Bullmastiff Attacks Girl

http://www.thisisderbyshire.co.uk/news/hour-surgery-reconstruct-schoolgirl-s-face-dog-attack/article-668548-detail/article.html

Should this dog really be pts for protecting his territory?

I never like commenting on these things because, usually after it's all died down, you start to find out other facts that were not originally put into the initial report.

Yep, papers are usually hyped up.

If the story is as it says and the dog was in his own garden and the girl outside the garden, I dont think it should be pts. Its doing its job.

Anything else to this story may mean I change my opinion but as it is, I would not want my dogs to be pts in the same situation.

Not to say I dont feel for the girl, of course I do.

Yeah, see where your coming from, just that I remember once some story, years ago, about a dog attacking a child, there was a huge out cry about this dog, turns out, this kid had been teasing the dog over a long period of time, with a stick through the fence!

Exactly Sandra. Is that a reason for putting a dog to sleep if it can be managed away from kids in the future? Plenty of dogs are not children friendly and they are just managed, usually without further incidence.

I can certainly see where this owner is coming from. It was behind a fence afterall...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/wear/7100485.stm

One to balance it out a bit (I know its old but that doesnt matter).

i agree but the dog should not IMO be left in a yard garden were it can get to anyone i think the owners are to blame for this as i know wat my dogs can and will do to intruders i dont ever put them in that situation i dought anything can be done under the DDA as it was on private land and yea you do tend to find out the truth later on like the kid poking it i just get sick of these stories its always the dogs that get the blame not the owners or ppl

Yep, it shouldnt have a fence so small that this can happen. I'm just tired of people always blaming animals and not the "innocent" people owned the dog or got injured.

OH got attacked by a yorkie the other day, bit him twice but couldnt get through his jeans. They knew the dog was like this and still leave it offlead!!!!

Totally agree with you Paula it makes me sick when dogs are pts when they have bitten people who have jumped over fences etc and gotten into the dogs garden Thats what dogs do guard their territory Owners who let their dogs run around a front lawn with a small fence are irresponsible a big dog like a BM could easily jump over a small fence and get killed on the road never mind biting people The media just focus on the so called DEVIL DOGS when someone is bitten never on the idiots who either own the dog or have put themselves in a position where they are likely to be bitten :Angry:

well i have said if some one broke into my house wen im out i would end up sening done for manslaughter my dogs would bring them down and not let go till told so im always very careful even wen leaving them in the dog van or landy we cant have the windows open too much as if someone decides to stick their hands in they will lose them * silly as it sounds someone tried and yes nearly lost them*

Just talking to Ali, he lives in the same village and is now having people running away from his DDB who is as soft as shite and they wont walk past his house.

yea hes telling me now too they were shouting at him from across the st too
fuckers

It makes me so angry.....

i know fuckers i get it all the time with dillan and the sheps unless ppl know me and my dogs

Taking the report at face value the dog's actions do seem to be somewhat over the top to say the least. Defending your territory is one thing. Removing half a childs face is quite another!

Dont know the full story of course!

At the same time Bev, how big are their mouths? It wouldnt take much to do alot of damage.

this is wat i pointed out in my first post bev the owners are at fault who leaves a dog of that size ect in a garden it can more or less get out of stupid and no dought the dog wasnt trained either who knows....

Sorry Paula. Dont think thats relevant. You could blame any one of three here. the owners, the dog or the child.
You may say why does the dog always get the blame? But maybe sometimes the dog IS to blame.

I have stitches next to my eye after a completely unprovoked attack by a dog when I was 8 years old.

Animals are unpredictable and nobody really knows what goes on in their heads. Maybe some just are plain grumpy.

Maybe the owners are telling the truth and he never has done anything like this before. Maybe it didnt need anybody or anything to trigger this reaction.

Maybe, maybe, maybe :2431:

Just realised how much I am rambling!!

Exactly, it should never be in a position to do this anyway. Does that make it the dogs fault for doing what it was originally bred to do (in a fashion, I know they were not meant to savage) ?



People should know the Bullmastiff is an excellent guard dog and should treat it with the respect that in itself deserves, not allow it the freedom to attack people over the fence (the owners I mean, not the child).



If a burglar had climbed over the fence and got bitten, would people still have the same views? Or should the dog then be pts for being dangerous? As far as a dog is concerned (providing this story is accurate) the girl was an intruder and he did his job.

I was typing when you replied Bev, my point was, this is a big dog and can do alot of damage with just one bite. It should never have had the opportunity to do this over a fence.

I'm only going on the way this was reported, obviously in different circumstances then my view may not be the same.

lol ramble away hun its very true wen you have a dog of any size breed you must take the time to keep them safe and the owners have failed this dog and the child yes we need the full story really as the kid could be at fault too but the fact that ppl will now outcast over mastiff owners is stupid and narrow minded

but i would say the owners need to do something with this dog if only train it and keep it enclosed ect IMO all may be to blame here

Even if she was teasing this dog, there is still no way this should have happened. She is a child. Its all down to the owners and in the right envioronment, this dog would never get the opportunity to do this again anyway.

Hmm. Think we'd better agree to disagree here.

As a child I lived with GSDs trained as guard dogs & they did not have to physically attack anyone to guard their territory.

wen you train a dog to bite ect bev you actually train it to attack correctly if you get me so like you say they are less of a threat then a untrained poss unstable dog and your right there mine would attack anyone who came in my house but they would warn them off first if they continued then they would attack but i never put them in that position

Well I enjoyed the "debate" anyway :2445: