible tragedy, and I can't even imagine what her daughter must be going through, not to mention the emergency services and council staff who attended the scene as well.

Some possible past history on the mastiff: Lee, a family friend, told Radio 6PR's Oliver Peterson that the dog was "well known for being aggressive," but that she loved it anyway. "Being a rescue dog, it doesn't matter what the breed is, any dog can be aggressive if it's abused as a young dog and any dog can be a dear, loving dog regardless of its breed. And this one was unfortunately abused when it was young and she rescued it. "And anyone knows who's been around abused dogs that they snap, just over nothing, over the smallest things, and unfortunately she was in the wrong place at the wrong time." "The best way I can put it is that she thinks every dog deserves a second chance and she just loved every dog that came through there. She was a very caring woman."

As you can imagine, it's been all over the news on every channel here in Perth tonight and yes, the mastiff was a rescue dog she'd had for 4 years - council have confirmed the dog will be euthanased. There have been numerous photos and video taken at the pound which clearly show both sides of the mastiff, and there don't appear to be any noticeable injuries on him. There's been no footage or photos of the staffy, which has now been returned to the family, so it's unclear at this stage whether the dogs were actually fighting - there's been no indication of that one way or the other. The staffy was supposedly the dog who was refusing to let police near the woman's body (although some updated news reports seem to contradict that now in saying that the mastiff was the one guarding the body), so it seems both dogs may have been in (or had access to) the same area/yard.

It only happened yesterday afternoon, so it's a bit too early to expect anything much in the way of details to be released yet. There's also the possibility there won't actually BE much information available as to exactly what occurred, as it sounds like the woman who was killed was at home by herself at the time and the neighbours apparently didn't hear anything, so there are no witnesses. There may be details which come out about the dog's temperament and/or past history, but it's likely they may never know exactly why the dog attacked her. ETA: In addition, she lived in a designated kennel zone area, so hearing yapping, barking, howling dogs is quite common down there (as I know only too well from dropping off/picking up our dogs from kennels there over the years), and even if other dogs in her kennels or yard were "going off" during this tragic event, it's likely people wouldn't take much notice. The neighbours obviously didn't hear any screams or cries for help, so it must have happened very quickly and she didn't get the chance to call out

Sounds like it was the owner who was killed - an update to the ABC article: Neighbour Greg, who did not give his surname, said he did not hear any signs of a struggle at the property. He said the woman's body was found by her daughter, who came to check on her mother after concerns were raised when she did not turn up for work at a local childcare centre. Greg said the dogs were very aggressive and had to be locked away when anyone came to visit the property. He said one of the dogs believed to be involved in the attack had been living with the woman for four years, when she first moved to the neighbourhood. Another neighbour, who did not provide their name, said the woman was passionate about dogs and dedicated her life to their care, especially rescue dogs.

OMG, what a dreadful thing to happen. According to this ABC article, it occurred at Barko's Boarding Kennels (don't know if anyone here has used them?) but no details yet as to who the woman was (I'd assume she was an employee or perhaps even the owner?). The article also says the dogs were registered to the owner of the kennels. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-02/woman-mauled-to-death-by-dog-at-boarding-kennel/8766934