Identify these 2 breeds, both on the banned list!

tandraig

I realise this may be upsetting - but near me a baby was mauled to death by two dogs - a jack russel and a staffordshire bull terrier. I was horrified and followed the news reports. at the autopsy it was established that of all the wounds only one was made by the staffordshire the rest were by the jack russell. what actually happened we will never know - but the supposedly aggressive breed didnt cause the babies death - the jack russell did. do we now ban jack russells?
I do not judge a breed by so-called aggressiveness - i have known rotties who were gentle as lambs and a labrador who was kept as guard dog and so aggressive even i avoided him.
dogs are dogs! you can train them and you can socialise them - but - like people you DO get the occasional psycho. and i think its up to the owners to recognise this and NOT make excuses for their little darlings. I would NOT allow a dog to show aggression and would try to train them but if that failed - then its the vets and being pts.

foreign_correspondent

Jojo_the_Tightfisted wrote: »

I believe they were banned because the Daily Mail et al demanded it, and the people charged with the task decided they were more dangerous, possibly because of their bite strength and their instincts to 'lock on'?

I think that is certainly part of it - they are certainly strong dogs, but then so are plenty of other breeds that are not banned.

It is however, a bit of a myth about them having jaws that lock - no breed of dog does.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

A myth? I though locking a joint meant in animals what it does in humans - a situation where it is necessary to consciously relax extremely tense muscles. I didn't realise it meant something else in animals.

I would compare the instinct of some dogs to hold on tightly to the instinct of others to hold lightly - Staffie holding something as compared to Retriever, for example. The MIL's retriever held toys loosely and would let go if I wanted them, even if she would prefer to keep the toy. My Staffies would hold toys tightly and would let go if I wanted them, but had an instinct to hold tight that the retriever didn't. I got the impression that he had to think about how to let go, perhaps because his jaw muscles were so immensely strong?

Fair enough. All in my imagination. My apologies.

foreign_correspondent

sure, some dogs have stronger jaws than others, and some tend to be more tenacious than others - and some breeds are bred to be soft mouthed and not bite into game that they are retrieving - however, no dog has a jaw that locks, despite this commonly being said about some breeds.

Rumours about ‘Lock Jaw’ in Pit Bull Terrier Type Dogs
Scientific research has proven that the pit bull terrier and related breeds are physiologically no different from any other breed of dog. Dr Lehr Brisbin and colleagues at the University of Georgia have shown that there is nothing in the skeletal structure of the pit bull terrier jaw that is any different from that of any other dog in respect to locking.

http://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/item/928

MrsTinks

I'm a lifelong horselover (sadly not owner - blooming lottery win keeps eluding me ) and I believe (correct me if I'm wrong) that the hour by hour risk is higher for horse riding of a serious injury or death then even riding a motorbike (the comparison I saw was 1 injury per 350 hours horsing about to 1 in 7000 hours for horsing it about as it were). So assuming the statistic at the moment is correct for 10 horse related deaths a year... I think the risk is far higher for dying "by the hoof" than "by the paw" - yet there is no banned horse breeds yet i can think of a couple of "air-for-brains" breeds that we would be far safer without
But imagine the kind of opposition if they tried to ban certain horses? I would certainly expect a far greater outcry than what they came up against with the few banned dog breeds and from a lot of people who on the whole have a lot more money to oppose these bans.
I still think that dog ownership should be controlled to a degree - there are too many who do not take responcibility for their animals and let them roam the streets etc. Bring back the dog license and make all dogs have to have microchips with a compulsary registration scheme and a £500 fine for first offences and £2k for a second. Bet you people would suddenly think twice about abandoning dogs, backyard breeding and so on...
(ok the idea needs a bit of work... but the concept seems workable lol)

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

My apologies - I had misunderstood what people meant when they said the dogs locked on. I didn't realise that they were referring to a non existent physiological thingy, I just thought they meant instinct combined with strength, or I would have used better words.

I heartily agree with air for brains horses (and riders/owners too), I love the cobs and the giants for their calm sense (and their ability to lug my weight around), but horse breeders/owners tend to have higher incomes and be more vociferous in their own defence.

If there wasn't so much in school about washing, eating, not being violent, using a knife and fork, not beating each other up, speaking, reading, writing and counting (as these things sadly don't seem to be taught by all parents), I'd want animal care to be part of the school curriculum from Nursery.

But, if they can't even rely on little ones knowing what a knife and fork is, I realise that it is fairly unlikely that animal welfare will feature at any time soon.

foreign_correspondent

Ooh banning "dangerous" breeds of horses would be an interesting social experiment wouldnt it!? I can see the Queen and Prince Phillip etc coming out and protesting!

Can I vote for Shetland ponies? I have never once been bitten by a dog, but I have had a really painful (and unprovoked) nip from a Shetland Pony... left a lovely big bruise too!

I have also been injured by a goat and a chipmunk (the chipmunk drew copious amounts of blood!) - maybe they should be next in line...

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

And I would vote for banning 10 year old girls with police officer parents and faces resembling potatoes, as they seem to have been the most venomous creatures either myself or my DDs have ever met!

foreign_correspondent

Jojo_the_Tightfisted wrote: »

And I would vote for banning 10 year old girls with police officer parents and faces resembling potatoes, as they seem to have been the most venomous creatures either myself or my DDs have ever met!

hmmm.. I presume there is a whole other story there!?!?:rotfl:

timmmers

Dangerous dogs are banned for the same reason that guns are...in the wrong hands they cause innocent people harm. If not through intentional use for fighting, by neglecting both the dog and a kid.

The sad thing is that when something bad happens concerning these dogs (or any dog)..the wrong party always gets put down.

A good friend of mine adopted 2 staffies (one recently to replace his old one who died)...both covered in scars from being fighting dogs before they were rescued. You'd never know it unless told though, with care and a good owner they can be just like any other dog.

Personally I think there should be a licence for keeping animals...and a strict test that needs to be passed to get one not just paying a small fee. That way a pensioner could pay a fiver take the test and keep a dog...but aa hoody would stand little chance of ever passing.

I have a licence to drive a car...and I'd not worry if I needed something similar to keep my cats, or even a budgie. It should be a privielidge not a right to own an animal IMHO.

t