Child Killed By Dog

[isabellaB]

Ok i think i have figured out why i am hesitant of Pit Bull types apart from the media hype because they were originally breed to be a fighting machine, fight to the end, especially gameness a pit bull in the wrong hands can cause a lot more damage than some other breeds and unfortunatley the pit bull attracts the wrong kind of owner probably still breeding for this "gameness" where else other breeds that were originally breed for fighting are now breed for family companions first and foremost, maybe BSL is making the problem worse with these type of people going underground as pointed out before.....I know socialization has a lot to do with it but I think genetics would too once again as pointed out.

[brightonrock]

A dog that attacks a person is vicious, full stop. I have groomed tiny dogs that are wholly vicious and I believe allowed to get away with it because they are small and cute looking. To focus on the news item and give respect to the death of a child is the point here. Pit Bull Terriers are large powerful dogs that have no place living in a crowded ( read suburban ) area.

[raz]

Each to their own Raz. I dont know what it would do in this instance!!!

Each to their own indeed. I had a gorgeous dog who snapped one day. Picked up a kid in a totally unprovoked situation and swung her around like a ragdoll. What should I have done - keep the dog I loved around for a few weeks to get an assessment done? Nup.

totally irrelevant anyway. We dont even know if this is the first attack or not. Too late, though. The dog killed a little child who would still be alive today if the frigging owner had kept it contained.

[poodlefan]

May be that in Canada there were alot of bites from Retrievers, but how many were fatal? Zero - none! How many fatal pitbull attacks have we seen in the last few years? Far too many!

Mathew, it would be nice if you actually checked the facts before making such assertions.

Here, let me help.

OMG - a Beagle was responsible for a fatal attack.. and retriever mixes.. ban them!!!!

[poodlefan]

A dog that attacks a person is vicious, full stop. I have groomed tiny dogs that are wholly vicious and I believe allowed to get away with it because they are small and cute looking. To focus on the news item and give respect to the death of a child is the point here. Pit Bull Terriers are large powerful dogs that have no place living in a crowded ( read suburban ) area.

And based on that logic Labradors are large powerful dogs that should be similary restricted. riggggght.

[Matthew_B]

My neighbour has one of these dogs. I have a 12 month-old son. This dog has so far behaved very timidly, almost fearful of people other than its owners. I do nothing to encourage the dog to come to me for a pat, nor do I try to scare the dog away - I simply keep my eyes on it until I am inside my house. Unfortunately, the owner is incapable of keeping it in its yard and despite their efforts in sealing their yard (including with my help), it constantly escapes. It also does not have a collar. I dread the day I am walking up my driveway with my son in my arms and that dog is nearby when a car backfires, sending the dog berserk and it starts to attack me or my wife if she was holding my son. God help the dog if that ever happens because I will not hesitate to kill it myself.

[Matthew_B]

A dog that attacks a person is vicious, full stop. I have groomed tiny dogs that are wholly vicious and I believe allowed to get away with it because they are small and cute looking. To focus on the news item and give respect to the death of a child is the point here. Pit Bull Terriers are large powerful dogs that have no place living in a crowded ( read suburban ) area.

And based on that logic Labradors are large powerful dogs that should be similary restricted. riggggght.

Labradors weren't bred to fight. Pitbulls were (and in many cases, still are). The stupidity of your argument is breathtaking.

[brightonrock]

May be that in Canada there were alot of bites from Retrievers, but how many were fatal? Zero - none! How many fatal pitbull attacks have we seen in the last few years? Far too many!

Mathew, it would be nice if you actually checked the facts before making such assertions.

Here, let me help.

OMG - a Beagle was responsible for a fatal attack.. and retriever mixes.. ban them!!!!

OMG look at the stats for the Pit Bulls

[Aidan3]

I think we need to be careful here to distinguish between what the pitbull actually does and what BSL actually does.

In the US, the pitbull and Rott account for disproportionately more dog bite related fatalities than would be expected, given their distribution. There are not enough pitbulls and Rotts to account for the number of fatalities they cause if they were just as likely to attack someone as any other breed (Sacks et al., 2000).

What seems clear is that BSL doesn't stop this from happening (I'm not entirely clued up on the data that exists in support of this claim). It seems like an attractive proposition (hence it's support in the general public and media), but it doesn't actually solve the problem. It also ignores the fact that there are literally thousands of examples of really lovely pitbulls and Rotts out there who would be difficult to even purposefully provoke into this sort of incident.

If BSL doesn't reduce harm, then there are other causal factors that need to be considered more urgently to reduce the incidence of this sort of thing happening in the future.

[poodlefan]

May be that in Canada there were alot of bites from Retrievers, but how many were fatal? Zero - none! How many fatal pitbull attacks have we seen in the last few years? Far too many!

Mathew, it would be nice if you actually checked the facts before making such assertions.

Here, let me help.

OMG - a Beagle was responsible for a fatal attack.. and retriever mixes.. ban them!!!!

OMG look at the stats for the Pit Bulls

Pit bull TYPES... and lets face it, if its over 20kg, not readily identifiable as another breed, and powerfully built, its a pitbull. All dog attack researchers are very wary of breed attribution and all note that it isn't helpful in understanding what makes a dangerous dog.

Its a message few anti pitbull crusaders seem capable of grasping.

[krustie22]

Each to their own Raz. I dont know what it would do in this instance!!!

Each to their own indeed. I had a gorgeous dog who snapped one day. Picked up a kid in a totally unprovoked situation and swung her around like a ragdoll. What should I have done - keep the dog I loved around for a few weeks to get an assessment done? Nup.

totally irrelevant anyway. We dont even know if this is the first attack or not. Too late, though. The dog killed a little child who would still be alive today if the frigging owner had kept it contained.

that would have been awful! but the right thing to do IMO. I am trying to prevent it. I guess in a sad way i am lucky that there were some signs to pick up before any such incident.

I think in a fatal attack as such, keeping the dog around long enough to be assessed is crucial in trying to understand and therefore prevent further attacks by other dogs.

[APBT]

My neighbour has one of these dogs. I have a 12 month-old son. This dog has so far behaved very timidly, almost fearful of people other than its owners. I do nothing to encourage the dog to come to me for a pat, nor do I try to scare the dog away - I simply keep my eyes on it until I am inside my house. Unfortunately, the owner is incapable of keeping it in its yard and despite their efforts in sealing their yard (including with my help), it constantly escapes. It also does not have a collar. I dread the day I am walking up my driveway with my son in my arms and that dog is nearby when a car backfires, sending the dog berserk and it starts to attack me or my wife if she was holding my son. God help the dog if that ever happens because I will not hesitate to kill it myself.

Mate you are a joke, you wont be killing anydog, and no dog will be going BERSERK due to car backfire, pathetic

[huski]

A dog that attacks a person is vicious, full stop. I have groomed tiny dogs that are wholly vicious and I believe allowed to get away with it because they are small and cute looking. To focus on the news item and give respect to the death of a child is the point here. Pit Bull Terriers are large powerful dogs that have no place living in a crowded ( read suburban ) area.

And based on that logic Labradors are large powerful dogs that should be similary restricted. riggggght.

Labradors weren't bred to fight. Pitbulls were (and in many cases, still are). The stupidity of your argument is breathtaking.

Oh - so labradors can't bite people.

Nothing stupid about that. Oh, wait...

[Atanquin]

Unfortunately pitbulls or pit crosses are right on top of the bite and attack list by a long way some thing like 1100 next is a rottie at about 460 from memory it might be different now not sure but the problem is they are a fighting breed and are more prone to bad behavior if NOT trained or bred properly and thats the problem!! It's bot the dogs fault they just do what come natural. Putting a ban in place will not change the way they are trained or treated idiots will still find a way to own a DA next it will be the Dob's then the rotties which is the same thing they are not dangerous but if not trained properly they then can become dangerous. It's a trick spot and not something that can be solved but banning a breed

[poodlefan]

Labradors weren't bred to fight. Pitbulls were (and in many cases, still are). The stupidity of your argument is breathtaking.

Charming.

Resorting to insults... looks like your argument is slipping Matthew.. along with your manners.

Rounded up all the Beagles yet.. you know, those dogs that NEVER kill...

Edited August 18, 2011 by poodlefan

[brightonrock]

My neighbour has one of these dogs. I have a 12 month-old son. This dog has so far behaved very timidly, almost fearful of people other than its owners. I do nothing to encourage the dog to come to me for a pat, nor do I try to scare the dog away - I simply keep my eyes on it until I am inside my house. Unfortunately, the owner is incapable of keeping it in its yard and despite their efforts in sealing their yard (including with my help), it constantly escapes. It also does not have a collar. I dread the day I am walking up my driveway with my son in my arms and that dog is nearby when a car backfires, sending the dog berserk and it starts to attack me or my wife if she was holding my son. God help the dog if that ever happens because I will not hesitate to kill it myself.

Nearly always, in the case of horrific dog attacks the dog/s are known or feared in their community. Neighbours cross the street when they pass the house or don't check the mail when the dogs are out. They note the dogs are not walked or spend a lot of time barking or are kept under the house etc. I'd speak to the neigbour if you can, and complain about the dog to the council if you can't. You have the right to enjoy your property too.

[sandgrubber]

Congratulations for holding a fundamental misunderstanding of dog aggression and the nature of the APBT. Dog and people aggression are rarely found in the same animal and at no stage has the APBT been bred to be aggressive to people. How the hell do you think they managed to handle such dogs in fighting pits?

The no 1 breed for dog bites in Canada is the Golden Retriever. Shall we ban those also?

Actually, there does seem to be a growing problem of aggression in Goldies. No way should this lead to a breed ban. But I do think some strong peer pressure should be directed to the bloodlines of aggressive goldies.

http://www.ygrr.org/surrender/surrender-aggressive.html

http://retrieverman.wordpress.com/2009/01/15/are-golden-retrievers-becoming-more-aggressive/

I don't trust government to make good decisions relating to dogs. But it does the dog world no good to deny that there is a genetic component to aggression (HA, DA, fear aggression, any or all of the above). Those of us who breed dogs need to take this genetic component seriously.

[poodlefan]

Nearly always, in the case of horrific dog attacks the dog/s are known or feared in their community. Neighbours cross the street when they pass the house or don't check the mail when the dogs are out. They note the dogs are not walked or spend a lot of time barking or are kept under the house etc. I'd speak to the neigbour if you can, and complain about the dog to the council if you can't. You have the right to enjoy your property too.

Wrong.

Nearly always, in the case of fatal dog attacks, the resident dog is responsible.

Don't you folk actually read the research????

[aussielover]

I also think addressing WHY these fatal atttacks occur is the key to preventing these kind of tragedies.

Frankly, I am surprised and disapppointed that Steve Austin would support banning the breed.

Unfortunately most members of the general public seem to also support banning breeds rather than addressing why attacks occur.

SMH poll

It does seem that pitbull type dogs are more frequently involved in fatal attacks and severe maulings so who can blame them? I don't know if its because pitbull attacks are reported more frequently or because of the circumstances the dogs are raised in, or even that the temperament of these dogs is inherently poor due to poor breeding practices. I think these issues need to be investigated more fully and I really doubt banning the breed is a solution.

As has been said prevoiusly, most seroius dog attacks occur in low socioeconomic area, where the owners have little understanding of dog behaviour and needs and the animals are poorly bred (usually crossbred).

[poodlefan]

Congratulations for holding a fundamental misunderstanding of dog aggression and the nature of the APBT. Dog and people aggression are rarely found in the same animal and at no stage has the APBT been bred to be aggressive to people. How the hell do you think they managed to handle such dogs in fighting pits?

The no 1 breed for dog bites in Canada is the Golden Retriever. Shall we ban those also?

Actually, there does seem to be a growing problem of aggression in Goldies. No way should this lead to a breed ban. But I do think some strong peer pressure should be directed to the bloodlines of aggressive goldies.

http://www.ygrr.org/surrender/surrender-aggressive.html

http://retrieverman.wordpress.com/2009/01/15/are-golden-retrievers-becoming-more-aggressive/

I don't trust government to make good decisions relating to dogs. But it does the dog world no good to deny that there is a genetic component to aggression (HA, DA, fear aggression, any or all of the above). Those of us who breed dogs need to take this genetic component seriously.

And the reasons are known. Increasing popularity has led to poor breeding practices by those doing it for profit and selling them to families with the message that "these are safe family dogs".

Complacency coupled with individuals whose bite inhibition is not what is should be.. and lots of resource guarding behaviours.. do the math.

They actually did a study that saw that GRs bred to be "quieter" had less bite inhibtion than more high drive field types.

You meddle with genetics at your peril. Put out the misinformation that some breeds are "safe" in the same way that some "breeds" are dangerous and this is the result.