Another one

[Moobli]

So tragic for the baby girl and her family. Apparently they’d only had the dog a week. Probably presumptuous, but as tests are being carried out to determine whether it’s a banned breed makes me think another bull breed type.

https://www.itv.com/news/granada/20...dies-after-being-attacked-by-dog-in-st-helens

 

[Errin Paddywack]

Tragic

 

[AmyMay]

Just devastating ?

 

[Highmileagecob]

It is so sad. All the tests in the world are not going to turn the clock back.

 

[conniegirl]

Absolutely tragic! My heart goes out to the little girl.

why oh why do people buy adult dogs of uncertain history when they have small children?

 

[AShetlandBitMeOnce]

So tragic. I'd never leave a child alone with a dog full stop, but then again it can all happen so quickly.

I always thought I was pretty good at understanding dog body language until I saw one video of a very aggressive pit bull who was trying to attack a person very clearly, focused gaze, jumping forward, going for the face etc - the trainer in the first video worked with it for a month and then showed a video of it having been 'transformed' and walking through a supermarket without a muzzle with no reaction at all. I didn't think much of it other than, good work but I would always have a dog in a muzzle if it did once need it. It wasn't until another trainer responded to that video and pointed out that the dog walking through the supermarket was still focusing on people's faces, and said that what the first trainer had actually done was trained the dog into hiding all warnings and thus created a much much more dangerous dog. I don't think many people would have picked it out just from the video.

 

[FinnishLapphund]

I'm so sorry for those poor parents.

Wouldn't change what has already happened, but I wish articles like these didn't stop at the surface = was or wasn't the dog of a banned breed.
I wish they'd dug a bit further, tried to find out more about what dog experience the new owners had, Edited: if the dog was from a rescue or wherever they got it from, simply that they'd tried to dig up some more background info.

 

[bonny]

I'm so sorry for those poor parents.

Wouldn't change what has already happened, but I wish articles like these didn't stop at the surface = was or wasn't the dog of a banned breed.
I wish they'd dug a bit further, tried to find out more about what dog experience the new owners had, if anyone knew why the dog was in the rescue, if the rescue perhaps had previously tried to rehome the dog but it had been returned to the rescue, what the rescue did to try to assess their dogs before rehoming them, and other such things.

Why do you think the dog came from a rescue ?

 

[CorvusCorax]

FL, with the best will in the world, this happened less than 24 hours ago, even the best reporter in the world would struggle to find out all that information in that timeframe before you factor in the limited time and resources dedicated to stories like this.

 

[[158444]]

I'm so sorry for those poor parents.

Wouldn't change what has already happened, but I wish articles like these didn't stop at the surface = was or wasn't the dog of a banned breed.
I wish they'd dug a bit further, tried to find out more about what dog experience the new owners had, if anyone knew why the dog was in the rescue, if the rescue perhaps had previously tried to rehome the dog but it had been returned to the rescue, what the rescue did to try to assess their dogs before rehoming them, and other such things.

I thought they bought the dog from a seller not from a rescue?

 

[FinnishLapphund]

Why do you think the dog came from a rescue ?

Maybe a stupid presumption by me based on that it said dog, not puppy, and thinking that adult dogs are more likely to come from a rescue than a breeder.

 

[[158444]]

It looks like they brought it from someone but if they did surely they have the details of the seller at least for the police.

A neighbor has said the dog was a Staffordshire bull terrier or pitbull type dog

 

[CorvusCorax]

People who write newspaper articles generally are not very clued up about animals/knowing the difference between adult dogs/young dogs/what constitutes a pup etc etc etc.

We have bought or been given several young/adult dogs/not baby puppies by breeders.

At risk of repeating myself, this is why it's best to wait for/take the word of an inquest/trial/police statement as everything else is just speculation.

 

[some show]

It's also very easy in the UK to get an adult dog of all kinds of breed/background from sites like pets4homes, preloved, gumtree etc. Just hand over the money and get a dog which hasn't been vetted, fostered, etc and the owner can lie about everything, basically. (disclaimer to add that I know this works out for a lot of people because so many dogs are awesome, adaptable, tolerant beasties, but it's a risky business nonetheless!)

 

[CorvusCorax]

It's also very easy in the UK to get an adult dog of all kinds of breed/background from sites like pets4homes, preloved, gumtree etc. Just hand over the money and get a dog which hasn't been vetted, fostered, etc and the owner can lie about everything, basically. (disclaimer to add that I know this works out for a lot of people because so many dogs are awesome, adaptable, tolerant beasties, but it's a risky business nonetheless!)

Owner to me on Sunday: 'He is very possessive over some things'
Owner to person who was assessing dog for a board and train on Monday: 'He is not possessive at all'
Dog has laid teeth on owner and another trainer over an object. This isn't a scumbag person with a banned breed, this is a nice middle class person who loves their dog.
The dog is not a bother at all, I really like it, just needs a few boundaries and effectual handling, it'll be easily fixed.
But you can imagine where these lies could end the owner if something went wrong with less competent/switched on people

 

[Clodagh]

It's also very easy in the UK to get an adult dog of all kinds of breed/background from sites like pets4homes, preloved, gumtree etc. Just hand over the money and get a dog which hasn't been vetted, fostered, etc and the owner can lie about everything, basically. (disclaimer to add that I know this works out for a lot of people because so many dogs are awesome, adaptable, tolerant beasties, but it's a risky business nonetheless!)

And possibly not one to undertake with a small child at risk.
I hope the parents are charged with man slaughter. There are no excuses for this poor child’s death. I’m sure they are terribly upset, but if they had engaged a brain cell at the start of the process this wouldn’t have happened.

 

[AShetlandBitMeOnce]

And possibly not one to undertake with a small child at risk.
I hope the parents are charged with man slaughter. There are no excuses for this poor child’s death. I’m sure they are terribly upset, but if they had engaged a brain cell at the start of the process this wouldn’t have happened.

I get what you're saying but you're assuming that everyone has the base level of intelligence, inquisitiveness, animal awareness etc as you. It might be that they did engage all the brain cells they had, and child walked past dog who seemed as friendly as the 5 other dogs they know of this type with family/friends, but it grabbed child by throat in front of them. At that point there's nothing really that you can do if dog has intent. There's nothing to say that they left child alone with the dog or allowed child to irritate the dog.

 

[skinnydipper]

Always best to assume that if a dog has teeth it could bite.

 

[Clodagh]

I get what you're saying but you're assuming that everyone has the base level of intelligence, inquisitiveness, animal awareness etc as you. It might be that they did engage all the brain cells they had, and child walked past dog who seemed as friendly as the 5 other dogs they know of this type with family/friends, but it grabbed child by throat in front of them. At that point there's nothing really that you can do if dog has intent. There's nothing to say that they left child alone with the dog or allowed child to irritate the dog.

I still think there are no excuses. And I was generous enough to suggest man slaughter rather than murder. I don’t think all bull breeds are killers, but they are going to be better at it than say a mini poodle.

 

[CorvusCorax]

Always best to assume that if a dog has teeth it could bite.

And breed aside, will cause a lot less harm than a bite to a very small human with very fragile skin/bones/organs/immune system (in the case of infection) where even a relatively superficial bite can cause huge damage.

 

[some show]

Sometimes all it takes is a certain pitch of shriek (which toddlers are great at) too. My dog reacts to certain baby/toddler shrieks with the same body language as he would a prey animal's cries, unfortunately, although it's usually only a second before he goes 'oh, it's just one of those small humans' and relaxes again. And he loves kids. But I wouldn't trust him an inch alone with one of them, because a second is all it takes of course, and kids are unpredictable.

 

[conniegirl]

My 2 dogs are wonderful with children, daisy would nurse them if she could, but neither will ever be left alone with Ellie for even a second.
every interaction is watched carefully with an adult with a hand on both child and dog just incase.

 

[Moobli]

I'm so sorry for those poor parents.

Wouldn't change what has already happened, but I wish articles like these didn't stop at the surface = was or wasn't the dog of a banned breed.
I wish they'd dug a bit further, tried to find out more about what dog experience the new owners had, Edited: if the dog was from a rescue or wherever they got it from, simply that they'd tried to dig up some more background info.

It only happened yesterday so I believe more facts will come out in due course.

 

[[158444]]

Another poor child has lost his life https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www....days-suffering-cardiac-arrest-dog-attack.html

Apparently their rottweilers so now everyone shall blame Rotties again. I really wish we could make stupid owners go extinct

 

[EarsofaSnowman]

I was reading about it earlier, and in dispair about how frequently it is happening at the moment. You'd have thought with the number of cases people would be extra vigilant, but that would involve people in engaging their brain ?

 

[Clodagh]

I wonder if the lockdown boom and mass impulse buying is coming back to haunt us?

 

[[158444]]

That's what I was thinking @Clodagh I said to mom back in 2020 when it was headline news that puppies were in demand , I said well theirs gonna be a big increase in dogs being taken in by rescues, dog attacks both on other dogs and their owners, attacks on children and people and an increase in theft and I haven't been wrong as I knew a large portion of them would be idiot owners

 

[Ratface]

Regrettably, idiot owners will always be with us. However, apart from making would-be owners take exams and training classes, which will never happen for good/less-good reasons, I don't see how the child/dog/danger situation can be improved.

 

[CorvusCorax]

I'm just wondering why the general apathy in middle and top level Government.
I remember the press hysteria over the Rukhsana Khan attack which led to the DDA and now people seem to be dying on a weekly basis and...nothing.

 

[planete]

Perhaps rescues which refuse to rehome their dogs to families with young children are not being so unreasonable after all. It is often impossible to know a rescue dog's background and you cannot take chances on the IQ of potential adopters. I once gave in to a family's pleading and let one of my foster dogs go to a family with a toddler. I took him back two days later as they could not cope. On top of that the woman told me she had come upon the toddler eating from the dog's bowl while the dog was eating. If the dog had had any resource guarding tendency that was an accident in the making. She had only just got the dog, did not know him and had let the toddler and the dog out of her sight long enough after feeding the dog for the toddler to crawl over to where the dog was eating. She thought it was 'cute'! The mind boggles. How would you stop such a person from buying a dog? She desperately wanted one and was in tears when giving it back which was at least possible in this case.