Are the DOGS the problem....?

Question

or the parents...?

http://uk.yahoo.com/r/nw/fd/0/*http://uk.news.yahoo.com/rtrs/20071229/tuk-uk-britain-dog-fa6b408_10.html


what say you ..?

Answer 1

Never leave a dog unsupervised with kids...its as simple as that

Answer 2

It's a very difficult one to answer. In most cases dogs aren't aggressive without reason, such as due provocation, or medical problem (had experience with the latter). Therefore I rarely put blame onto the dogs.

Afterall, dogs are animals with pack and hunt instincts, and when they aren't properly trained etc they show these instincts easily. A dog should never be blamed for what is ultimately it's nature.

In this case, I'd have to lay blame with the owners, they had only had the dog six months, they had no real clue about the dogs character in most cirsumstances. They also should not have left the children unsupervised with the dog, a responsible adult should be with animals and children at all time. The dog picked on the weakest in the pack as it's instinct tells it to. Unfortunately this has ended in a tragedy that the family will have to live with for the rest of their lives.

I own 3 dogs, and I only trust one of them with children, and even then I wouldn't leave them unsupervised together. Things can happen and a dog has no "oops it was only an accident" way of thinking, they lash out first in self preservation. I think it should be made mandatory for all dog owners to attend training classes when they get a new dog, and I don't think any responsible owner would object to this.

Answer 3

As someone who has had various breeds over the years I would say that in the first instance its the owners who are responsible. This dog was obviously kept out in the yard for a reason. I never totally trust a dog whether big or small with small children. One wrong move and the dog may feel threatened or anything.
A dog who for years has shown no aggression can suddenly turn. If a dog is well trained and kept an eye on by the owner then these situations shouldn't arise but sadly they do. A small child carrying a baby should not have been let anywhere near the dog. I expect the dog thought the baby was a toy to play with!
Its very sad that this happens and it was right that the dog was put to sleep.

Answer 4

it down to the owners, whoever took on the dog.
& to be a responsible dog-owner takes commitment & common sense.
from what i understand. they had only had this re-homed 2-year-old b!tch for 6 months,
it lived inside, NOT OUTSIDE along with another dog & a cat,
it had never shown any aggression before.
no adults were present at the time, ( guessing they were at the sales ) a 16 year-old, a 7 year old & the poor baby.
it's christmas, humans get stressed during the festive season,
the dog could have picked up the wrong vibes from a turbulent & pressured social situation.
guess we'll have to wait for more details.
as yet another dog attack ( i know a few rottweiler's & they're not aggressive nor threatening )
this will have a negative affect on all the dogs.
the government will toy with the dangerous dogs act to compensate for people who get some dogs as a status symbol, with out any thought to supervision or discipline.
when in this situation like previous dog-attacks, a bit more adult human attention could have gone a long way................

shame the dogs will suffer, not the useless owners!

Answer 5

Well the owners have to take full responsibility. I heard an expert say these dogs are territorial and most attacks carried out are on young children unknown to them. If the owners had been aware of this then then could have ensured no young child had access to their back yard. So it is because of their ignorance that this happened.

Edit: It really doesn't matter if you rear them from a puppy or not. You need to do your research. Too many "accidents" happen. That dog was once someones loved puppy too and no doubt a loving family pet but it still killed a child.

Answer 6

Obviously the boy did not aggravate the dog in any way, but my question is why the dog attacked the boy as he did? Maybe someone had trained him to be aggressive. Dogs don't just attack for no reason unless they are trained to do so, mistreated or abused in some way. The family said it's no one's fault but I would have to say that more should be looked into especially since this is the second time it has happened in that family....Unfortunately a young innocent boy had to die this time

Answer 7

It's never a good idea for young child to be around dogs which can be unpredictable. The dog apparently lived outside in the back yard and the child along with a six year old and a seven year old were left in the care of a sixteen year old. It seems to me that three younger children were a lot for her to cope with but what happened was a tragic accident. The adults (as did the McCanns) made an error in judgement with tragic consequences they will live with for the rest of their lives. They don't need anyone trying to decide whether they were to blame.

Answer 8

this is a very hard question to ask , i own a rottwieler and a douge de bordeaux .
both of my dogs are very well natured.
the rottie is years old nearly and has always been brought up around my three children , i trust my dogs with my children or i wouldnt have them,
however when u see the certain type of people with these bigs dogs that only have them for show and keep them out side its not fair on the dog and would certainly turn any one dog or human.

Answer 9

Any animal that is capable of causing serious injury to a child should never be left any where near your children, the breeds of dogs that go into a frenzy when they attack should be destroyed.
By this i mean Pit bulls, rothwielers , and some other breeds that lock when they bite.
I would not be so quick to blame the parents on this one as I think the reason they may have bought this Dog was to protect the house at night

Answer 10

All dogs are potentional killers.It is up to the owners to treat them properly. Too many times they are brought up as guard dogs .And yet expected to know at a moments notice not to be aggressive. They only had the dog for 6 months yet it was 2 years old .Did they know about its past before they got it? So I would say the owners.

Answer 11

This is quite a difficult question to answer. Some dogs are working dogs and are bred to be aggresive. However, owners of dogs also need to be trained. I feel that training the owners of ALL dogs that are classed as working dogs is not only necessary but should be law.