Iwan

Obviously not the dogs fault, they're not dangerous, wouldn't hurt a fly etc...

BBC NEWS | England | Merseyside | Girl killed by pit bull terrier

sarasquares

iTrader: (1)

great start to the New Year

CrisPDuk

Do you read the daily mail by any chance Iwan

Of course it's not the dogs fault!

Dogs, like guns or cars, are not in themselves dangerous. Put them in the hands of a fcukwit (as this dog obviously was) though and all three have the potential to become lethal weapons.

Look at it this way, any idiot who keeps an aggressive animal in the presence of a child is probably either a pikey or a chav
So there was more than a good chance that any offspring of same would grow up to be a pikey or a chav. Unfair on the child I know, but potentially the dog did the world a favour

davyboy

I look forward to seeing a pic of the dog owners.

David Lock

Nice to see a bit of sympathy and goodwill so early in the New Year

P1Fanatic

Lol are you for real? A dog is a living thing that can make decisions. Yes it maybe provoked but it still can decide on how to react. A gun or car is useless without a human to operate it.

Im not saying there isnt more to the story but to say the dog is totally blame free is wrong IMHO.

Simon

Bat-Fink

Iwan

No, sorry to dissapoint you.

Actually that's a very good point which I hadn't considered, you might be onto something there. A bit harsh maybe but could be an example of evolution at work.

I still feel sorry for the kid though, what a way to go.

Norman D. Landing

And we're still waiting for the kid being killed by Labs or Retrievers. Aren't they supposed to be more dangerous ?

LG John

I still think the dog has a degree of responsibility. These animals are not stupid. My girlfriend has a dog and I, to put it bluntly, f()ing hate him! He's not agressive or anything like that but he's just a w@nker. The way he's been raised he can loaf around anywhere he wants, doesn't get told off for watching you eat or begging, etc, etc. He thinks of himself as a human with equal rights to us and even sits upright like humans on the sofa.

My point though is that my partner blames all of his behaviour on the way they have brought him up, "we've allowed him to be that way", etc, etc. That's all very well but often I clash with the dog and I know 100% from the way that he looks at me that he understands exactly what I'm saying to him and yet he also looks as if to say, 'sod you I'll do what I want'. He make his own choices even when he knows they are going to p*ss me off even more.

So my point is that no matter how well you do/don't bring up a dog it still has a free will. It's not like programming a computer - this is an animal, and if it gets it into its head its going to do something then you are pretty f*cked if it's too powerful to be stopped. This is why I feel such powerful dogs should not be kept as pets by anyone that chooses to have one.

*Sonic*

fooking hell, this is quite close to where I live

The Snug Rhino

"Dogs, like guns or cars, are not in themselves dangerous."

no....a hedghog is not dangerous...nor is a timid mouse - a pit bull that kills children IS dangerous.

talizman

iTrader: (1)

Dog have will, instinct, and temper. Do inanimate objects?




So your bird has trained her dog to think he's a human being, and for this you "hate him" and call him a "w@nker", like it's his fault?

And they say that humans are more intelligent than animals!

v5 man

iTrader: (4)

FPMSL Never thought i`d hear that kind of remark used against an animal Thats like the youth of today saying a nice car is fit

gatecrasher3

Yawn

Why not wait for the results of the investigation.

"We must now await the critical police report looking into the circumstances of the attack."

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Should not be bred and absolutely should not be allowed into the care of the type of people who actually want one.

I suppose whilst people own dogs its going to happen, we need to mitigate the risk by limiting the availability of dogs that are known to dangerous.

LG John

This is where I come back to my point - dog defenders seem to think dogs are computers and you can programe them to behave a certain way and they will churn that behaviour out over and over again. These are living and breathing animals and they are pretty itelligent IMHO. Yes he's been trained to get away with a lot but notwithstanding you can see that the animal is free-thinking and he absolutely does make his own choices and sometimes selfishly so. The dog has his own personality and he's like a spoiled teenager to be honest. You can clearly see he understands that something he is doing is wrong and that it is impacting on another person and you can see him making the choice not to care. Like a kid he'll push his luck until you properly shout at him.

mart360

Sympathy to the family, what a tragic way to start the year,

the only good thing was the dog was destroyed.

Mart

Emm

what's he doing that's impacting on your life - sitting on the chair you want? animals can sense people's feelings towards them - he probably is ignoring you to **** you off

-------

dogs, like humans, have a killer instinct if the right buttons are pushed. that's part of nature. nurture is a huge part of how people and dogs react to situations though.....

Leslie

Normandy,

Labradors are renowned for their friendly behaviour, especially towards children.

Les

scooby51

has anyone else noticed that the attack happened at 0430???

I agree that it's horrible and wouldn't wish this on anyone (except TWOCers) but either there was a big party or the dog was very very desperate for a bonio. Does anyone else think that "other" circumstances may have come into play??????

talizman

iTrader: (1)

If you've ever seen a properly trained animal, then you will be aware that you certainly can "programme" them to behave a certain way, and yes they will churn out that behaviour over and over again, without fail, regardless of any "free-thinking".

Any behaviour which your girlfriend's dog exhibits is a result of his "upbringing" and his socialisation. Its all he knows, he doesn't choose to wind you up, even though it sounds pretty hysterical how you seem to have met your intellectual match on four legs!
I'd love to see the two of you arguing over who gets to sit ont he couch!

talizman

iTrader: (1)

No doubt there are loads of other circumstances, such as why was the child unsupervised. Why was the child not in bed. Where were the parents.

I am one of the biggest defenders of dogs, however a breed such as the pit bull, which is bred purely for killing, should be outlawed. Ownership of this breed is governed by the Dangerous Dogs Act along with several other breeds, so if they deserve their own legislation, then that is justification enough to ban the breed IMO.

LG John

"dogs, like humans, have a killer instinct if the right buttons are pushed. that's part of nature. nurture is a huge part of how people and dogs react to situations though....."

You can't program that out completely!

Talizman, I don't doubt you can train dogs to do virtually anything but I think you are extremely niave if you genuinely believe that you can program any living thing to be 100% foolproof. I don't doubt that the vast majority of all these maulings, etc are the result of poor upbringing but nevertheless you can't guarantee that the dog won't make its own choice that fly in the face of its training at some point in its life. Dogs have emotions, what if he gets excited or sad, etc.

Would you bet your childs life on it? If a world renowned dog trainer claimed he'd trained a pitbull to be excellent around new borns even when alone would you take your own baby and leave it with the dog in room for an hour or so. (I realise this is an absurd suggestion). I'm betting the answer is no becaues deep down you'll have some doubt and you'd be right to have doubt - the dog is alive afterall and that means it is inherently a choatic and unpredictable being. Nature cannot be 100% controlled - this has been proven time and time again throughout history

turboman786

Horrible dogs, look evil....dunno why anyone would want one...other than the usual council estate dwellers and pikeys etc....

Jamo

iTrader: (23)

such a waste of a precious young life

RIP.

D.K.1

Unfortunately, not entirely accurate...

we used to have this fella
[img][/img]
We had to get him re-homed because he was turning nasty with our other dog, the children, snapped at us a few times AND bit my neighbour, nasty rip on his thigh from it.

Shame he turned like that because he was a lovely dog up until that point. He just got very jealous and was trying to be pack leader over us and refused to do as he was told etc. Right nasty bugger before he was re-homed (not with children!!!!)

Emm

agreed, just like you can't programme it completely out of humans either. you just have to take all the precautions you can to limit the chances of the worst case scenario happening.

D.K.1

My immediate thoughts on the time of the incident was perhaps the child was in bed, but the dog was left roamng the house, maybe her door was open and he got in etc, but you never know. Maybe she wandered downstairs if there was a party or something and the dog went for her, or maybe she wanted a drink or something and it was dark and he mistook her for an intruder....There could be so many reasons behind the attack.

Such a shame she had to lose her life. An unimaginable thing to happen to a child

Lydia72

Lovely.

A five year old child is mauled to death by a dog and you think that is a good thing?