New Legislation Apparently Hasn't Changed The World

[TheCoat]

It seemed to me when we were growing up, and I'm 50, everyone had dogs (and other pets for that matter) and we were trained early never to approach a dog we didn't know, don't ever pat someone else's dog without permission. Now part of that was about the risk of hydatids & keeping us safe from dog bites I'm sure but it was also about having manners and treating the dogs and their owners with respect.

These days how often do you see small children, encouraged by their parents I might add, run up to strange dogs flapping hands around or poking or slapping at them with the toy in their hand or .... and then run off squealing. My dogs try and ignore them as they are more interested in their walk but people go on about muzzled greys scaring people - I walk a muzzled grey and people are still happy to have their children run up to her squealing and poking (no idea of how to pat a dog)and then run off. Doesn't seem to occur to the parent to calmly walk over to us with their child and ask if its OK to pat my dogs. Nor does it seem to occur to the parent that I might not be interested in what their child wants and I might prefer that they didn't pat my dogs.

I do wonder how many bites are caused by a total disconnect between people and companion animals that we didn't see back then. Though I do know that where I grew up dog or people aggressive behaviour would not have been tolerated.

You are so right with that, we were taught from a young age to do the same. My mum used tell us that we have our own dog to pat so leave strange dogs alone. As I said in an earlier post, we had a lot of roaming dogs too, so we saw dogs around all the time and they were not a novelty just part of the landscape. I am personally appauled at the way some parents allow their kids to rush up to strange dogs, lost count of how many times it's happened to me on walks. Luckily if a kid does rush at a leashed dog and the dog bites, you have a chance of avoiding prosecution, but you don't want any of that to happen or kids bitten when the dopey parents could avoid these situations with some dog education.

Edited October 17, 2011 by TheCoat

[mac'ella]

I was at the vets today when a girl rushed in with her dog which had just been attacked by two dogs while they were walking,her husband followed her in with blood all over his legs which I assumed was their dogs,but it was his,

they were walking their dog when the others attacked she has picked up her dog but one dog has jumped and grabbed it out of her arms,when her husband has tried to rescue his dog the other has attacked him gashing his calf and leaving deep full shaped bites in his thigh.

Another woman at the vets thinks these same dogs attacked another dog recently(not possitive)and not sure of the cicumstances,but in the same street and similar description.

The other dogs owners to their credit came straight to the vets and were obviously distressed,but I overheard them say something about unregistered and I think they were talking about putting the attacking dogs down.

This will be a sad outcome for all parties involved and will only add fuel to the debate over dangerous breeds,this will also cast a shadow over stafford owners in the area as the first description again was "staffies"

This is the 1st time I have seen the results of a full on attack,and and if this was the second attack by these dogs cannot believe that the owners could let it happen again.

This is what responsible owners are up against and unfortunately it seems that the authorities seem to think that its easier to make all owners suffer than to sort out the irresponsible ones.Im just thankfull there were no small children around while these dogs were roaming,maybe they were dog aggressive and the second dog was defending his mate but if there had been kids involved the result would have been worse

[TheCoat]

I was at the vets today when a girl rushed in with her dog which had just been attacked by two dogs while they were walking,her husband followed her in with blood all over his legs which I assumed was their dogs,but it was his,

they were walking their dog when the others attacked she has picked up her dog but one dog has jumped and grabbed it out of her arms,when her husband has tried to rescue his dog the other has attacked him gashing his calf and leaving deep full shaped bites in his thigh.

Another woman at the vets thinks these same dogs attacked another dog recently(not possitive)and not sure of the cicumstances,but in the same street and similar description.

The other dogs owners to their credit came straight to the vets and were obviously distressed,but I overheard them say something about unregistered and I think they were talking about putting the attacking dogs down.

This will be a sad outcome for all parties involved and will only add fuel to the debate over dangerous breeds,this will also cast a shadow over stafford owners in the area as the first description again was "staffies"

This is the 1st time I have seen the results of a full on attack,and and if this was the second attack by these dogs cannot believe that the owners could let it happen again.

This is what responsible owners are up against and unfortunately it seems that the authorities seem to think that its easier to make all owners suffer than to sort out the irresponsible ones.Im just thankfull there were no small children around while these dogs were roaming,maybe they were dog aggressive and the second dog was defending his mate but if there had been kids involved the result would have been worse

The problem is, the market is flooded with BYB Staffies and crosses and some of these are crap dogs that takes extremely responsible management and training to keep dogs like this under control keep everyone safe. I would like to see BYB's wiped out and address the problem at the roots. Breed isn't the problem, it's the fools who breed dogs with aggressive temperaments mostly because as breeders they haven't got a clue what they are doing or breeding.

Dog breeding shouldn't be a God given right to just anyone, dog breeding is a serious business that takes knowledge and dedication to get right, the quicker we leave dog breeding to people who know how to breed a good stable dog, the better off we will all be IMHO???.

[sandgrubber]

I was at the vets today when a girl rushed in with her dog which had just been attacked by two dogs while they were walking,her husband followed her in with blood all over his legs which I assumed was their dogs,but it was his,

they were walking their dog when the others attacked she has picked up her dog but one dog has jumped and grabbed it out of her arms,when her husband has tried to rescue his dog the other has attacked him gashing his calf and leaving deep full shaped bites in his thigh.

Another woman at the vets thinks these same dogs attacked another dog recently(not possitive)and not sure of the cicumstances,but in the same street and similar description.

The other dogs owners to their credit came straight to the vets and were obviously distressed,but I overheard them say something about unregistered and I think they were talking about putting the attacking dogs down.

This will be a sad outcome for all parties involved and will only add fuel to the debate over dangerous breeds,this will also cast a shadow over stafford owners in the area as the first description again was "staffies"

This is the 1st time I have seen the results of a full on attack,and and if this was the second attack by these dogs cannot believe that the owners could let it happen again.

This is what responsible owners are up against and unfortunately it seems that the authorities seem to think that its easier to make all owners suffer than to sort out the irresponsible ones.Im just thankfull there were no small children around while these dogs were roaming,maybe they were dog aggressive and the second dog was defending his mate but if there had been kids involved the result would have been worse

The problem is, the market is flooded with BYB Staffies and crosses and some of these are crap dogs that takes extremely responsible management and training to keep dogs like this under control keep everyone safe. I would like to see BYB's wiped out and address the problem at the roots. Breed isn't the problem, it's the fools who breed dogs with aggressive temperaments mostly because as breeders they haven't got a clue what they are doing or breeding.

Dog breeding shouldn't be a God given right to just anyone, dog breeding is a serious business that takes knowledge and dedication to get right, the quicker we leave dog breeding to people who know how to breed a good stable dog, the better off we will all be IMHO???.

I'd say 2/3rds owner's fault, 1/3 breeder . . . but both contribute. Call if 50:50 if you want to fault the 'breeder' (or irresponsible person who permitted their girl to get preggers) for not placing pups in responsible homes.

I remember a couple years ago the MDBA folks were pushing to get the 'breeder' recorded on microchips as well as the owner. The more I think about this (sometimes I think kinda slow) the more I think it's a good idea. If attack data starts to show that some idiot BY'breeder' (if you care to dignify them with the title) has graced the world with three or four aggressive out of control cr#p dogs, maybe the law can find a way to go after the breeder. They seem to be managing to blame pubs for serving drunks. . . I'd say it's the same general idea.

Edited October 19, 2011 by sandgrubber

[Horse2008]

Looking at the poll results...Who said it's got nothing to do with them?

This won't stop at pit bulls, the government will keep banning breeds until there's none left, and then they'll ban cats because they scratch and horses because they kick and birds because they have claws, it will never end! Then you'll be stood around wandering where your right to keep pets and even choosing what pet you want to keep has gone.

This is a very slippery slope, it should stop NOW!

[Souff]

Paramedics said the girl was playing on a swing in her backyard in Mooroolbark when the dog, believed to be a Staffordshire terrier, attacked her just before 11am.

‘‘The dog briefly latched onto the girl and caused quite a deep wound on her forehead which extends into her hair,’’ advanced life support paramedic Margaret Harris said.

Innocent little child on a swing ... whizzing happily through the air ... past an animal that likes to grab moving things with its mouth ...

When will people EVER learn how a dog thinks?

Suffer little children ... because of the lack of thought and commonsense of those in charge.

Souff