jamessd said:and the massive one's (pitbulls?) are vicious (ok, some not but most
are). I mean... they kill babies and don't get banned! WTF!
Every week in the UK, 2 or 3 (the average is about 2.5) children are
killed by their own parents. Every day, in the UK, 9 people are killed
on the roads. every year in the UK, one or two people are killed by
dogs. The question is not one of risk, but of risk perception.
My partner has two Rottweilers. One of them can be chewing a bone or
playing with a dog toy and you can take the bone or toy out of its
mouth just by holding out your hand and saying "Let go." Every time.
The small number of people who are hurt or even killed by "big dogs"
are usually unlucky or stupid enough to put themselves in the path of a
guard dog, or a dog kept for intimidation purposes by an owner who has
no interest in the dog as anything other than a status symbol.
Recent cases in the UK:
A baby killed in a pub in leicester. The guard dog was kept on the
flat roof of the pub, never socialised, and was deliberately kept for
the purpose of intimidating potential burglars or assailants. Someone
left a door open into a room where there was an unattended baby. The
dog attacked the baby. Irresponsible dog owners, and irresponsible
parents.
A child of 7 carrying a baby out of the house into the back yard, where
a Rottweiler was chained up. Why is a 7 year old carrying a baby
outside the house unattended? Baby carried into the territory of an
unsocialised dog. Irresponsible on all counts.
A lady who worked at a kennel, who was badly savaged by a "rescue dog".
That's a dog that has not been looked after or trained, and has never
been socialised, before being abandoned to be "someone else's
problem".
On the other hand, my brother and sister in law have a Rottweiler that
is kept in the house, and knows its place in the "pack". They have a
new baby. I went to touch the baby and the dog stood between me and
the baby to guard it, but without biting me. They are responsible dog
owners, and responsible parents.
--
Mikefule
"Maybe," said the old man smiling, "who knows how the wheel may run?
It's fool who claims to know its place of resting."
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