Is it true that the tragedy on Merseyside was the result of the dog being driven mad by New Year fireworks?

Question

I think I heard that on Sky News and that the owner had previously been warned about not keeping it under control.
What a horrendous start to 2007 for that family.

Answer 1

It wasn't the fireworks, it was the moron of a dog owner that let a fighting machine of a dog near a 5 year old.

There should be an IQ test before you're allowed to have a Rottweiler/Pit Bull etc. If you're intelligent enough to pass the test you wouldn't want one of these 'status' dogs anyway.

Answer 2

OK ...
the dog:
1) pit bulls can only be kept by a person who obtains a permit and prooves they are responsible as they are on the dangerous dogs list and are no longer legally allowed to be bred in this country

2) "pit bull type" some people confuse them with staffs

3) perhaps as the little girl was visiting she just saw a puppy to play with and ignored the warnings from a responsible adult and decided to go see it anyway when nobody was looking

4)perhaps the dog was not introduced to the girl and saw her as an intruder.

the owner:
1) should have made sure all doors to the dog were locked

2) could have remembered that not all fireworks displays are organised or advertised (drunk "adults" celebrating by letting them off in the street in the way home)

3) perhaps should have sedated the dog for the occasion?

4) they invented MUZZLES for dogs like that and it could have saved this little girl's life

Answer 3

LONDON (Reuters) - A five-year-old girl was mauled to death by a dog at her home near Liverpool on Monday, police said.

The dog, which police described as a "pit-bull terrier type dog" attacked Ellie Lawrenson and her 46-year-old grandmother in the early hours of the morning at a house in St Helens.

The grandmother, named by police as Jackie Simpson, was seriously injured and is being treated

in hospital, but the little girl was fatally wounded in the attack.
A spokeswoman for Merseyside police said dog handlers and armed response officers attended the scene and decided the dog should be destroyed immediately.

"This is such a tragic incident. When a child loses her life in such circumstances, it has an effect on the whole community," police superintendent Jon Ward said in a statement.

A police spokeswoman said Lawrenson did not usually live with her grandmother, but was staying there for New Year's Eve.

The dog did not really know the child?

Answer 4

I've seen it on the news, and know the dog has been destroyed but i don't know the reason for the attack. Yes it is the most horrendous thing. Of course a dog is a dog, and WILL attack if something triggers it, fireworks or anything. RIP poor little Ellie.

Answer 5

No dog should ever be let near young children. All pet owners who let their dogs near children are asking for trouble. When it comes, all you hear is their bleatings of how they can't believe it, or it has never showed signs of aggression before. Wake up. All dogs can turn nasty and it doesn't matter what nice cute looking breed they have, they are still natural killers. Dogs are not mans best friend.

Quick note to Sunny. You are just typical of the, My dog wouldn't brigade. Dobermans can also turn nasty. You are not a dog and you do not think like a dog. What is the matter with you people?

Answer 6

It is very sad indeed. My heart goes out the the whole family. The grandmother must be totally traumatised. That dog should have been destroyed long ago. I do not like or trust Pit Bulls or Pit Bull mixes either.

Answer 7

I am so sorry for the little girl and her family! This was definitely avoidable if the responsible adults who owned the dog had practiced caution and kept him confined in a safe area. I get so angry when irresponsible people breed and train vicious tendencies in dogs. They are a tragedy waiting to happen!!! The dogs are victims too, in a way. They either get killed and maimed in dog fighting arenas or killed because of the horrible consequences such as happened to this poor family. There are laws against this kind of dog fighting activity, but who enforces it?

Answer 8

Probably not in view of the timing.(Too late for fireworks). But any dog, let alone a bull terrier, can attack unless it knows it's subordinate position in the pack. This it must be taught from day one. With sympathies to the family, should they read this.

Answer 9

Pitties were specifically bred for heightened aggression on other dogs, ONLY.

They actually were culled for showing any sign of aggression towards humans. Thus, they genetically have less aggression towards humans, except when not socialized or (dog forbid) trained to be aggressive.

The problem with young children and all dogs is, dogs usually seem to think kids are peers, rather than leaders. And small kids can trigger aggressive behavior by normal kid things they do.

Answer 10

Yeah, the same thing would never happen with my pet man eating lion! Why is it that people are still allowed to keep these things?

When I tell people that my man eating lion won't hurt them, they all believe me! Does it matter if it was fireworks or a red hot poker that angered my lion into ripping someone to bits? Surely the crime is having something that dangerous in the first place!

To my mind ALL dogs should be licenced and controlled properly, I cannot think of another example of something that (in the majority) is so useless, so dangerous and so anti-social that seems to be 'above the law', you need a licence even for a TV, but not for dogs.....how many times does this sort of thing have to happen?

I'm not anti-dog, just anti irresponsible owners, that's why we need licencing and proper control.

I wouldn't really be able to keep a pet lion, so why would they let these idiots keep dangerous dogs?