Dog attacks

[Kou]

Every now and again we see something in the media about dangerous dogs mindlessly attacking innocent children or along those lines. Whenever there is a meda story like that, a group of people will carry on about how dangerous dogs are and how uncontrollable dogs can but they all seem to leave out one part of the equation.

Ok, the dog bit a kid, but what was the kid doing to the dog beforehand?

I've heard about kids doing rotten things to dogs before, so in some cases the dog could of simply been defending itself. Is this situation ever considered in the news? Of course not. Every seems to love jumping on the 'put dogs down' bandwagon every time something like this happens.

Am I the only one that notices this?

[loaf]

About, 7 maybe 8 years ago. My friends little brother was walking by my other friends house, while his dog was outside. From what I was told, the dog came up and just bit my friends little brother in the leg. The wound was really bad, you could see his bone it was that deep. My other friend told us that he was messing with the dog but I called bs since my friends little brother hates that other friend of mine back then.

In this case it was the dogs fault. I know for a fact about it. But I have seen incidents where the kid was messing with the dog and the dog bit them.

[Kou]

My neighbour used to have a golden retriever. Over the back fence there was a kid about 5 years old who one day decided get into the back yard. The dog bit his arm. After going to court my neighbour had to put his dog down.

AFTER lethal injection they decided to x-ray the dog and found 23 staples inside its ear.

The kid had climbed over and put 23 staples into the poor dog before the she decided - this is enough, and defended herself.

The story of the dog attack was in the news but when my neighbour went to the media with the new information, they didn't want to know about it. Apparently people only want to hear about how dogs are crazed and uncontrollable.

Given that yes, there are no doubt times when dogs can attack without provocation but do you ever see articles or news reports exploring other circumstances regarding the attack?

[Sean]

When I was 11 or 12 I was attacked by a dog that I didn't provoke. A friend of mine had 3-4 dogs that always stayed in her back yard, and they all knew me. When I was visiting her one day, they had a new dog they were watching for a short time for her aunt, and it was in it's cage. It saw me, barked, broke out of it's cage and chased me down. Jumped and bit into my shoulder as I was running for the door into her house. I still have scars from it.

Sometimes dogs just attack without being provoked, but I do agree, at least some of the time kids being attacked by dogs is the kids fault.

[Furore]

It can go both ways. Some breeds in particular can be more aggressive in general I've noticed, but a lot of the time the dog is provoked.

A lot of hunting dogs are really horrible with anyone bar their owner and possibly a few other close relative friends (I've heard of one case where a guy's dog attacked his wife after she tried to get it off the couple's bed), I've known many Chihuahuas to be either aggressive, horny or both and my mate's Alaskan Malamute though great with people including kids seems to despise cats and small dogs.

Myself, most dogs seem fine, but I have had a few get snarly with me. THe vast majority tend to back down before I do though.
Only had to get violent with a couple, only once did a dog get hurt that badly, and that was cos he decided to lock his jaw around my left leg. Bad decision that...

[Pete]

I've never had a problem with dogs, but it bothers me when dogs are put down for no good reason.

It's one thing if they're bred and trained simply to fight and to attack people. When that happens, I feel like it's the owners fault (see Michael Vick). If a dog like that has attacked people and has a history of violence, then it should be put down.

Now, if someone does something to provoke a dog, or like in Kou's case trespasses and then abuses the dog, then I think that the kid what what was coming. Dogs are, for the most part territorial animals, but also gentle and kind. I've gone to friends houses and some of them have dogs rescued from shelters, ex fighting dogs and all of that. I've never had a problem with them, and they've shown me nothing but affection, so I think it can really go both ways.

You also have to think that most news stories like that are sensationalist and known to draw some kind of public outcry, whether pro or anti- dog. Dog attacks do happen, but I think that a good deal of them happen because the dog feels threatened or provoked. Sometimes, humans just deserve it. And sometimes they dont.

[winterborn86]

Some kids do provoke dogs to attack, but I have heard a lot of cases of a dog attacking a child and even adults for no reason.
The upbringing on the dog can have an effect on it as well, if you mistreat it and be violent towards it the only thing the dog will learn is violence and it will attack people. but then even the worlds best dog can still attack, any dog can turn on you.
My dog was a lovely sweet lil softie but when it got sick it turned violent, snarling and snapping at everyone.

[Kou]

My dog was a lovely sweet lil softie but when it got sick it turned violent, snarling and snapping at everyone.

That is usually how dogs get the message across that something is wrong with them. If there is a sudden change in behaviour then that is a pretty good sign you need to take him/her to the vet.

I've heard a lot of cases when dogs attacked unprovoked but that was exactly what I was getting at. I personally find it hard to believe that near 100% of dog attacks would be unprovoked. But it is one thing you'll never know, people seem to like simply destroying the dog as soon as it happens rather then spending even a little bit of time to try and suss out any other reason for the attack other then 'dogs are vicious and dangerous and will snap with provocation'.

[Rikkuffx]

I remember when I was younger the girl down the street ran across my yard and my dog chased her a nipped her ankle(the dog was a cocker spaniel) so me and my friend went to see how she was and the parents were all being jerks about it saying "oh she had to go to the hospital" when my dog barely even touched her and then her dad was like "we may have to call teh cops and have your dog taken away" mind you i was liek 10 she was prob 7 and there was no blood or anything we were giving the dogs baths with hoses outside(we lived in florida at the time) and my dog just got excited when he saw her run across plus the girl kept running,all lucky wanted to do was play.We tried telling her to stop cause thats all he wanted to do but did she listen?nope. Oh my dog never got taken away or anything but the whole day I was upset that the cops were gonna come and take my dog away,her dads a jerk.
I do understand about kids messing with them. The dogs prob try to defend themselves. I really think they should investigate this stuff more thoroughly it seems like they just take the word of the parents that teh dog attacked the child. But dont put an innocent animal to sleep or in the pound. We give human beings justice why not animals?(does that make sense?lol)

[Meier Link]

One of my buddies has a Boxer, she is about 4 years old. A local kid had been terrorizing it for over 3 weeks. Yelling at her, shooting air soft guns at close range, over all just being obnoxious for no reason.

This dog was one of the nicest that I have met in a long time.

My buddy had a Garage sale and he went inside to get something (the dog was being kept inside at the time) and the kid came to the front door opened it and started shouting for my buddy. Keep in mind that the kid did not know Shane.

The dog made it to the door before the kid even knew what hit him. All the dog did was knock him down and pin him there barking at him.

the kid had one set of nail marks from the dogs paw on his right arm. The coarts deemed the dog a threat to society and tried to force Shane to put the dog down.

This kind of infuriated me when I heard it, the nuisence was not the dog. And I am tending to hear more and more stories like it.

Another example, my mother had a Rot mut, he was also very freiendly and loved to run. A 17 year old male came onto our property. Max ran out to greet him. When the guy saw Max he turned and ran back to the street (understandable) he tried to jump the barbed wire fence and inturn got caught up in it. Max ran up sniffed him and ran back to the house. MY mom had to pay $700 bucks for the guy to have stitches, even though he was in the wrong for trespassing. It was either that or the dog was to be put down.

Another sad story of stupidity. The kid shouldnt of been there and hurt himself in the process. Who is really at fault?

[Storm]

This is a subject that never fails to annoy me.

Although I have never had a dog (i've always kept cats), I know quite a lot of people with dogs. They are very intelligant animals, and just like humans, if they are treated with respect, love and correct discepline (making them know what they've done wrong and acting about it in a humane way), make great pets. Of course some breeds are bred for fighting (eg. Bull Terriers) or hunting, however at the same time these so-called "dangerous" breeds you see all over newspaper articles, if treated correctly, are lovely companions. I know many Rottweilers who are the bigget, dopiest, loveliest things in the world. The way I see it, anything with teeth has the potential to bite.

A really big problem with dog attacks, at least in this country, and likely America too, is that people see dogs as status symbols rather than furry companions. In England, particularly in Inner City council estates of large cities, there are rough communities who often keep Staffordshire Bull Terriers as status symbols. Theres been numerous counts of them attacking people, being abused, and a few years ago one was thrown out of one of the high levels of a block of flats by it's owner. It's infuriating how dogs are fearful of humans through the neglect of their owners.

The second point many of you have already covered, which is about people teasing dogs, which act in defence and then attack the human, and the dog gets the penalty. This again is disguting, and proof of how human ignorance and poor behaviour is often overlooked, and that if a person had been hurt, scarcely or severely, that it is always the attacker's fault in the eyes of law.

Dogs have been known to change personality and become aggressive after illness or having a litter of pups. This is most likely instinct since weak members of wild dog packs are often killed by the rest of the group. Very little can be done about it except for either living on life if it is still safe, or if the dog is actually agressive/ children are around, putting it down. Although sad, it is a just cause of action, and really cannot be helped as it hasn't come from human ignorance.

Overall, I do find it sad that an animal often suffers through the stupidity of humans, whether it be a neglected pet, or a loved pet that has been teased by an idiot and defended itself. I really wish that the law would take a deeper look into these cases rather than typically siding with the victim, regardless whether they were right or wrong.

[Maridia]

In my entire life I've never dealt with an aggressive dog towards me. I've seen some nasty ones I wouldn't go near but never had rush me. My father and one of my friends on the other hand were both attacked years and years ago. My dad was on a paper route and the dog who had known him for years as he rode by the thing chased and went after and bit him. My friend one day was playing with a dog and it was easy going as usual, but the dog for some reason snapped and snapped trying to go for his face. Now from what I hear animals always have a chance of being unpredictable. By all means yeah I'm sure some people taunt and tease animals but there's always random cases of animals flipping out. Alot of it has to do with the trainers more than anything but at the end of the day if I hear a story about how 8 year old johnny got torn apart cause he pulled spikes tail..yeah sorry Johnny maybe you did play rough. I'm not gonna forgive the dog like it's all a little flub and keep feeding him his beggin strips. He's gonna have to sleep on it...so to speak.

[hax_love]

My brother got bitten by an alsation, and we were just walking. The dog did look a bit out of control, the owner couldn't really handle the dog, so it bit my brother pretty badly. And he didn't even do anything to bug the dog, it just lashed out.

On the other hand, my mum used to annoy her dog when she was little, she used to wake it up when it was sleeping, annoy it so much, and it lashed out and bit her.

I guess animals get annoyed and lash out. But sometimes they are out of control. Most dogs i've met are lovely. It usually if you bug them they'll snap and be like grrr towards you lol. Dogs usually give warnings if you annoy them, e.g. they usually growl.

To be honest, the kids on the news probably bugged the dog, so it just snapped. On the news the parents usually say the dog was a generally nice dog and it just bit the child for no reason. Well why would a generally nice dog just bite a kid for no reason.. hmm, it is stupid how they miss out certain details.