Murder By Dog?

[ToraToraTora]

http://news.sky.com/story/screams-heard-as-boy-3-killed-by-dog-in-halstead-essex-10542742
time to start prosecuting the owners of these dogs properly?

[Jackdaw33]

^^ its

[ToraToraTora]

i have 2 jack russells myself and one of them is very snappy, I'm very careful. It just amazes me that people are so stupid that they let these dogs out without a care in the world, "murder by dog" is hyperbole but sure they're needs to be something done. We've all seen them, eejit dog owners, in one breath telling you how their dog saw off a T.Rexx and in the next how he changed their baby's nappy! There needs to be some sort of offence that is the equivalent iof "causing death by being a brainless imbecile"

[grumpy01]

No its not hyperboble Tora because it has happened twice this week,which is two times too many.

[youngmafbog]

It's very difficult to make laws for the real stupid though TTT.

'ooman rights lawyer pondlife would have a field day.

Really not sure what the answer is.

[jourdain2]

I think I just heard the dog referred to as a Boxer- a breed usually very good with children. Could have been crossed with pit-bull of course.

[ToraToraTora]

the breed is irrelevant, any dog can turn and maul, they have very little reasoning ability and are driven by instinct.

[bazwillrun]

dont you find it a bit of a coincidence that usually these attacks are by the usual status dog types s and nearly always have a council estate backdrop.....strange that...not

[jourdain2]

I'm aware of that Tora TT, but people were asking the breed and I tried to answer them.

[bednobs]

"causing death by being a brainless imbecile"
i wish you were able to award yourself best answer :)

[andy-hughes]

I understand that prsecutions are available under the law in terms of failing to keep a dangerous dog under control, and I believe that this may be the potential charge that the woman in custody is facing.

As generally known, and constantly reiterated by many on here, any dog can turn, it is the responsibility of owners to ensure that the circumstances for injury to anyone simply do not become available.

Sadly, that is already a lost cause.

[Peter Pedant]

murder by dog - well yes if she set the dog on the child screaming kill! kill!
anything else will raise problems

// and no prizes or surprises for guessing the "type" of dog its most likely to be...//

well the most frequent dog that bites.... is yup.... a labrador
because there are so many of them ( labradors not bites )

dog tearing a child limb from limb -dunno - it isnt very common you know
and this is another case of the dog NOT being a pit bull type innit ? ....

sorry to stop you in mid-froth 3T

[murraymints]

oh dear..not again..so sad

[jambutty]

I do NOT agree for one second that any dog will turn! I have had three wonderful dogs in my lifetime, all lovely and gentle and I know they would not hurt anyone, BUT they had been hurt themselves by callous humans. All they need is love and a good home. These dogs that attack are usually passed from pillar to post in bad homes, usually owned by thugs and chav types and NOT loved, they are usually locked in confined spaces, never walked and not fed enough. The owner of these dogs are the real culprits, they are the ones who should be put down, they are the ones who raise anti-social dogs who cause problems for us all and make people come out with the usual lament that 'all dogs can kill'!! Rot.

[Mamyalynne]

The fact is that any living creature, man or beast can be vicious.

This breed, the American Bulldog is usually well tempered with children and families - none of us know what went on there, though many may presume not only the character of the owners but the way in which the dog was kept.

Still the outcome is tragic.

[andy-hughes]

jambutty - //I do NOT agree for one second that any dog will turn! //

Nor do I, which is why I did not say it.

If you re-read my post, you will see that I said that any dog CAN turn, and that is an irrefutable fact.

Millions of owners have wonderful lives with their dogs, from puppies to old age, you have been one - me too.

But that does not mean that I never acknowledged every day that my dogs were animals, and I was not party to their thoughts and reasoning, and that they could turn and savage me at any moment without warning, because that is the nature of an animal.

I don't think anyone involved professionally with animals would ever say that their animal will not behave against its everyday nature - that level of predication is simply not possible.

Animals act in a way we cannot understand or predict all the time, and we would never know why things changed, only that they did.

[ladybirder]

This report was recently updated and states he owner had acquired the American Bulldog a week ago and is thought to have kept it in the shed!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3748501/Three-year-old-boy-dies-dog-attack-Halstead-Essex.html

[andy-hughes]

Wonderful! Some people really do have smaller brains than their dogs!

[jambutty]

Exactly what I said, kept in confined spaces.

[ladybirder]

It can be very easy to know why some dogs act as they do, very often by taking a good look at the owner and the conditions under which it is kept and the way it is treated. OK we don't know exactly what happened here but I often wonder how many dogs that have attacked and killed, had they been brought up in a different home would not have acted as they did. Poor little kid and it wasn't even his family's dog as I read it.

[horseshoes]

There was an attack in Menai Bridge only yesterday. Thankfully not as serious. A vicious dog attacked a Labrador being walked by his owner, who when he tried to save his dog got attacked and bitten himself. There have been quite a few incidents of attacks on dogs by vicious dogs off their lead on local beaches. It's very worrying and upsetting,