Dog Attacks On The Rise

[jadeygirl]

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=7934633

Dog attacks have surged to more than 1,300 over just three months, latest figures reveal.

Local councils have reported a 16 per cent increase in the number of attacks, with 1,306 attacks taking place between April and June.

"It's not just people who are being attacked by dogs," NSW Local Government Minister Barbara Perry said in a statement on Sunday.

"There were also 1,235 animal victims including other dogs, cats and livestock that suffered from a dog attack during the last three months

"Unfortunately these attacks on animals resulted in 522 deaths."

The staffordshire bull terrier was the dog breed most commonly involved with 167 attacks over the three-month period.

Australian cattle dogs came second with 99, followed by 82 attacks by German shepherds.

The figures show that 134 attacks required medical treatment and 31 led to hospitalisation.

An increase of 20,000 dog registrations happened between April and June.

HOW COME WE NEVER HEAR OF THESE ATTACKS AND IF WE DO IT'S ALWAYS ABOUT PITBULLS!

I am sure all the staffy owners would not like these results!

[geo]

What state was this in?

It's funny they say an increase on last years numbers but statistics are all subjective, and of course what exactly means an attack.. people wont report being rushed by a SWF but will definately report being barked at by a staffy.

Sounds like another way that the councils are gunning for staffies, probably the most populus dog in australia and certainly one of the most cross bred dogs.

I hate stats like this as they serve no purpose but to fuel the BSL fire, and scare the public totally without merit.

[jadeygirl]

What state was this in?

It's funny they say an increase on last years numbers but statistics are all subjective, and of course what exactly means an attack.. people wont report being rushed by a SWF but will definately report being barked at by a staffy.

Sounds like another way that the councils are gunning for staffies, probably the most populus dog in australia and certainly one of the most cross bred dogs.

I hate stats like this as they serve no purpose but to fuel the BSL fire, and scare the public totally without merit.

NSW

i agree with you but i am sick of the news only reporting on pitbull attacks what happens to the other breeds?

Owners need to be held responsible and if you have a dangerous dog then precautions need to be made to keep other people and animals safe.

Owners know the temperment of their animals and should take the measures to keep everything safe.

[Jacquiboss&scoop]

Without comparison figures for registration of breeds numbers this is meaningless , a sad truth the pounds are bursting with staffy x , amstaff x mastif x, GSD x and cattle dog X so with this in mind these are also the most popular breeds of dog Nah dur the statistics look the way they do

[minxy]

What state was this in?

It's funny they say an increase on last years numbers but statistics are all subjective, and of course what exactly means an attack.. people wont report being rushed by a SWF but will definately report being barked at by a staffy.

Sounds like another way that the councils are gunning for staffies, probably the most populus dog in australia and certainly one of the most cross bred dogs.

I hate stats like this as they serve no purpose but to fuel the BSL fire, and scare the public totally without merit.

NSW

i agree with you but i am sick of the news only reporting on pitbull attacks what happens to the other breeds?

Owners need to be held responsible and if you have a dangerous dog then precautions need to be made to keep other people and animals safe.

Owners know the temperment of their animals and should take the measures to keep everything safe.

Not to defend articles like this, but it never mentioned pit bulls, and there were other breeds mentioned. The correlation between dog attacks that appear in the news, and ones that don't, are related to the damage/potential damage caused by that animal. I imagine that a bite from a SWF would cause minimal damage and would be hardly worth telling anyone about. On the other hand, if my rotty were to turn on me, I wouldn't stand a chance. I think it's pretty obvious why we generally hear more about bigger dogs in the media.

However, cute and cuddlies have been known to make it in too:

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/nationa...o-1225791011876

[steve11]

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=7934633

Dog attacks have surged to more than 1,300 over just three months, latest figures reveal.

Local councils have reported a 16 per cent increase in the number of attacks, with 1,306 attacks taking place between April and June.

"It's not just people who are being attacked by dogs," NSW Local Government Minister Barbara Perry said in a statement on Sunday.

"There were also 1,235 animal victims including other dogs, cats and livestock that suffered from a dog attack during the last three months

"Unfortunately these attacks on animals resulted in 522 deaths."

The staffordshire bull terrier was the dog breed most commonly involved with 167 attacks over the three-month period.

Australian cattle dogs came second with 99, followed by 82 attacks by German shepherds.

The figures show that 134 attacks required medical treatment and 31 led to hospitalisation.

An increase of 20,000 dog registrations happened between April and June.

HOW COME WE NEVER HEAR OF THESE ATTACKS AND IF WE DO IT'S ALWAYS ABOUT PITBULLS!

I am sure all the staffy owners would not like these results!

Its quite simple. Whatever dogs are the most popular at the time will always appear highest on these lists. It matters none what breed it is as its always the fault of the owner not the dog. These type of reports are not worth the paper they are written on. If you want to read something written on the subject by an expert & not some fool journo, try this link for valuable, honest & interesting reporting.... http://www.dogstardaily.com/training/breedism

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

I've just returned from the UK.

At a branch of the Battersea Dogs Home, they have 70 dogs as per Wed last week (dogs are found wandering and picked up by council rangers and no owner traced). Only 3 of the 70 are not staffy types. Many of their profiles say they are not good with other dogs.

Same story at another shelter I went to. Both shelters told me it is also very hard to rehome them.

There have been many problems in the UK with attacks by this type of dog, both on other animals and people so I guess people start seeing them as a liability and turf them out or the breed frequently attracts the wrong sort of owner perhaps.

[RiverStar-Aura]

I still find it amazing that in today's highly educated society, people still act like morons when it comes to animals. Just because an animal, dog or otherwise, has been domesticated, it doesn't make it harmless. Under certain circumstances any dog can become vicious (even those cute little fluffies!!) and from what I've experienced at local off-leash parks, it seems to be the small molly-coddled dogs who go after the bigger ones. Call it small dog syndrome or whatever, I trust these little annoyances less than the local bull mastiff cross and staffys who tend to be big sweethearts.

Mostly I think all humans need animal education and to stop assuming that pet = friendly because that's not always entirely true.

[Janba]

What state was this in?

It's funny they say an increase on last years numbers but statistics are all subjective, and of course what exactly means an attack.. people wont report being rushed by a SWF but will definately report being barked at by a staffy.

Sounds like another way that the councils are gunning for staffies, probably the most populus dog in australia and certainly one of the most cross bred dogs.

I hate stats like this as they serve no purpose but to fuel the BSL fire, and scare the public totally without merit.

NSW

i agree with you but i am sick of the news only reporting on pitbull attacks what happens to the other breeds?

Owners need to be held responsible and if you have a dangerous dog then precautions need to be made to keep other people and animals safe.

Owners know the temperment of their animals and should take the measures to keep everything safe.

NSW has now made it mandatory for councils to report all attacks so figures will rise in the first bear of mandatory reporting then should level off.

[Nekhbet]

I still find it amazing that in today's highly educated society, people still act like morons when it comes to animals.

Actually I think people are becoming less educated.

Dogs are toys, fur children, best friends before being dogs. We cant train them with corrections or put them in their place because we may hurt their precious feelings. Maybe if people treated dogs like dogs and developed a dash of common sense they wouldnt be bitten as often.

[Little Gifts]

I may be in these stats but one of my staffies was the victim. Across the road we have a yard full of feral chihuahuas. I was on the front lawn with my sister, a lady with a lab walked by, several chihuahuas rushed out of their open gate and attacked the lady and the lab. Problem was our 3 dogs thought my sister and I were being attacked and tried to bust through my front security screen door to protect us. (They bent it but didn't get out, plus we have a gate on our verandah because we are responsible dog owners!) My poor old staffy girl got slammed into the wall in the rush, into a ceramic pot that mum put there at xmas. The pot broke and her leg split open in 2 places and she had to get 8 staples. I was livid and contacted council and complained. They may be small dogs but they cause problems being loose all the time, scare people when they rush out and can bite so why should they not be held accountable?

So when they say 'involved' in the article maybe they have twisted the info to include victims and not just the attackers.....here's hoping for the sake of my staffies!

[Mrs Rusty Bucket]

NSW is the only state collecting data.

Although when they say "Staffy" or SBT, I doubt the pedigree papers have been sighted, or a DNA test done. Same with the other dog breeds.

http://www.dlg.nsw.gov.au/dlg/dlghome/dlg_...;mi=9&ml=10

Each quarter they release some more data.

I expect the numbers of attacks to keep increasing as more people report stuff. Ie I'd be more likely to report if I knew there was at least a record made, than I would if I knew nothing would happen.

The orginal report 2004/5 showed stuff like how many of a given breed are registered, and how many bites were attributed to that breed - so sometimes you could see that there were tens of thousands of that type of dog registered and a relatively low bite rate compared to some other breeds eg SBT lots registered, so relativley low bite rate.

But what none of the reports so far have shown is how many of the biting dogs are registered at all. Eg if they're not registered, it's hardly fair to count their bite against the registered dogs.

Example if there is 100 registered SBT and none of them bite anything they're not supposed to, and one dog that isn't registered kills a pet cat, and the hysterical owner says "it's a staffy", it's hardly fair to count that against the registered dogs is it? But that's what the NSW stats do.

[Adnil444]

I still find it amazing that in today's highly educated society, people still act like morons when it comes to animals.

Actually I think people are becoming less educated.

Dogs are toys, fur children, best friends before being dogs. We cant train them with corrections or put them in their place because we may hurt their precious feelings. Maybe if people treated dogs like dogs and developed a dash of common sense they wouldnt be bitten as often.

How true you are. With so much information nowadays, classes, dvds, etc, we seem to have more and more incidents than ever before. When I was growing up, you hardly ever heard of dog attacks, but nowadays it seems to be every day. The amount of pampered molly coddled dogs (especially little ones) amazes me. You are right, they are no longer dogs and are treated like accessories - it's similar to children too IMO. So many kids are not disciplined and run riot and are rude little people. Perhaps if their parents gave them boundaries and some discipline they would be much better (and to think these kids will be future dog owners!!).

[Crisovar]

I would like to see the the actual reports linked to each "attack" that describes what the incident actually was.

Many incidents that are reported as attacks are actually far from it, but they still end up in the numbers.

The identity of the breeds in so many cases is also a joke.

[Curlybert]

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=7934633

The staffordshire bull terrier was the dog breed most commonly involved with 167 attacks over the three-month period.

Australian cattle dogs came second with 99, followed by 82 attacks by German shepherds.

Remarkable. All pure-breds apparently!

[steve11]

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=7934633

The staffordshire bull terrier was the dog breed most commonly involved with 167 attacks over the three-month period.

Australian cattle dogs came second with 99, followed by 82 attacks by German shepherds.

Remarkable. All pure-breds apparently!

Why do supposed dog lovers keep dragging up these sensationalised reports. If you want to bag dog breeds find another site, this site is supposed to be for dog enthusiasts not for those who believe everything they read & cant think for themselves. The problem is with irresponsible owners not the dogs whatever breed they may be. Continually reprinting this journalistic crap serves nobody. Stop arguing about what breed did what, the problem of irresponsible owners affects everybody & as soon as your breed becomes popular it will be the next supposed bad breed. Wake up & move on people...

Edited July 31, 2010 by steve11

[Curlybert]

Gee Steve, sorry you missed my point. I was being ironic. Too subtle for you, eh?!

[steve11]

Gee Steve, sorry you missed my point. I was being ironic. Too subtle for you, eh?!

I was refering to the post you were quoting. I got your point. Ive been breeding & exhibiting dogs long enough to have seen the finger pointed at various breeds over the past 30 years & still dog owners dont get it. I just dont see the point in giving airtime to these rubbish reports & dont understand why misinformed supposed dog enthusiasts see the need to point the finger at other breeds, it serves nobody!!!

Edited July 31, 2010 by steve11

[Curlybert]

Then you should have made that clear.

[steve11]

Then you should have made that clear.

Excuse me but dont tell me what to do! If you have something to say to me PM me dont publish it on here. MOVE ON.