Very tragic about the young girl.. However once again staffs in the spotlight again Clearly the dogs where in pack mode and the human " alpha" was not there so one of the dogs turned alpha and the pack followed. Also probably on guard mode. I dare say crappy owner as that's not normal for dogs to kill. Although all dogs will still have buried in them that pack instinct. The recent plans announced to micro chip puppies I really do not think is the answer . Sadly by me we have a glut of young lads with staffs ( bred willy nilly for the cash) treating them stupidly and goading them. Dog rescue centres are full of them is it Battersea is now around 80% staffs? I may be wrong. Gumtree and free ads full of pups or free to good home staffies. Also I notice a huge glut of certain crosses .. Which I would say are not good mixes .. Status breeding I would say . A lot of Mastiff and Dogue de Bordeaux Crossed with guard breeds are appearing in drives by me now. At the other end of the spectrum other not great crosses being bred for the lapdog handbag dog culture .. Also creating snappy bad tempered little dogs that are not the Babies / fashion accessory dimwits want. People making up "breeds" for the lap dog culture again not thinking creating more health problems and iffy natured animals. So how have we gone from a nation of dog lovers to what appears to be a whole bunch of cretins owning dogs? Not the responsible owners but there's definitely an increase on idiots owning dogs. I believe bad owners make bad dogs. How do we put a halt to these idiots breeding not great dogs...in the back room and then being sold to bigger cretins who then treat and train them badly if at all. I agree their are some breeds more predisposed to certain traits but I don't think putting dogs on the dangerous dogs list is the answer. I can see them pushing for staffs soon. I honestly think its mainly the owner not the animal. I do know however an animal that has a viscous nature if its bred from there is a good chance those characteristics will be passed on to some offspring if genetic bad tempered ness / hormonal problems. I am an ex kennel maid .. I'm very saddened by the morons round here I see with pups and the way they treat them. I can see more deaths like this girl. What do you think is the answer? Is it the breed? Or the owner? As a dog lover I really despair of the state of things at the moment especially with the Staffie problem . I know some fantastic staffies and very loving family dogs... But sadly this Chav status attitude is really causing a lot of damage and dogs on death row as so many being dumped and more and more being back room bred. What do you think is the answer?
I have a friend who has two staffies and you could not meet a nicer pair of dogs. As you say the attitude though in some cases the lack of knowledge of many of the owners is causing real trouble for some breeds.
Time to ban them? Took one major shooting in Huntingdon and the country had a gun ban in weeks, everyone being tarred with the same 'potential murderer' badge (although didn't he have the gun illegally?!) So how different is it with dogs?! Expect if dog lovers, american pitbulls and anything which could be traced as having enough dna is already banned... Staffs, Bull Mastiffs, English bulldogs...what next??
I have a staffie. Yes she can be very excitable, especially around new people, but she is fine with us, and our son. Do I trust her alone with the boy, NO. I would never trust a dog alone with a child. I did however go into her ownership fully aware of the breeds behaviour traits and how to manage them. She used to be fine with other dogs until we moved a few years ago and next doors dogs, who according to the owners had 'boundary' issues went for her one day. She is now very wary of other dogs, and I would not leave her alone with another one. She is very loyal and well behaved with us, but I would say she is probably very protective towards us. the majority of the issues with this bred are lack of education by owners, who get them as status symbols or fashion accessories, not knowing exactly what they have taken on. Also crossing with other, more aggressive breeds hasn't helped. I'm a strong believer that there is no such thing as a bad dog, only bad owners. I do acknowledge however, that like humans you do occasionally get one who is just rotten to the core. i would be interested in this case to hear what the trigger for the attack was. Even though what has happened is devastating for all involved and shouldn't have happened, could the girls actions of caused this tragic event? for the protection of the breed I think the time has come for them now to be licensed, bred by licensed breeders with owners fully vetted. A good friend of mine, when he bought his Rhodesian ridgeback was vetted by the breeder for suitability, both in himself and the property where he was going to keep it.
According to reports on the news earlier today from a witness she was visiting a friend and went into the property carrying a meat pie
'Tis a sad thing to be sure and without knowing the full facts it appears (from the news) to be a case of too many uncontrolled & inappropriate dogs in inappropriate accommodation. However we don't need any more knee-jerk bans, laws, licences, taxes and the like, whether it be dogs, guns, car tax, SORN etc. These serve only one thing: to penalise the vast majority of law abiding folk and make their life more difficult/expensive/miserable. The ones that abuse the system will continue to do so as they don't give a shit. Sadly any subsequent knee-jerk reaction would just affirm our 'rulers' lack of backbone to actually do anything useful... :frown:
A dog is a dog however it is bought up and has the ability to attack Never underestimate a dog at anytime One example I have been around my friends lab since he was a puppy he knows me well and he does as I ask him. When I call to my friend and she is not at her house there is no way I would go into the garden. His hackles go up and his bark is different that I know he is protecting his own. I would not trust him one bit without her being there. That is the most friendly dog I know too.
My friend had two Alsatians dam good guard dogs .. But family pets as well. If anyone came near the house they would bark . Except at me. They couldn't see me but knew it was me. I was the only person they never warned off or barked at.
My Sister had an Alsatian, scared of everyone it was. However it would sneak up behind me and nip my hand then run away - fookin 'orrible dog, I was glad when it died...
My aunt had two Yorkshire terriers Fang and Animal .. I love dogs .... But they put me off Yorkies for life . Snappy bad tempered and used to pee all over the house.. Not nice at all
People are crux of the problem. If they do not get trained in how to own a pet properly or bring up a child appropriately, they should not be allowed to have either. Discuss.
I would. I would trust any child alone with my basset hound (who hasn't even growled in 11 years and seems incapable of inflicting any injury on anything). I would have trusted small children with my bulldogs too - they only ever wanted to slurp and slobber on people. Might drown a small child, I suppose. I have no real answer to Mel's questions. It's not simple. But I thinking about it, I suppose it wouldn't be unreasonable to properly vet future owners - someone like RSPCA officers could do it. It would save a lot of expense and hassle in the long run. There are plenty of people who are totally unqualified to be dog owners, let alone owners of potentially aggressive breeds. There should be no automatic right to dog ownership, any more than there is to gun ownership or a driving licence. We all live in a society and we all have some impact on that society. Why put "hazard magnifiers" in the hands of unsuitable people? And yes, Mel, you are right. When I visited Battersea Dogs Home about 5 years ago, 80% of the dogs were Staffs. All pitbulls are put down as a matter of course, no ifs, no buts. The Staffs are vetted for aggression. All the aggressive ones are put down too. The remaining Staff inmates are reckoned to be OK for adoption. Which leads you to suspect that probably 90% of the dogs taken to the Home are Pitbulls and Staffs originally. That stat probably tells you all you need to know about the problem.
I will honestly say I would not trust any dog with any child on its own. or any other animal that could hurt something. unintentionaly sometimes children can be very rough with animals especially toddlers. I saw a dreadful video of this man who was letting a 2 year old pull his Rottie about and the child ( didn't know as too young) was really hurting the dog pulling it and worst of all jumping up and down on it. the man was encouraging the child as well. although the dog did not turn you could see the dog was hurting and not happy bit did not know what to do. Now it only takes that little jab or bit of pain to far for a dog to snap it may not mean to bite but if a child has pulled it about like in this video then I am afraid I wouldn't blame the animal at all for being tormented. When I was a child I ran past a black lab in a pub garden didn't touch it or anything but out of the blue it bit me badly on the leg. It was a hot day and I guess it was fed up . It's the same with these man Americans with lions and tigers they are reared from cubs How many have been mauled by animals they have hand reared? Any domestic animal can turn . But usually there is a good reason . often you don't hear the bit where a child's been bitten ... After it tormented the dog
This is the video I saw ... Please watch it. Now how the dog did not snap I do not know . However what would the news headline be ? Rottweiler mauls baby in front of parents ? Devil dog ( as was the phrase used for them for years) mauls baby... You certainly wouldn't hear that the poor dog was tormented. This is the typical idiot that does not deserve to own a dog and hmm bet poor Scooby is a status dog I think poor Scooby deserves a medal and a new home where he is treated with love and respect .http://youtu.be/yaxCYgqh2ao
very sad to hear this happend. it also happens every few year over here in Belgium that people get bitten by so called "fighting dogs" i also think that the selling of dogs whitout pedigree should stop and that you could just buy them from real good breeders. i'm in to bull terriers and a have a 2,5 year old male at the moment and had a 13 year old male here before. i never had problemes whit them,also i go to dog school whit them to make them social. i also go to have a look at dog show for bull terriers now and then and i never have seen major problemes. last time there where 240 bull terriers at one place and apart from a bark there was no major probleme. off course i have seen aggresive bull terrier before but most off the time if not always those are dogs whit no pedigree that came from polen,hungary,... i know dogs from breeders are more expensive but if you are a real lover off the breed you are happy to pay this. henk!!!
