Identification Of "menacing Dogs"

[Cartersmum]

I saw this in my Facebook feed as we live in The Hills District:

http://www.hillsnews.com.au/story/1716478/rangers-will-be-given-power-to-remove-menacing-dogs/?cs=12

How are they going to identify a menacing dog?

As a Rottweiler owner (the gorgeous Carter) I am concerned this will tar all dogs with the same brush. I was walking Carter last year with my sister (who was 9 at the time) and a lady approached me in a park and told me that "it was irresponsible of me to have a menacing dog breed with children around"

Safe to say I ignored her. What are your thoughts?

[Jed]

Yesterday, I took my young dog for a walk, and stopped to speak to my neighbour who has 2 preschool children. They came up to her, and as she has never seen preschool children before, she was frightened of them, so she growled a little.

That is menacing.

My friend took her rottweiler to the off lead park. The rottweiler spied some children on swings in the next park, and loving children, ran over to them (ignoring the owner's calls. Screaming, they ran away, with the dog, thinking it was a game, running after them.

That is menacing.

I would think a dog which growls, barks, or runs at a person is menacing.

[MelodysMum]

Which could be any dog!! It also depends on the person whether they think a dog is menacing. Some people are terrified of any dogs, so they will perceive any dog near them to be menacing!

[minimax]

I would think a dog which growls, barks, or runs at a person is menacing.

Yesterday my pug barked at a lady in the park because he wanted a treat. Sometimes he forgets his manners, but he's far from menacing :laugh:

[melzawelza]

Yesterday, I took my young dog for a walk, and stopped to speak to my neighbour who has 2 preschool children. They came up to her, and as she has never seen preschool children before, she was frightened of them, so she growled a little.

That is menacing.

My friend took her rottweiler to the off lead park. The rottweiler spied some children on swings in the next park, and loving children, ran over to them (ignoring the owner's calls. Screaming, they ran away, with the dog, thinking it was a game, running after them.

That is menacing.

I would think a dog which growls, barks, or runs at a person is menacing.

Under the current definition of an attack a dog that does all of those things in NSW can already and often is declared Dangerous by the Council - with all that that entails (including building a child proof enclosure with a concrete floor and a roof). I'm hopeful that the introduction of a menacing category will allow for a more realistic and able to be complied-with restrictions being placed on the dog rather than the whole dangerous dog requirements.

Will depend on how it's written.

[tdierikx]

I'm still wondering who/how will be enforcing these new laws... and in whose opinion a dog is guilty of "menacing"...

T.

[melzawelza]

I'm still wondering who/how will be enforcing these new laws... and in whose opinion a dog is guilty of "menacing"...

T.

Council officers. There won't be any extra work in it - Council officers have to investigate incidents now, and minor incidents with no injury are reported all the time. It will just give the Officer more options at their disposal come the time that the investigation closes and they have to decide what action to take.

It will always be the Council officer's opinion or decision as to whether the dog is menacing rather than dangerous or neither. Hopefully the legislation is written in such a way that it is clear and easy to define.

[Odin-Genie]

I would think a dog which growls, barksor runs at a person is menacing.

So, if a dog barks from inside the house at a door knocking sales person, it would be declared menacing?

[Crisovar]

I would think a dog which growls, barksor runs at a person is menacing.

So, if a dog barks from inside the house at a door knocking sales person, it would be declared menacing?

If the salesperson feels threatened then yes

[Dame Aussie]

That's why I have a sign telling sales people to stay off my property. They're great.

[minimax]

I would think a dog which growls, barksor runs at a person is menacing.

So, if a dog barks from inside the house at a door knocking sales person, it would be declared menacing?

If the salesperson feels threatened then yes

I feel threatened by sales people, can they be labeled menacing?

[Santo66]

Yesterday, I took my young dog for a walk, and stopped to speak to my neighbour who has 2 preschool children. They came up to her, and as she has never seen preschool children before, she was frightened of them, so she growled a little.

That is menacing.

My friend took her rottweiler to the off lead park. The rottweiler spied some children on swings in the next park, and loving children, ran over to them (ignoring the owner's calls. Screaming, they ran away, with the dog, thinking it was a game, running after them.

That is menacing.

I would think a dog which growls, barks, or runs at a person is menacing.

Under the current definition of an attack a dog that does all of those things in NSW can already and often is declared Dangerous by the Council - with all that that entails (including building a child proof enclosure with a concrete floor and a roof). I'm hopeful that the introduction of a menacing category will allow for a more realistic and able to be complied-with restrictions being placed on the dog rather than the whole dangerous dog requirements.

Will depend on how it's written.

In a case where the dog didn't bite anyone, that is there is no physical evidence of attack, what happens if the dog owners says it's bulldust that their dog growled or whatever the compliant is about.....the council officer investigation didn't see the incident so what then?

[tdierikx]

I'm thinking that the new legislation will mean that the "evidence" will be mostly anecdotal - ie. someone reports that a dog growled at them, and the authorities investigating will look at breed/size of the dog, and declare it "potentially dangerous" based on that...

I hope I'm proven wrong...

T.

[dee lee]

I would think a dog which growls, barksor runs at a person is menacing.

So, if a dog barks from inside the house at a door knocking sales person, it would be declared menacing?

If the salesperson feels threatened then yes

I would imagine if the dog is on private property & contained adequately it couldn't be declared menacing?

[sandgrubber]

I'm reminded of a bumper sticker I once saw that said "every effort will be made to prevent the next disaster as soon as possible after it has occurred".

Seems like some of the most serious attacks happen when the dog gets out. Or when the dog's owner is away and the 'carer' doesn't appreciate the dog's potential for ill deeds. The dog who jumped the fence in Como last week and did a good job of chewing up first a kid and then his dad, probably wouldn't have been deemed 'mencing' because he was behind a colorbond fence; and if he was declared mencing, the colorbond would probably have sufficed to satisfy the authorities he was adequately contained.

[~Anne~]

My Boof will actually raise his hackles and bark at people through the door. When you open the door his hackles drop and he wags his tail and greets the visitor in a very friendly pug like way regardless of who they are. It would be interesting to see if they would declare him 'menacing'.

Edited August 22, 2013 by ~Anne~

[mita]

Which could be any dog!! It also depends on the person whether they think a dog is menacing. Some people are terrified of any dogs, so they will perceive any dog near them to be menacing!

Agree. It's highly subjective when someone feels 'menanced'. If the authorities want to have this category, they should use a word or words that describe a dog's actual behaviour.

Imagine if that were in human law. You could be arrested solely on the grounds that some individual felt 'menanced' by you. We'd expect any charge to be based on actual behaviour that was threatening in some way. And that most people would feel threatened by it.

In any case, I can see bigger dogs getting unfairly hit by this.

[corvus]

In the scheme of things it will probably be better. Council rangers in my area that I know are not out to mess people up on someone's say-so. They have to deal with neighbour disputes and the likes all the time. They are aware that situations do need to be properly investigated. This is really for dogs that would be declared dangerous for relatively minor transgressions because it's the only option. Like dogs that get out once and kill someone's pet cat on the street. Killing someone's cat is not a trifling thing, but maybe it's not something the dog needs to be locked up and muzzled for life for. The menacing dog category is about giving those dogs a shot at a life of some quality and the owners more reasonable requirements that they may actually be able to afford to meet while still protecting the community.

[WreckitWhippet]

I'm thinking that the new legislation will mean that the "evidence" will be mostly anecdotal - ie. someone reports that a dog growled at them, and the authorities investigating will look at breed/size of the dog, and declare it "potentially dangerous" based on that...

I hope I'm proven wrong...

T.

I doubt you will be proven wrong

[mac'ella]

I'm thinking that the new legislation will mean that the "evidence" will be mostly anecdotal - ie. someone reports that a dog growled at them, and the authorities investigating will look at breed/size of the dog, and declare it "potentially dangerous" based on that...

I hope I'm proven wrong...

T.

I doubt you will be proven wrong

when a smaller dog attacks a larger dog and gets whats coming is it the large dog's fault? or the small dog's owners who think its funny that it snaps at the big dog?,....from experience and luckily I had my dog on lead