A dog has killed a woman in Canberra ....

[Tempus Fugit]

Not really. It's just that dog attacks in Canberra are a political issue at the moment.

All over the world big dogs have been attacking little dogs for centuries. In the wild, coyote kill foxes, while wolves kill both coyote and foxes.

As a society we humans domesticated wolves, but never completely eliminated their predatory instinct, and then we started shrinking some of them to be smaller than foxes.

Also as a society, we seem to be unable to totally confine our canine companions to our properties when unsupervised so they get out and their predatory instincts kick in. Remember, dogcatchers have been around for centuries.

I guess the latest incident will have rotties in the firing line, as they are in some european countries along with pitties.

34 minutes ago, Diva said:

There was another attack today, a woman walking her on leash dog has been hospitalised after a mauling by two loose dogs. To be honest these attacks alarm me more than the poor woman killed by her own dog, no doubt because the victims are random. My own dogs have been attacked when out for an on leash walk on several occasions, I don't know why it is so but Canberra has a real problem with aggressive dogs. 

 

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/canberra-woman-in-hospital-after-dog-attack-in-lyons-20171108-gzh4xn.html

 

[Diva]

I walk my dogs around the ordinary streets of Canberra. A lot. We have a problem.

 

 There is a failure of compliance, enforcement and education. That is why it has become a political issue.

 

To say that big dogs have been attacking small dogs for centuries, as a society we can't contain our dogs on our properties, and they attack when they inevitably get out is a line of argument that leads to the conclusion that small dogs cannot be walked on the streets with a reasonable expectation of safety unless big dogs are banned. I don't accept that. It assumes only small dogs are getting attacked. As a big dog owner I know that isn't true. It also ignores the willingness of the dogs in the reported attack to turn on the human to the extent they did - that isn't just dog on dog prey drive.

 

I just hope new legislation is well designed and I sn't seen as a cure in itself. It needs to target the irresponsible owners hard and it needs resourcing.

 

If I saw a dogcatcher patrolling my suburb I would break out the champagne.

 

 

 

Edited November 8, 2017 by Diva

[Tempus Fugit]

An update: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/police-hunt-for-men-after-man-dog-attacked-with-machete-in-home-invasion-20180403-h0yanu.html

[BDJ]

thanks for the update

 

It does not take away from what happened, but certainly adds another perspective - both on the owners 'commitment' to the dog (it didn't say, but quite likely the dog defended its territory during the home invasion and may have saved the family from further harm), and more reasons on what may have triggered the attack (dog version of PTSD, impact of previous activity etc).

 

There is usually more to any story

[Tempus Fugit]

On 11/9/2017 at 8:12 AM, Diva said:

I walk my dogs around the ordinary streets of Canberra. A lot. We have a problem.

 

 There is a failure of compliance, enforcement and education. That is why it has become a political issue.

 

To say that big dogs have been attacking small dogs for centuries, as a society we can't contain our dogs on our properties, and they attack when they inevitably get out is a line of argument that leads to the conclusion that small dogs cannot be walked on the streets with a reasonable expectation of safety unless big dogs are banned. I don't accept that. It assumes only small dogs are getting attacked. As a big dog owner I know that isn't true. It also ignores the willingness of the dogs in the reported attack to turn on the human to the extent they did - that isn't just dog on dog prey drive.

 

I just hope new legislation is well designed and I sn't seen as a cure in itself. It needs to target the irresponsible owners hard and it needs resourcing.

 

If I saw a dogcatcher patrolling my suburb I would break out the champagne.

 

 

 

The new legislation doesn't seem to have solved the problem:  https://www.canberratimes.com.au/national/act/almost-220-dog-attacks-in-horror-five-months-for-act-20180706-p4zq0g.html

 

There seem to be many straying dogs at any given time going by the Canberra Lost Pets facebook page.

[Diva]

 

 

The situation is no better in my neighbourhood than it was, that is for sure. My vote will go to whichever side adequately resources the rangers to enforce the leash laws, and takes dogs off people who are repeat offenders. I expect to be able to walk on leash dogs safely down a suburban street

 

 

 

 

[Tempus Fugit]

Washup article

[Little Gifts]

What a tragedy. I wish she'd been able to see the escalation in Simba's behaviours because even if you don't think your dog would attack you, you can still get badly injured trying to break up an aggression episode. What kind of a life was he having when he needed to be locked up all the time to keep everyone else safe. And lastly, all the poor people who were  involved in this incident as victims or responders - those are things no-one wants to experience. No winners here.

[Loving my Oldies]

Horrific.  So sad.  

[RuralPug]

Thanks for that article, TF. It seems well researched and gives what seems to me to be a balanced view of this tragedy. I was impressed with the conclusions that the dog trainer gave to the coroner, especially the "perfect storm" of stress factors and redirected drive that led to the owner's death.

I also agree with LG's comments, well put/

[persephone]

 

I am glad this article was published at least . Hopefully someone else will take note.  

 

[attaboysmum]

Just don't read the comments.

[asal]

22 hours ago, Tempus Fugit said:

Washup article

particularly interesting article. 

 

especially the "there's something called trigger stacking."

 

It is now only beginning to be recognised as a possible cause in horses as well.

 

Found some ..  had never heard of it before.

https://equimed.com/health-centers/behavior/articles/my-horse-is-acting-out-is-he-stressed 

 

 

 http://felicitygeorge.blogspot.com/2014/01/trigger-stacking-and-horses-is-your.html

 

Still rarely recognised problem for  people .

Edited January 13, 2019 by asal