Oh dear.. :(

Caroline_a

I have owned dogs all my life and brought up 3 children. Some of those dogs have been very large (3 Great Danes over the years), and I have never left my children alone with them. They were taught (the children) how to behave around dogs, how to speak to them and how to interact with them. That aside, this incident appears to have been (from what a neighbour has reported) to be a rescue dog that the family has had for only a short time. The rescue place apparently told the mother that the dog was 'safe around children'.

I would like to know how the rescue centre could possible assess that with certainty. I do think that rescue places tend to go out of their way to assess whether the potential owners have the right facilities for the animal (fences, etc), but perhaps responsible rescues could look at running assessments to see how suitable the owners are around dogs. People who are dog-savvy will recognise normally another dog-savvy person. It's not an inherited skill, it's one born from experience with a lot of common sense.

Another tragedy where the dog will in all probability be blamed, whereas the blame should be shared to a greater or lesser degree by the rescue centre, the previous owner (s?), and the mother. Ignorance should never in these situations be an excuse - if you make a decision to get a dog you should be prepared to take responsibility for it in every way.

catkins

I wonder if it was a rescue. The story seems to be changing. The Mail are now saying the pictures earlier were the little girl with her uncle's dog (so why print them then) and that the dog that killed her is believed to be a "pitbull" type.

The papers should be more careful what they print until they have the facts. Because at one stage it was said that the dog was a Dogue de Bordeaux I have just heard that one rescue centre alone this morning has had 12 calls from people with DDB's wanting them rehomed. This is very sad

con1888

I do think tougher dog owenership laws need brought in but not silly DDA type... I think they should bring back licensing and have it similar to a driving test... you get your dog, need to go to 'x' amount of hours training then at the end are given your 'full' license... yes it will cost money but then dogs do anyways and if you really want a dog you will pay it. Accidents will still happen but I believe it will be less so.

Before people say it, I know plenty of us are capable of training our dogs to an acceptable level at home but I would be willing to pay for license and classes to ensure that those who aren't will be forced to take responsibility.

Caroline_a

con1888 wrote: »

I do think tougher dog owenership laws need brought in but not silly DDA type... I think they should bring back licensing and have it similar to a driving test... you get your dog, need to go to 'x' amount of hours training then at the end are given your 'full' license... yes it will cost money but then dogs do anyways and if you really want a dog you will pay it. Accidents will still happen but I believe it will be less so.

Before people say it, I know plenty of us are capable of training our dogs to an acceptable level at home but I would be willing to pay for license and classes to ensure that those who aren't will be forced to take responsibility.

Excellent post. I am able to train my dogs, but took both to training classes to socialise them. Additionally it was easier to see any older dogs that had issues with other dogs, and in a training environment it was controllable and solutions could be offered. I do remember one rescue dog that came and was very aggressive with other dogs to the extent that the class leader suggested that the dog probably wasn't suitable for rehoming, and that they should return it (they had only just got it). They did this, and got a much more suitable dog for their family. Hopefully the rescue place didn't try to rehome the dog again!

gettingready

The photo of the dog is here:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2487849/Leicester-girl-dies-bitten-dog-Mountsorrel.html

Why would the stupid papres publish a photo of DDB first of all if THAT dog was not related to this tragedy?

catkins

gettingready wrote: »

The photo of the dog is here:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2487849/Leicester-girl-dies-bitten-dog-Mountsorrel.html

Why would the stupid papres publish a photo of DDB first of all if THAT dog was not related to this tragedy?

Because newspapers and tv news in this country don't wait until they have the facts do they. Oh no they just give out any old rubbish.

I can't believe how many times when you get the true story just how much it differs from the original one.

How many DDB's are now going to be got rid of because of that initial story?

scheming_gypsy

gettingready wrote: »

The photo of the dog is here:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2487849/Leicester-girl-dies-bitten-dog-Mountsorrel.html

Why would the stupid papres publish a photo of DDB first of all if THAT dog was not related to this tragedy?

Because the papers are given a certain amount of information to go of and there was a picture of the girl with a dog. The original captions said that there was evidence that it was the dog that attacked her.
The paper then updated with new details that the neighbours had said it was a pitbull (when all pictures were clearly an American Bulldog).

The media are there to report on the news and they can only do that with the information they have at the time. By the time they wait till they've the correct details to publish, the story is old and everybody else has already published it.

Wellyboots6

LS is brilliant with children, but under no circumstances would he be left alone with them.
To be fair, he isn't often left alone with adults either. Only those that I trust to follow my instructions to the letter.

I have had him 11 months now but am still learning a lot about him.

Poor poor family, but like others I do hope there is no knee-jerk reaction to this

bluebeary

very sad story and my heart goes out to the mother of the little girl shes tragically lost

while i appreciate her efforts to adopt from a rescue centre i do feel that centre is partly to blame for not vetting properly

i read in the paper today that the dog was released into the care of a lady who may not be able to support the strength of the large dog involved, who lived in a flat with a four year old daughter

in a flat !

such a dog would need more room with plenty of outside space

i do understand that most, if not all, rescue centres are full to the brim, especially at this time of year and into january and probably february unfortunately but common sense should prevail in such instances, sorry

we, as a country, do need to rethink and regulate the whole pet industry on the whole, it is alot of hard work but it will be worth it to see alot less children being mauled and killed

Shoshannah

There will always be a knee jerk reaction. Some of the papers are reporting the fact that there is no plan to add the Bulldog, or American Bulldog, or Dogue de Bordeaux or whatever this dog is supposed to be, to the list of banned breeds... And they are reporting it like that is a bad thing.

I have met a far greater number of aggressive terriers than Rottweilers and Dogues de Bordeaux in my time. Not to mention very worried Border Collies that bite.

Please don't mistake my comment as a slight against those breeds. The vast majority of them have very genuine reasons why they behave in such a way. But my point is: judging the breed is the wrong thing to do.

Most dog lovers are on board with this. It's a shame that the media continues to churn out emotive and misleading information about certain breeds just to sell stories. But that's what they do, I guess.