Dog Attacks by Holly Penkethman
Published on April 28, 2010 by Jennifer White · No CommentsAcross dog walking hot spots you will find a mixture of breeds, shapes, and sizes, often allowed to roam around off their leads in the open spaces.
It can be very intimidating when a big, strong, dog approaches you and after a rise in the number of attacks by the popular pet, many people are calling for new measures to make sure that dogs are kept on leads. But are dogs being given a bad reputation unfairly?
I myself am terrified if a large dog comes up to me as I walk my Collie cross on open fields near my home. However this never used to be the case.
Around four years ago my family bought home a young male Weimaraner from the local dog’s home. At first everything was fine but after a few weeks things turned nasty. He went on to bite three members of the family, including me, meaning that we sadly had to send him back to the dog’s home.
It was especially heartbreaking, as 99% of the time he was a normal, loving dog. Something seemed to snap in his mind, he’d have five minutes of savageness then return to being nice and look up at you with his soppy sad eyes. In my opinion this could only be put down to how he was brought up. The same as if a human was treated badly it could have effects later on in their lives and on their mental state.
Despite how much I loved him and felt sorry for him it is the reason why I would never be able to trust a big, strong dog again. Just in case. I still hold the scars from his attack, and know that to have a dog’s jaw clenched around you is one of the most terrifying things that I have ever experienced.
The argument for keeping dog’s on a lead is simple. A dog can turn nasty at any time, and recent reports of family pets turning on children is a clear example of this. When I am out walking my dog not only am I in fear for myself but also for my dog, as she is small, not big built, and would not stand a chance if attacked by a big dog, an increasingly likely event in today’s society in which many dogs are bread to attack.
One breed in particular that has developed a bad reputation is the Staffordshire Bull Terrier. At all the local dogs homes inside almost every kennel is a dog of this breed or a Staffordshire Bull Terrier cross, with the amount of Rottweilers not far behind.
Voluntary group and registered charity, Animal Lifeline, based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire has saved over 10,000 dogs since it was founded over thirty years ago. The group never puts a dog down and always has at least 100 dogs in its kennels waiting to be re-homed.
Nick Fletcher from the centre explains why he thinks so many of these breeds get brought in: “We get all types of dogs in though there is a higher proportion of Staffies than there used to be. This is because the Staffy has become a fashion accessory for many young people, mainly young men. They then find that either the dog isn’t as fierce as they thought, and want to get rid of it, or their circumstances change, particularly if they have a partner. Young couples often have a dog until they have a baby, then they want to dump the dog. Also, many couples split up after a while and return to parents or go into rented accommodation, where they cannot keep a dog.”
It seems that like with a lot of things in today’s world looks are more important that the dog’s behaviour.
Nick added: “People often select a dog because of its looks, so smaller prettier dogs are always the first to be homed. Lovely dogs with nice temperaments are often ignored and remain in kennels for months just because they are plain in appearance.”
It can be easily seen why these people think they look tough with one of these dogs when they are basically being used as a weapon. Some dogs go on to be re-homed and make loving family pets but others will never find a home ever again because of their vicious mentality from their upbringing.
Despite their bad reputation, created through the media, Staffordshire Bull Terriers are in fact known as a trustworthy animal and sometimes referred to as the ‘Nanny Dog’ for their great affection towards children. Owners of so called ‘status dogs’ believe the facts and figures used in today’s news stories about dog attacks are unfair as the majority of attacks by smaller breeds go unreported.
Daniel Berrisford, from Stoke-on-Trent, has owned two Staffordshire Bull Terriers and agrees that the negative press towards the breed is unfair.
“I think the Staffordshire Bull Terrier is the same as any other dog; it all depends on how you bring them up as to how they turn out. If you bring a Staffy up to fight then they have the mentality to fight, however if you bring a Staffy up as a loving house dog that is what they will become. Both of the Staffies that I have had would not hurt anyone and I believe it is because they were brought up like that. I think that if you bring them up in the right way you will not find a more loyal and loving dog.
“Some owners only have a Staffy or other strong dogs because they want to bring it up to fight and attack but I think that you could find any breed that has attacked somebody, so for a Staffy to have a particularly bad reputation is ridiculous.
“Little dogs often come up to larger dogs and go to attack them, even if they are on a lead but because the bigger dog retaliates and can do more damage they get the blame. Smaller dogs should be kept on a lead just the same because they can cause just as much trouble.”
The truth is that no dog should be branded a vicious breed when the victims of most attacks do not recognise the exact breed so stick to what they know, and certain dogs get the blame, the reason why there are no real statistics for dog attacks in this country.
It is also difficult to distinguish what actually is an ‘attack’. A recent incident in my area occurred in which the police were involved as a dog had knocked somebody over and ripped a coat. A total accident in which the dog was playing, but accused of a vicious attack just for being a big animal.
The truth is that however much the media tries to scare people about our favourite furry friends, the increase in ‘attacks’ has not risen that much and that dog attacks and collisions involving children have actually declined by approximately 18% over the last 10 years.
With a UK dog population of around eight million, it is an issue that cannot be ignored. Measures need to be brought in to deal with the irresponsible owners who are giving all dogs a bad name, and to protect the public from them so that we can feel safe around the nation’s most popular pet again.
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