Child attacked.. Ireland this time

ArklePig

ArklePig

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https://www.thejournal.ie/wexford-dog-attack-5932656-Nov2022/

A little boy has sadly been attacked by a Pitbull, but luckily survived. Absolutely horrendous. I don't know what the answer is here- in Ireland we don't have a list of 'banned dogs' (not that it seems to make a difference elsewhere), we have a 'restricted breed'* list. Dogs on this list must be muzzled and leashed. Not to mention that this dog sounds like he was just freely roaming around anyway. And yes, we have Dog Licenses too. There's probably nothing to say that hasn't been said I'm just sick to death of this happening.

*Restricted breeds for anyone interested as per Statute (https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1998/si/442/made/en/print)

(a) American Pit Bull Terrier,
(b) Bull Mastiff,
(c) Doberman Pinscher,
(d) English Bull Terrier,
(e) German Shepherd (Alsatian),
(f) Japanese Akita,
(g) Japanese Tosa,
(h) Rhodesian Ridgeback,
(i) Rottweiler,
(j) Staffordshire Bull Terrier
 
Mrs. Jingle

Mrs. Jingle

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I made the mistake of clicking on the link this morning, that poor, poor little boy. The images were horrendous and I really wish I hadn't seen them. His poor family too. I hope he and they can heal from this horrific attack and his quality of life won't be too badly affected by PTSD, let alone his wounds.
 
CorvusCorax

CorvusCorax

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Boxers were taken off the list due to a successful campaign. I'm not sure if it has been changed, but you were not supposed to have any of those breeds in public/council housing and a number of council owned facilities, depending on the council, the leash must be 1m and on at all times in public, dog not to be handled by anyone -16 and at events where the public may be, there must be a physical barrier between these breeds and the public.
Officially, if one of these breeds or a cross goes into a pound or rescue kennels, it must be either PTS or taken out by a breed rescue/out of the jurisdiction, they will rarely be rehomed to MOPs, which is why you see a lot of interesting descriptions of dogs on rescue pages.
Meanwhile no one sticks to it unless they are ratted out by someone, whether it is warranted or not, and Ireland is a puppy farming capital.

The DAFM held a consultation about dog keeping and breeding in 2018 and has only just published the results. I must actually read the response properly. I think the part on breeding is due to be officially presented to the Irish Kennel Club next weekend. That's the Irish Kennel Club, where a secretary couldn't tell an acquaintance if a GSD and a Dutch Herder were the same thing or not, when they rang up to ask about insurance.
 
Rowreach

Rowreach

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Omg the poor child.

The dog licensing thing is a waste of time, only us law observing owners license our dogs, the rest don't bother. The two GSDs that attacked my dogs (and were beaten off by a lad with a tyre iron) weren't licensed and one of them already had a control order on it. The owners have avoided all attempts at prosecutions by the local authority, one dog was spirited away after the attack, and they've since done a midnight flit from their rented accommodation and moved to a different area. So that's two dangerous, out of control dogs who've previously killed another dog (not mine) still out there and waiting for the next victim. Both dogs should have been destroyed imo.

With laws as weak as that, we have no chance of stopping attacks on children.
 
ycbm

ycbm

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For anyone who saw the pre surgery pictures and are having nightmares it might help you to see the post surgery pictures, where it looks as though his face is very likely to have been saved. ??? The plastic surgeons have done an incredible job. It might not be wise to look if you haven't seen pictures of his injuries already, it's still not a nice sight.

https://www.irishmirror.ie/news/irish-news/family-boy-mauled-dog-wexford-28605624
 
S

SilverLinings

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I don't particularly want to see the pictures, but the descriptions alone make it clear that the injuries are pretty horrendous. I hope the surgery he has had, combined with future plastic surgery will be successful, but the incident is sadly likely to have a big long-term impact on that child's life.

We have talked a lot on here about these sorts of cases and ideas of how to reduce/stop them happening, but clearly whatever is put in place (like dog licenses in this case) are meaningless unless they are strictly policed and punishments doled out to those who breach the rules.

I do wonder whether bodies like the RSPCA (and potentially one, or a combination, of the government/NHS/police) would do well to spend money on some hard-hitting public information campaigns, with TV adverts, posters, etc. The campaigns could target dog welfare as well as the risk of dangerous dogs by looking at subjects like the costs of owning a dog (and the owner's responsibilities re. providing for the dog), dog behaviour, the legal responsibilities of dog owners regarding control of their dog, welfare, etc.

Hard-hitting ad campaigns (often with graphic images) in other countries have shown to improve problems like speeding, drink driving and smoking, so a campaign showing the horrific injuries a dog can cause to a human/child/other dog combined with the legal penalties for the owner of said dog would surely be worth trying at least.
 
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