Dog Attack At Saca Park In Adelaide

[Zug Zug]

I don't think an ongoing discussion of this event is particularly wise for a range of reasons:

* I imagine SACA will be investigating

* There may be civil action resulting from it.

* We have only one side of the story (regardless of how accurate it is)

There are no winners in situations like this. We have a scarred and traumatised child, a horrified and outraged parent and, my guess is a horrified owner and a soon to be PTS dog. I think a little empathy wouldn't be wasted on the owner of the dog - imagine yourself faced with the decision that person is going to have to make. I imagine they will never exhibit any dog again. Would you?

And lets not kid ourselves that the owner would have known that the dog would do this. Any dog large enough to inflict injury is "capable of such an attack". And in all likelihood, unless the child was in the dog's face very quickly, the dog DID give a warning - that no one saw.

As I said, no winners. My advice would be to wrap this thread up. If I were your solicitor Shezz, I'd be counselling you to keep all comments about the incident to yourself. Trial by Facebook and DOL are neither fair nor wise.

Wise words as always.

[Staffyluv]

I don't think an ongoing discussion of this event is particularly wise for a range of reasons:

* I imagine SACA will be investigating

* There may be civil action resulting from it.

* We have only one side of the story (regardless of how accurate it is)

There are no winners in situations like this. We have a scarred and traumatised child, a horrified and outraged parent and, my guess is a horrified owner and a soon to be PTS dog. I think a little empathy wouldn't be wasted on the owner of the dog - imagine yourself faced with the decision that person is going to have to make. I imagine they will never exhibit any dog again. Would you?

And lets not kid ourselves that the owner would have known that the dog would do this. Any dog large enough to inflict injury is "capable of such an attack". And in all likelihood, unless the child was in the dog's face very quickly, the dog DID give a warning - that no one saw.

As I said, no winners. My advice would be to wrap this thread up. If I were your solicitor Shezz, I'd be counselling you to keep all comments about the incident to yourself. Trial by Facebook and DOL are neither fair nor wise.

Wise words as always.

Agreed, we probably should not be discussing the incident.

However I would like to wish Shezz's little lad a full and speedy recovery. He must have been very frightened poor boy..

[yarracully]

I would be heeding Haredown Whippets advice regarding the actual details. A wise person indeed. I saw the news footage having just gotten home from Merbein show at Red Cliffs.

However I do wish your son a speedy recovery and hope that he does not suffer any longterm effects from this.

[Dobecrazy]

ummm so what happened? hope youre kids ok but want to enlighten us?

[Dobecrazy]

oops didnt read above posts. I agree, I have empathy for everyone in this situation.. I hope you wont be asking for this dog to be PTS though in all honestly your own son is your responsibility.. (I am not being rude or insensitive just honest).

[yarracully]

ummm so what happened? hope youre kids ok but want to enlighten us?

Read back through the thread. That should give you an idea.At this point though any further discussion on "what happened" would not be wise due to possible legal process by various parties involved

[Christina]

oops didnt read above posts. I agree, I have empathy for everyone in this situation.. I hope you wont be asking for this dog to be PTS though in all honestly your own son is your responsibility.. (I am not being rude or insensitive just honest).

I see that remark as being rude & insensitive & quite stupid under the circumstances.

Even if the child was a silly little brat that ran up to the dog, which he obviously is not, no mother with a child that is badly injured & traumatised needs to be told this or be told how to feel about the dog at this moment.

Hopefully the child will come out of this ok mentally & physically & kind words to this effect is all she needs right now.

The rest can be sorted later, including the fate of the dog.

[indigirl]

oops didnt read above posts. I agree, I have empathy for everyone in this situation.. I hope you wont be asking for this dog to be PTS though in all honestly your own son is your responsibility.. (I am not being rude or insensitive just honest).

I see that remark as being rude & insensitive & quite stupid under the circumstances.

Even if the child was a silly little brat that ran up to the dog, which he obviously is not, no mother with a child that is badly injured & traumatised needs to be told this or be told how to feel about the dog at this moment.

Hopefully the child will come out of this ok mentally & physically & kind words to this effect is all she needs right now.

The rest can be sorted later, including the fate of the dog.

+1

[Odin-Genie]

oops didnt read above posts. I agree, I have empathy for everyone in this situation.. I hope you wont be asking for this dog to be PTS though in all honestly your own son is your responsibility.. (I am not being rude or insensitive just honest).

I see that remark as being rude & insensitive & quite stupid under the circumstances.

Even if the child was a silly little brat that ran up to the dog, which he obviously is not, no mother with a child that is badly injured & traumatised needs to be told this or be told how to feel about the dog at this moment.

Hopefully the child will come out of this ok mentally & physically & kind words to this effect is all she needs right now.

The rest can be sorted later, including the fate of the dog.

Agree. It is totally the dog owners responsibility. An even tempered dog doesn't just snap. If I take my dog to someone's house or stall in this case, how my dog behaves would be totally my responsibility. If there are kids around, it would be my responsibility to ensure that my dogs don't harm them.

[Poodlecrazy]

oops didnt read above posts. I agree, I have empathy for everyone in this situation.. I hope you wont be asking for this dog to be PTS though in all honestly your own son is your responsibility.. (I am not being rude or insensitive just honest).

I see that remark as being rude & insensitive & quite stupid under the circumstances.

Even if the child was a silly little brat that ran up to the dog, which he obviously is not, no mother with a child that is badly injured & traumatised needs to be told this or be told how to feel about the dog at this moment.

Hopefully the child will come out of this ok mentally & physically & kind words to this effect is all she needs right now.

The rest can be sorted later, including the fate of the dog.

+2

[Salukifan]

oops didnt read above posts. I agree, I have empathy for everyone in this situation.. I hope you wont be asking for this dog to be PTS though in all honestly your own son is your responsibility.. (I am not being rude or insensitive just honest).

I doubt Shezz will have to. IMO it's the only responsible course of action for the dog's owner in these circumstances. It would break my heart but it's what I'd do.

[raineth]

I can confirm that there was a dog attack at SACA on Saturday. It was my 9 year old son that was attacked.

I am a Rhodesian Ridgeback owner and exhibitor on the day and it was NOT my Ridgeback that attacked him.

My son has injuries to his face, hand and wrist. He has stitches under his eye and nose, his nose is very swollen and bruised. He has puncture wounds, cuts and bruises to his hand and wrist. He suffered shock for quite a few hours, including nausea and vomiting. It was not a good day at all.

The photos on the news story are of my son and our Rhodesian Ridgeback.

what a nightmare

I wish him a very speedy recovery and hope that his injuries heal well.

I hope you are doing o.k., as the mother it must have been absolutely awful for you.

[raineth]

oops didnt read above posts. I agree, I have empathy for everyone in this situation.. I hope you wont be asking for this dog to be PTS though in all honestly your own son is your responsibility.. (I am not being rude or insensitive just honest).

I see that remark as being rude & insensitive & quite stupid under the circumstances.

Even if the child was a silly little brat that ran up to the dog, which he obviously is not, no mother with a child that is badly injured & traumatised needs to be told this or be told how to feel about the dog at this moment.

Hopefully the child will come out of this ok mentally & physically & kind words to this effect is all she needs right now.

The rest can be sorted later, including the fate of the dog.

Agree. It is totally the dog owners responsibility. An even tempered dog doesn't just snap. If I take my dog to someone's house or stall in this case, how my dog behaves would be totally my responsibility. If there are kids around, it would be my responsibility to ensure that my dogs don't harm them.

completely agree with you Odin-Genie.

[m-sass]

oops didnt read above posts. I agree, I have empathy for everyone in this situation.. I hope you wont be asking for this dog to be PTS though in all honestly your own son is your responsibility.. (I am not being rude or insensitive just honest).

I see that remark as being rude & insensitive & quite stupid under the circumstances.

Even if the child was a silly little brat that ran up to the dog, which he obviously is not, no mother with a child that is badly injured & traumatised needs to be told this or be told how to feel about the dog at this moment.

Hopefully the child will come out of this ok mentally & physically & kind words to this effect is all she needs right now.

The rest can be sorted later, including the fate of the dog.

Agree. It is totally the dog owners responsibility. An even tempered dog doesn't just snap. If I take my dog to someone's house or stall in this case, how my dog behaves would be totally my responsibility. If there are kids around, it would be my responsibility to ensure that my dogs don't harm them.

I am sorry but I disagree with that and feel in this day and age "everything" is lumped onto the dog owner where in many cases these incidents could have been avoided with some good parental education for children how to behave around other people's dogs. We don't know the exact circumstances of this case, but if the dog was leashed and under handler control, there is no need for a child to be within a close proximity of the dog with the assumption that the dog is ok.

It's getting worse by the day in general where parents allow their children to rush at and want to pat everyone's dog, then blame the dog owner when it turns to s&*%. As a child, I went to many shows with my nanna, she was an exhibitor and my mum was a trainer/handler and the golden rule I was taught from an early age was to leave other people's dogs alone, don't approach them and don't pat them because they can bite. It wasn't about blame, it was about proactive bite prevention management for children in those days I am talking 40 years ago now, but the system worked and being raised to respect what a dog may be capable of and learn the truth of potential dog behaviour didn't effect me or cause me to fear dogs, quite the opposite in fact.

We were taught with our own dogs never to stare them out at close range, never to blow in their face or poke at them stupidly etc, we were taught the good and bad things about dogs and to respect an unknown dog's personal space and I have to be honest to say that many of these incidents involving childen had the children been taught the old school rules that I learned, most of these incidents wouldn't have happened. Putting dogs to sleep and having dog owners charged with offences after the fact doesn't undo the pain and trauma inflicted upon a child, but preventative manangement with proper eductation does prevent many these terrible situations occurring in the first place, it's not about right or wrong, it's about protecting childen from the vulnerability of suffering injuries from dogs when we are dealing with animals who can be unpredicatable. No dog is 100% bullet proof and no child IMHO should ever be led to believe that they are for my 2 cents worth.

[raineth]

we're the one's who want to have a dog. It is a privelege that comes with responsibility.

This is the real world we are living in - in the real world people can be noisy, they can stare, they can rush.

We need to adapt our dogs to living in the real world by preparing them as best we can for thingsw such as this. For some dogs that may mean a great deal of vigilance and the use of a muzzle.

we are never going to make the general public change for our dogs, we're the ones who need to adapt. And it's absolutely do-able.

[StaceyB]

I hope your boy makes a quick recovery Shezz, both pysically and emotionally.

[StaceyB]

oops didnt read above posts. I agree, I have empathy for everyone in this situation.. I hope you wont be asking for this dog to be PTS though in all honestly your own son is your responsibility.. (I am not being rude or insensitive just honest).

I see that remark as being rude & insensitive & quite stupid under the circumstances.

Even if the child was a silly little brat that ran up to the dog, which he obviously is not, no mother with a child that is badly injured & traumatised needs to be told this or be told how to feel about the dog at this moment.

Hopefully the child will come out of this ok mentally & physically & kind words to this effect is all she needs right now.

The rest can be sorted later, including the fate of the dog.

Agree. It is totally the dog owners responsibility. An even tempered dog doesn't just snap. If I take my dog to someone's house or stall in this case, how my dog behaves would be totally my responsibility. If there are kids around, it would be my responsibility to ensure that my dogs don't harm them.

I am sorry but I disagree with that and feel in this day and age "everything" is lumped onto the dog owner where in many cases these incidents could have been avoided with some good parental education for children how to behave around other people's dogs. We don't know the exact circumstances of this case, but if the dog was leashed and under handler control, there is no need for a child to be within a close proximity of the dog with the assumption that the dog is ok.

It's getting worse by the day in general where parents allow their children to rush at and want to pat everyone's dog, then blame the dog owner when it turns to s&*%. As a child, I went to many shows with my nanna, she was an exhibitor and my mum was a trainer/handler and the golden rule I was taught from an early age was to leave other people's dogs alone, don't approach them and don't pat them because they can bite. It wasn't about blame, it was about proactive bite prevention management for children in those days I am talking 40 years ago now, but the system worked and being raised to respect what a dog may be capable of and learn the truth of potential dog behaviour didn't effect me or cause me to fear dogs, quite the opposite in fact.

We were taught with our own dogs never to stare them out at close range, never to blow in their face or poke at them stupidly etc, we were taught the good and bad things about dogs and to respect an unknown dog's personal space and I have to be honest to say that many of these incidents involving childen had the children been taught the old school rules that I learned, most of these incidents wouldn't have happened. Putting dogs to sleep and having dog owners charged with offences after the fact doesn't undo the pain and trauma inflicted upon a child, but preventative manangement with proper eductation does prevent many these terrible situations occurring in the first place, it's not about right or wrong, it's about protecting childen from the vulnerability of suffering injuries from dogs when we are dealing with animals who can be unpredicatable. No dog is 100% bullet proof and no child IMHO should ever be led to believe that they are for my 2 cents worth.

I think thats a very broad generalisation m-sass. Yes, there are some parents out there who have no sense around strange dogs and dont teach their children the correct way to interact with them, but the same can be said about dog owners.

I seriously doubt that these generalisations are at all relevant in this situation. I would assume that both the dog owner and the childs mother would be fairly experienced in dealing with dogs given that they were at a dog show.

I do agree with your last statement that no dog is 100% bomb proof and children should be taught that, I try to instill that lesson in my daughter every time we see a dog out in public. Theres really not enough information available here to know without doubt what happened, for all we know the dog could have been bitten on the arse by an ant or something and then bitten the closest thing (which would account for no warnings from the dog) out of pain and shock

[m-sass]

oops didnt read above posts. I agree, I have empathy for everyone in this situation.. I hope you wont be asking for this dog to be PTS though in all honestly your own son is your responsibility.. (I am not being rude or insensitive just honest).

I see that remark as being rude & insensitive & quite stupid under the circumstances.

Even if the child was a silly little brat that ran up to the dog, which he obviously is not, no mother with a child that is badly injured & traumatised needs to be told this or be told how to feel about the dog at this moment.

Hopefully the child will come out of this ok mentally & physically & kind words to this effect is all she needs right now.

The rest can be sorted later, including the fate of the dog.

Agree. It is totally the dog owners responsibility. An even tempered dog doesn't just snap. If I take my dog to someone's house or stall in this case, how my dog behaves would be totally my responsibility. If there are kids around, it would be my responsibility to ensure that my dogs don't harm them.

I am sorry but I disagree with that and feel in this day and age "everything" is lumped onto the dog owner where in many cases these incidents could have been avoided with some good parental education for children how to behave around other people's dogs. We don't know the exact circumstances of this case, but if the dog was leashed and under handler control, there is no need for a child to be within a close proximity of the dog with the assumption that the dog is ok.

It's getting worse by the day in general where parents allow their children to rush at and want to pat everyone's dog, then blame the dog owner when it turns to s&*%. As a child, I went to many shows with my nanna, she was an exhibitor and my mum was a trainer/handler and the golden rule I was taught from an early age was to leave other people's dogs alone, don't approach them and don't pat them because they can bite. It wasn't about blame, it was about proactive bite prevention management for children in those days I am talking 40 years ago now, but the system worked and being raised to respect what a dog may be capable of and learn the truth of potential dog behaviour didn't effect me or cause me to fear dogs, quite the opposite in fact.

We were taught with our own dogs never to stare them out at close range, never to blow in their face or poke at them stupidly etc, we were taught the good and bad things about dogs and to respect an unknown dog's personal space and I have to be honest to say that many of these incidents involving childen had the children been taught the old school rules that I learned, most of these incidents wouldn't have happened. Putting dogs to sleep and having dog owners charged with offences after the fact doesn't undo the pain and trauma inflicted upon a child, but preventative manangement with proper eductation does prevent many these terrible situations occurring in the first place, it's not about right or wrong, it's about protecting childen from the vulnerability of suffering injuries from dogs when we are dealing with animals who can be unpredicatable. No dog is 100% bullet proof and no child IMHO should ever be led to believe that they are for my 2 cents worth.

I agree and disagree. Parents are responsible for educating their children on the appropriate way to approach and interact with dogs and need to monitor their children when they are with dogs. At the same time, a dog owner has no business taking a dog that may attack a person (child or otherwise) to a public event, especially without a muzzle. Regardless of whether the child did something that triggered the dog to attack or not, the owner of the dog had the responsibility to protect both her dog and anyone the dog may interact with. A dog that is not solid around children should not have been put in a position where it was taken in to a small, partially enclosed environment (such as a marquee) with children and the owner should not have allowed the child to approach the dog. Unless that child did something terrible like poke the dog in the eye, pull it's tail or something else to hurt it (and I find it difficult to imagine that this was the case) there is absolutely no justification for the dog attacking him and the onus of responsibility is entirely on the dog owner.

I don't disagree with the situation of taking a potentially reactive dog into an area where children are if that's what happened, the dog owner in that case took a risk by doing so but on the other hand, the dog may have been at a safe distance away from the children and the child approached the dog, in that case from my childhood education, I wouldn't have done that by placing myself in a vulnerable position to get bitten, especially at shows I remember as a child when people were moving dogs around we were taught to step back out of the way.

I am thinking how things have changed when we would get into massive trouble for approaching someone's dog and if children did so 40 years ago, the dog owner would abuse the child's parents for lack of parental control like a protocol of what was required on a child's part around dogs to best prevent bite potential, nowdays in many cases, children are often allowed to do as they please like "oh here comes a dog, so I will approach and pat it", we were taught to move away from the dog and give it some space. It's much easier to teach a child to keep a safe distance away from a dog than it is to teach a dog not to bite a child and if more children were taught the protocols I was taught, the less children would get bitten IMHO.

[aussielover]

We can't really comment objectively as we don't actually know what happened. We don't know if it was a sustained attack or a defensive snap (which can still cause significant damage). I disagree that a "well tempered" dog won't just snap- it really depends on how they're feeling on the day, the dog may ave been painful, sick, stressed etc, however personally I would hope my dog give a growl or warning nip at worst rather than a full on bite.

I really feel for the little boy who was injured and hope he makes a speedy recovery.

[megan_]

oops didnt read above posts. I agree, I have empathy for everyone in this situation.. I hope you wont be asking for this dog to be PTS though in all honestly your own son is your responsibility.. (I am not being rude or insensitive just honest).

I see that remark as being rude & insensitive & quite stupid under the circumstances.

Even if the child was a silly little brat that ran up to the dog, which he obviously is not, no mother with a child that is badly injured & traumatised needs to be told this or be told how to feel about the dog at this moment.

Hopefully the child will come out of this ok mentally & physically & kind words to this effect is all she needs right now.

The rest can be sorted later, including the fate of the dog.

Agree. It is totally the dog owners responsibility. An even tempered dog doesn't just snap. If I take my dog to someone's house or stall in this case, how my dog behaves would be totally my responsibility. If there are kids around, it would be my responsibility to ensure that my dogs don't harm them.

I am sorry but I disagree with that and feel in this day and age "everything" is lumped onto the dog owner where in many cases these incidents could have been avoided with some good parental education for children how to behave around other people's dogs. We don't know the exact circumstances of this case, but if the dog was leashed and under handler control, there is no need for a child to be within a close proximity of the dog with the assumption that the dog is ok.

It's getting worse by the day in general where parents allow their children to rush at and want to pat everyone's dog, then blame the dog owner when it turns to s&*%. As a child, I went to many shows with my nanna, she was an exhibitor and my mum was a trainer/handler and the golden rule I was taught from an early age was to leave other people's dogs alone, don't approach them and don't pat them because they can bite. It wasn't about blame, it was about proactive bite prevention management for children in those days I am talking 40 years ago now, but the system worked and being raised to respect what a dog may be capable of and learn the truth of potential dog behaviour didn't effect me or cause me to fear dogs, quite the opposite in fact.

We were taught with our own dogs never to stare them out at close range, never to blow in their face or poke at them stupidly etc, we were taught the good and bad things about dogs and to respect an unknown dog's personal space and I have to be honest to say that many of these incidents involving childen had the children been taught the old school rules that I learned, most of these incidents wouldn't have happened. Putting dogs to sleep and having dog owners charged with offences after the fact doesn't undo the pain and trauma inflicted upon a child, but preventative manangement with proper eductation does prevent many these terrible situations occurring in the first place, it's not about right or wrong, it's about protecting childen from the vulnerability of suffering injuries from dogs when we are dealing with animals who can be unpredicatable. No dog is 100% bullet proof and no child IMHO should ever be led to believe that they are for my 2 cents worth.

The dog owner walked into the tent and stood near them.

What you are really saying is that no child should ever be anywhere near any dog because any dog can attack.

I am not in the dog show world but show dogs are meant to represent the best of the best. That means they should be even tempered and it would take a lot to provoke them. A dog that bites because it is petted isn't even tempered. I have a fear aggressive dog and she is never allowed near children. As an owner of a dog, it is my responsibility to take reasonable percautions.

ETA: Everyone always harks on about the olden days. In the olden days that I remember, dogs with bad temperaments often never got the chance to even grow up. In the dog world I think we tolerate too much sometimes. Puts flame suite on.