Dogs

I had a German Shepherd for 12 years and he was as soft as my cap. It was other dogs who used to go for him and he'd just turn and look down his nose at them and carry on walking beside me on a short lead. A wonderful animal, intelligent and loyal. There'll never be another like him, but at the same time, in the wrong hands, he'd probably have been a monster.

Poor lady. Also that poor seal that was savaged by one. I don't like dogs and I'm scared of them after a few frightening incidents. I'm always reluctant to say I don't like dogs as it's almost a crime in some quarters.
I said it to someone once and she said 'Oh and I thought you were a nice person'. What??!!

I am a dog owner, have been all my life. For the life of me I do not understand why or people have dogs for their aggressive nature. Dogs are not born like this, they are made like it by irresponsible owners. The owner of these dogs should be banned from having dogs for life and the dogs should be destroyed.

Thankfully nobody as piped up with “ it’s not the dogs it’s the owners “
Dogs are supposed to be companions not killing machines.
They should stop the breeders.
I know someone with 2 Japanese Akita’s, they’re rarely walked properly and I’m sure if they got out they could do some serious damage.
It has to be dealt with.
Poor,poor woman.

There are some breeds which should be banned in this country as they're only obtained by those people who use them as a trophy to show how tough and unapproachable the owner is. Evil is as evil does.
Big intimidating breeds should be muzzled when out too. It should be law.

A dog's behaviour is only as good as the family it lives with !

I do belief dog owners will be as horrified by this as none dog owners perhaps more so because it all rubs off doesn’t it ?
I do believe the regulations are really woolly and rarely enforced There is a dangerous dog act but in my opinion this only comes into action AFTER a tragedy Surely every dog should be licensed chipped and breed identified and complaints from the public taken very seriously
We used to have dog wardens I don’t know if some towns still do but my town doesn’t There are many owners who don’t pick up after their dogs, there are puppy farms, stealing growing daily all these need a dedicated section with powers to apprehend They don’t have to be police, but like the traffic wardens are now council run (well they are in my town) why not a dedicated dog team who can identify problems, and if necessary or beyond their powers pass to the police for prosecution

Absolutely horrible the way this poor lady died.
All uncontrolled dogs have the ability to cause injury. I fell over a black dog in the dark when I was walking home from work.
A dog knocked my pregnant friend off her bike.
My neighbour's impeccably behaved retriever knocked me backwards when off the lead.
The list goes on. These weren't dogs that were classed as dangerous, just normal doggies having a good time. Indulgent owners, who love them to bits and can't see a problem.
The dog owner who's dog mauled the seal recently, resulting in its death, was distraught, but there again, the dog should have been under control.
I agree that manslaughter is a suitable charge for dangerous dog owners when they kill.

Absolutely agree. Being a dog owner comes with responsibilities. Much as I love dogs I feel that when they have carried out a ferocious attack on a human the only course open is for them to be put down. The owners should be prosecuted with a stiff deterrent sentence and banned from owning dogs in the future. Poor lady must have been terrified.

Horrific story, I was so sorry to read about it, that poor lady, in her own garden as well

Dog owners are just as horrified by this as the rest of the population eazybee. Sadly there are always going to be owners who encourage breeds like this to be aggressive.
There should be much tighter controls on the breeding, selling and ownership of dogs like this.
I agree with Smileless ^the owner should be prosecuted, given a custodial sentence and banned from keeping any animal for life^

I was horrified to read this story . I used to teach in Rowley Regis and remember the area with affection.
The owners of these dogs are at fault; they identify with their dangerous dogs and it gives them a sense of power. But once again, nothing will be done because the sentimental dog owners' lobby will excuse this slaughter as a one-off.

The kind of dogs these seem to be, they will have been bred and trained to be attack dogs. Because of that dogs like this are often kept locked up in unsuitable accommodation, sheds, like this one and runs too small for them which frustrates them and makes them uncontrollable.

DD had a neighbour looking after her boyfriends dog while he was in prison and used the garden fence as one of the sides of a very small run. The dog used to leap at her fence and she was afraid to go into her garden. Fortunately her neighbours house was still a council house so she complained to the council, who insisted on the neighbour building a proper run away from the party fence.

More recently when walking a local footpath a woman came along walking too similar dogs she was having difficulty controling. They both leapt at me, but fortunately they were both wearing muzzles, so, although I had a badly bruised arm where the dog's mouth hit me, I wasn't bitten.

What can be done, I do not know, but bringing back dog licences where owners have to show they have adequate premises, facilities and training to suit the dog before a licence is granted might help.

Sadly this isn’t the first time this happened and won’t be the last . In my view the owners of the dogs should be jailed for manslaughter as a deterrent to others .

The dog attacks on people that don’t end up in death don’t get reported.

Do we all agree that there needs to be far tighter regulations and stiffer sentencing This is murder just as much as if the owner had put a knife in the ladies back, in fact she probably would have suffered less
It needs a long custodial sentence the same considerations as if he or she had used their own hands
Why did they stop licensing and would that make a difference

It's horrifying how that poor lady was attacked.

The owners are at fault not the dogs. Bad owners end up with vicious dogs and these will have been put down. I hope the owner is prosecuted, given a custodial sentence and banned from keeping any animal for life.

How sad that this happened to the poor lady, particularly in her own garden, it will be so hard for her family to come to terms with her dying in those circumstances.

Owning powerful dogs which are trained to protect them and intimidate other people has always been a status symbol for some people. I don’t think those owners have the same reasons for keeping dogs as the rest of us, and it’s the handling rather than their nature which makes dogs aggressive. It’s hard to know what we can do as dog owners ourselves, other than report any concerns and incidents to the police? Tougher sentences for owners of dangerous dogs and lifetime bans would help, but many of them are under the radar. On a positive note the police are taking much more interest in dog related crimes recently because so many have been stolen in the last year, and have ‘busted’ a large number of gangs who treat dogs inhumanely, so they have more people on their radar.

Far too many people own dogs who shouldn’t.

The dogs kept in unsuitable conditions, not given enough time, training, exercise, care.

The last year won’t have helped, dogs acquired then boredom would soon set in.

I heard about it on the news, it appears these dogs had been locked up in a shed, and must have escaped.
I agree, this poor ladies terror must have been off the scale.
I hope they will be put down, and their owners prosecuted.

Dreadful attack on a woman in her own garden. No doubt the dogs will be put down, but the owner deserves a punishment, more than just a fine. He had obviously not taken sufficient care to ensure the dogs could not get out of their own garden. Had the dogs been given any training at all? No doubt we can all think of a reason why "little" men have big dogs.

kitty usually things like this are talked about on here almost the minute they happen, I m not suggesting anything sinister, but I am surprised I couldn’t find a thread about it
I believe, as much as we love our dogs, there are many rogue owners and this does need discussing and if this poor ladies death does anything it should at least bring about that discussion and it needs to start with dog owners and dog lovers themselves because these awful people who breed vicious dogs on purpose aren’t going to be discussing it so we have to surely

I love watching dogs, they are so full of joy, but admit I am nervous if they bound up to me, leaping about, often accompanied by their owner saying ‘oh, he’s only being friendly’. It alarms me. My daughter, who has poor balance due to m.s., was nearly knocked off the pavement into the path of a tractor by a bouncing boxer dog recently - the dog’s owner managed to pull her back.
Reports of attacks like this are all too common and, as you say, BlueBelle, often arise from ‘not the average dog owner’ coupled with dogs bred purely for their strength. I don’t know what the answer is, it seems a shame to restrict all dogs because of a few, but if she were my mother/grandmother, I’m sure I would feel differently.

I can't bring myself to read such horrible dog stories. I love my dogs to pieces but recognise these things can and do happen.
A discussion might be good but difficult

A sickening attack which really upset and horrified me to think of what the poor woman went through. There can't be anything more terrifying than animals lunging at you especially those monster dogs which shouldn't be allowed to be kept in built-up areas. Pit-bulls are as evil as their owners !

It's just horrendous. Poor woman and the poor distressed family who are left behind.

I agree bluebelle it would be an awful way to die.

I don't agree that it has been swept under the carpet just because we don't have a thread about it. I've have come across the story in lots of places.