Staffordshires Cited In 145 Dog Attacks

[Sticky]

http://city-south-news.whereilive.com.au/n...45-dog-attacks/

THE staffordshire bull terrier has been identified as the prime offender for dog attacks in Brisbane past year.

Staffordshire bull terriers were cited as responsible for 145 dog attacks reported to Brisbane City Council in the 11 months to December.

Australian cattle dogs were named in 113 attacks, german shepherds in 69 and rottweilers in 54.

Chihuahuas were held responsible for eight attacks at places including Cannon Hill, Wynnum West, Brighton and Calamvale.

Four cat attacks and a poultry attack, at Corinda, were reported in statistics obtained under Freedom of Information.

The statistics also record 26 attacks by labradors, 29 by rhodesian ridgebacks, 28 by boxers, 27 by bull terriers, 37 by bullmastiffs, 32 by border collies, 20 by siberian huskies, 13 by american staffordshire terriers and 12 by american pitbulls.

Several alleged attacks by pomeranians, maltese terriers and cocker spaniels were investigated.

The average investigation took 37 days.

S

[Nekhbet]

now prove all those dogs were actual SBTs and not just 'oh its a staffy looking thing'

[noisymina]

It would be interesting (and more significant) if those stats coudl be compared to the total population of each of the "breeds" mentioned.

I see no mention of Dobes there.

[laeral]

Sorry OT but did anyone notice there is a poultry attack listed

[GotAnyBlacker]

now prove all those dogs were actual SBTs and not just 'oh its a staffy looking thing'

My thoughts exactly!

[Guest rhapsodical78]

Ban chooks.

[Ashanali]

Sorry OT but did anyone notice there is a poultry attack listed

Some roosters can cause a huge amount of damage when they attack. They dig their spurs in and rip. Very nasty stuff and not something to laugh at (no matter how funny it sounds). This is why cock fighting exists and why it is so cruel.

[Ashanali]

I also wonder how many unreported attacks there were because the breeds involved weren't 'scary' enough to bother with.

[mita]

now prove all those dogs were actual SBTs and not just 'oh its a staffy looking thing'

Right on. The Council collects the statistics by asking for a dog to be described as Primary Breed.....&, for mixed breeds, Secondary Breed, too. But when that info is pulled off the Council's data base, it's by Primary Breed only.

Which gathers together in one big 'lump'... all the dogs where 'Staffy' was put as the Primary Breed:

.Staffies who were papered purebreds

.'Staffies' who came from other sources which described them as 'Staffies', so the owners call them that

.'Staffies' that someone thought was a good label for them....some hardly resembling a Staffy.

.'Staffies' where the owner knew it was a mixed-breed & put in a Secondary Breed, too.

Also Staffies are one of the most popular breeds here....& any nuggety, block-headed, medium dog can get called a Staffy.

So it's anybody's guess just how many of these dogs warrant the breed label.

.

Edited January 22, 2009 by mita

[Just Midol]

Sorry OT but did anyone notice there is a poultry attack listed

Some roosters can cause a huge amount of damage when they attack. They dig their spurs in and rip. Very nasty stuff and not something to laugh at (no matter how funny it sounds). This is why cock fighting exists and why it is so cruel.

Still pretty funny, even chickens can be pretty mean. Granted I doubt they'd cause that kind of damage.

Imagine sitting with mates drinking. "Yeah, got attacked by a chook last week... Was in the hospital for days"

[peibe]

Sorry OT but did anyone notice there is a poultry attack listed

Some roosters can cause a huge amount of damage when they attack. They dig their spurs in and rip. Very nasty stuff and not something to laugh at (no matter how funny it sounds). This is why cock fighting exists and why it is so cruel.

Still pretty funny, even chickens can be pretty mean. Granted I doubt they'd cause that kind of damage.

Imagine sitting with mates drinking. "Yeah, got attacked by a chook last week... Was in the hospital for days"

Wrong

I was sitting in a hospital waiting room a few years ago after my son had broken his leg

A lady was rushed through covered in blood looking like she had just gone through a barbed wire fence

We ended up in the same waiting room and she had been attacked by a rooster

She had over 100 stitches

[Nekhbet]

considering some roosters get to 15 pounds and are VERY powerful animals I wouldnt have a chuckle. Some of them are just tenacious. Geese too.

[mita]

Wrong

I was sitting in a hospital waiting room a few years ago after my son had broken his leg

A lady was rushed through covered in blood looking like she had just gone through a barbed wire fence

We ended up in the same waiting room and she had been attacked by a rooster

She had over 100 stitches

A police motocyclist I know, once had to turn up in casualty at the hospital, uniform ripped to shreds & himself cut and bleeding. He'd picked up a koala he saw in the middle of the road....& carried it to safety. While the koala did him over big time.

So I'm waiting to see a koala appear on one of these lists.

But maybe, it's already on it....because someone's called it a 'Staffy'. :rolleyes:

[Staffyluv]

now prove all those dogs were actual SBTs and not just 'oh its a staffy looking thing'

Totally agree.

My stafford was mistaken for a labrador one day.

[GeckoTree]

We had a neutered rooster when i was growing up, he was the size of a god damn cassowary! just about, he was nasty too!

They grow a lot taller when castrated.

[luvabull]

*tries hard not to make a joke about the big co rooster*

[Slushie]

I will admit that my dogs (one pure and one rescue staffy x) got into an argument over a toy (now permanently gone) and I did the stupid thing and got involved. I ended up with 8 stiches in my finger (dogs were fine) and my dogs got an 'attack' against their breed for the likes of stupid reports like this one attached.

I admitted to everyone that I did the wrong thing and it was my fault entirely that the dogs were arguing with each other - and I dare say that there are others out there that can admit that they were in the wrong. Unfortunately none of that matters for the person collecting the data.

[fuzzy_dragonfly]

It is with great hesitation and the the risk of being labeled a misinformed idiot again that I reply to this post. (appologies to those that are unaware of past unpleasantness.)

However as a long term poultry hobbyist and keeper of 20 years I can definately say that an attack by a defensive goose or rooster is no laughing matter.

As humerous as you think it may seem there is a certain level of skill required in handling some larger breeds of poultry so as not to cause harm to yourself or the animal. It also doesn't mention what kind of poultry, I can confidently say that in my experience guinea fowl have proven more difficult to handle than roosers and geese. So lets not be so quick to label tham as the culprits.

Also I would like to add that most damage caused in fighting birds has resulted from a blade which is attached to the spur rather than the spur itself.

My staffy which is not particularly well bred but nevertheless pure has been misidentified on several occassions, yes it is possible that those in the study may have been misidentified too.

Heck, my ferret which I also walk on harness has been called a squirrel, possum, skunk, fox, badger, polecat (which is not entirely correct either), I'd hesitate to think what they'd label him if he ever bit anybody.

However I am not about to open a can of worms of wheather the dog was indeed the breed listed...

A common factor I have found in many recently publisised attacks is that the attacks occoured with multiple dogs present and children that had been left alone with dogs. Wheather or not the dog has had obedience training, is registered, is desexed etc is nearly always conviniently omitted. So wheather or not these are also factors in attacks is questionable. However, it seems that the dogs breed is nearly always listed, except in one case as I recall which was just a big black dog attack!?! Maybe because it didn't look like a bull breed it was not worthy of mention?

Perhapse a suitable course of action would be to include dog safety as part of the school curriculim to educate children of appropriate behaviour around dogs?

Similar to the concept of teaching children to swim. A child should never be unsupervised around a pool either but educating them to swim equips them with the skill to survive if the worst should happen, this is why most schools have a swimming program. Concidering nearly half of all children grow up with a dog and 99% of the rest will have contact with a dog at some point it seems like common sense.

So maybe it's time pressure was put on the education system to include dog safety awareness?

[mita]

Some good points there, fuzzy.

You're right that all the variables which really count re dog bites & attacks, don't get reported in the media.

And I'd be hoping the authorities would be lifting their game with collecting more relevant info (apart from breed 'guesses)

That's a good point, too, about including something at school for children to learn how to behave around dogs.

There's various programs about pets, currently going into schools, from various organisations. Here's hoping they're spreading the word.

The big problem, tho', is that the most vulnerable groups for dog bites & dog attacks are the babies/toddlers/ children under 5 yrs (& boys a bit older). And they're not at school yet.

So a great deal rests on parents being aware & knowledgeable.

One of the best set of tips for parents is on this website. I'd wish the info could be given out to parents of young children.

http://www.paw-rescue.org/PAW/PETTIPS/DogT...ildproofing.php

Edited January 24, 2009 by mita

[fuzzy_dragonfly]

Most of the drowning have been toddler related too. This is despite mandatory fencing and info out there about teaching toddlers to swim. Surprisingly noone has suggested banning pools as they have banning dog breeds!!! - even though pools have unquestionably claimed more lives. Despite this fact I firmly believe that teaching children to swim has prevented a furthur increase in these statistics.

I'll be honest I am yet to see a unit on dog safety implimented into the NSW syllabus or syllabus support document as a unit (I am unaware of what other states are doing as I have only worked from the NSW syllabus). I am currently not teaching but am a qualified primary school teacher. Many dog attacks occour with school aged children too. I have seen a few good units available on the net but as it is not mandatory to teach in an already overcrowded curriculum those topics usually go overlooked. In addition, some online units cannot be used if they are not DET approved. I think it is appropriate to question the DET on what is being done to teach personal safety around dogs?

Only dog related thing I've seen in a school is on an assessment of possible risks during a school excursion. Surely if it's worthy of recognition as a risk then it's worth teaching safety around dogs?

Info on selecting an approprate dog, training children how to behave around dogs, identifying when a dog is likely to bite (subtle body language like the dog going rigid and standing it's ground not just when a dog as snarling or barking) .

Swimming and owning a dog can be fun and benificial for children given the correct environment, supervision and education is provided.

Maybe, educating children/ the public, breaking the cycle of dog attacks and lowering the number of attacks in the first place with responsible parenting in addition to responsible dog ownership can reduce the number of attacks. As a result lessen the number of breed bashings which occur in the media?

Just a thought?

Maybe writing an article in a womans magazine or local newspaper might be a start, I believe the RSPCA started a program a few years back (has anyone looked into it?). Just getting awareness out there might be more effective than venting your fustrations at the media in a forum.

Edited January 24, 2009 by fuzzy_dragonfly