Calling all dog owners

[SandyFloor]

The dog problem has been a pet hate of mine (sorry) for some time. I have a customer ( scottish bloke ) who lives in Luxembourg and has lived in Germany and Belgium. According to him dogs there have to be registered annually, chipped and carry third party insurance by law. I've heard from a couple of sources addicts here get £20 a week for a dog (can anyone confirm that?). Talk about different standards.

 

[Deleted member 9966]

It certainly makes me think that the government should bring back dog licensing.

It really is a horrible situation to be in as you hear so much about dogs mauling babies, children and adults, but never really much about dogs attacking other dogs.

I told my husband last night that I don't want another dog after Najma passes on because I don't want the heartbreak of something like this happening again, or even worse, a dog mauling a baby or child.

 

[SandyFloor]

I certainly agree with you there should be some kind of licensing or ownership control. We're talking about a creature that can cause an extreme amount of harm that has a mind of it's own hence requires some skill and effort in it's handling and care.............. and this country allows any idiot to have one.

 

[user123]

I can imagine how upset you must be, Liz, that is a horrible thing to happen. But you are obviously a responsible dog owner, it would be shame if the fear of a rare occurence would put you off enjoying your life with another beloved pet though...

 

[jay]

not the best of news hope the best for the other one ,maybe if i sent you one of these over you might change your mind View attachment 22924

 

[Deleted member 9966]

that puppy is such a cutie aawwwwwwwwww!

don't get me wrong, I think dogs are great. they're lovely companions, it's great having someone else in the house to talk to when you're on your own and you do feel safer knowing you're not the only one in the house. but when other people fail to love and care for their dogs in the same way and bad things happen, it just fills me with total sadness. I now understand why it took my dad 25 years to get another dog after his Barney (GS cross labrador) died.

 

[jay]

it takes time

all dogs are licensed over here but it doesn't stop this type of thing happening it comes down to the owners

 

[limco]

This is so terrible and so sad , my heart goes out to your family and I hope Bella will be okay.
I lost my dog of 13 years old, last Oct and me and the wife are still missing him so much.....

 

[White Room]

not the best of news hope the best for the other one ,maybe if i sent you one of these over you might change your mind View attachment 22924

What breed is that jay

 

[jay]

What breed is that jay

German shepherd (long coat) pick him up next week

 

[Aston]

really sorry to hear this liz ..
terrible news...poor little things
ed

 

[andy8758]

GRR - Losing a dog is like one of lifes great stresses. Dogs that are well bred and trained become companions who give unconditional love in return for food, walkies and a bit of a tickle now and then (lol). Losing a relative or friend can be even more stressful. If you are unfortunate enough to lose a parent or worse, a child, you will discover a part of your life will be gone forever (though frankly I feel like that when I lose a dog too).

Having said that. Life (and excerement) happens. If you (as parent) lose one child due to a car accident, you may never let the other child cross a road, or travel as a passenger in a car again. Not because your other child will also be killed in a car accident, but you now believe that they will be.

I can therefore understand you wanting to wrap Najma in cotton wool when she goes for a walk.

But my dogs will still be allowed off the lead, to run and play and socialise with other dogs. I refuse to restrict their lives because of what fate has dealt to another. I only wish I could have been so open about giving my own children such freedom when they were growing up - I enjoyed that freedom, but we now worry so much about what could happen to them, we have stopped letting them be children any more.

So to everyone else, do you think we protect our children and pets too much?

 

[Bolter]

What a sad story! have a knot in my stomach and its not even my dog

Just to note, if you have a small dog, and you pick it up, the big dog (if they are in that sort of mood) is then likely to jump at your face. I don't know what you can do about that, but thats what will happen. Some dogs like Staffs can jump 6ft in the air from standing. The spray, and well lit areas are a good idea though.

This is more the owners that are to blame rather than the dogs. Why were these obviously very powerful animals not in a secure run, or on a lead? Why are they even allowed to act like that to another dog. My dog knows full well what happens if he crosses any of the many lines I have drawn for him. Like you would bring up a child responsibly, you have to do this with a dog. Theres more and more idiots in this world, and I hope your Mums dog pulls through.

 

[Deleted member 9966]

Because my Najma is only as big as a cat (smaller than a cat if you compare her to my best friends cat), I'd much rather pick her up off the floor if something is going for her as one bite straight into her and another dog could easily reach her vital organs as she has absolute no fat on her anywhere. But I understand what you're saying Bolter. I'd much prefer to protect her from another dog than be worried about my own skin.

 

[Deleted member 9966]

More information:

Apparently there was 3 dogs involved and only 1 was a SBT. But also these dogs had been implicated in an attack on a poodle last year, and the poodle died of injuries inflicted by all the dogs in the attack. The owner of these 3 dogs has admitted to the police that it was his dogs that were involved and has on Wednesday had all of his dogs destroyed. The poodle's owner was advised by the police that they could not prosecute under the Dangerous Dogs Act as dog attacking and killing another dog was not unlawful, so the poodle's owner took a private prosecution to court and lost out.

However, my cousin, who is the owner of Winnie (the dog who died) is a lawyer and she has found a piece of law dating back 200 years that has not been removed from the Dangerous Dogs Act which openly says that owners are required by law to keep their animals under control and any killing of any other animal (dog or otherwise) will result in prosecution. The police have again advised that they will not help in this matter because no human beings were severly injured.

Bella has a broken spine in 3 places and was having an MRI scan this morning to find out if she was losing fluid from her spinal cord. If the spinal cord is in tact, she will recover and will be immobile for about 8 weeks. If her spinal cord is severed, she will have to undergo more operations and her recovery will take much longer.

The owner of the dogs who attacked has already offered to pay all the vets fees and costs, and even offered to pay for a new puppy. He should have done the decent thing last year when the poodle died as a result of an attack by his dogs.