Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:HSCIC latest dog bite stats published | |
Posted by: | Dan Murphy | |
Date/Time: | 21/05/15 15:12:00 |
Charlotte I have said before that we can never legislate for dumb stupidity in peoples' private homes. If they want to keep dangerous dogs in their house and people (usually their children) get attacked there, there's not much anyone can do about that. I have only ever said all dogs should be muzzled when out in public places. Children will never understand that they might be provoking a dog to attack. It's totally unrealistic to expect children to understand this, even if their parents try to teach them. I always told my children never to touch a strange dog in public, but owners will still say "yes you can stroke him, he's perfectly safe". How on earth do they know? Your comment about "God forbid the little darling kiddywinks should be taught how to behave around a dog" is totally unrealistic. If dogs are liable to attack, then the safety of children is immeasurably more important than the comfort of a dog or its owner. It's much simpler to muzzle dogs than to blame children for not understanding dog psychology. Your balance is all wrong. I know you have a deep and extensive understanding of dogs' behaviour, but unfortunately the vast majority of people do not. This is why muzzling of all dogs in public should be made mandatory. It is not realistic to simply blame the victims' lack of understanding of the signals that a dog might be giving out (what might they be?). I was cycling in Richmond park yesterday morning and a mid sized dog suddenly ran towards me barking, snarling, and getting very close to my legs. Lucky for it, my boot just missed its head by a couple of inches. If people take dogs out in public that might suddenly just decide to attack (it didn't like the colour of my bike??) then it should be on a lead or muzzled. That should be the law. What if it was a young child on a bike and they panicked and fell off? What would that dog have done then? I'm not convinced about your point of dogs removing or destroying a muzzle and attacking anyway. Get a stronger muzzle. If a dog is so vicious that it will destroy a muzzle in its red mist attack, then that dog should be put down immediately as it is a danger to everyone. My argument comes down to simple common sense. If a dog is muzzled, then it cannot attack or bite anyone. At least in 99% of cases. It's just common sense. Why do I need to provide statistics to prove it? If a dog has a muzzle on it, it cannot bite anyone. That much is plain and obvious. And you're right, of course I don't hate dogs. I just believe that the safety of people and especially children is way more important than dog owners' refusal to contemplate muzzles for their dogs. In public, at least. We can never do anything about stupid morons who keep vicious dogs on their house which then attack their children. Just put a muzzle on them before you take them out. |