Should They Face Prosecution?

[Barsel]

Now it has been established that the dog that killed a 6 month old baby was an illegal American pit bull terrier, do you think the owners should be prosecuted?

[bhg481]

Yes

[Barsel]

Sorry I forgot to post the link.
http://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/baby-killer-dog-was-illegal-breed/ar-BB8xMW4

[Zeuhl]

Yes

culpable

what would they be charged with if a child was killed by the accidental discharge of an illegally held firearm?

[Prudie]

Yes. whose was it? the grandmother's? I can't believe anyone who owns these dogs is unaware of the risks. The owner should be charged with manslaughter or similar.

[thegreens]

YES

[mikey4444]

Yes, although the charge may be difficult to prosecute successfully in court.

[agchristie]

I reckon so.

[grumpy01]

Also the breeders of these illegal breeds.

[dunnitall]

Perhaps rather than prosecuted they should put down like the poor dog! They must have known what they were doing when getting and keeping the poor animal, so IMO they are totally responsible for the child's death and I'm sure there are many other 'people' out there who own such dogs knowing just what they have!

[jno]

these things happen bewilderlingly often inside the family, don't they? I'm not sure the parents don't bear responsibility too for leaving the baby with the owner of a dangerous dog.

But I suspect the death will have done more than any judge can do to punish the whole family.

[sandyRoe]

But haven't there been cases of small terriers savaging children? It's not the breed of the dog but the stupidity of their owners that leads to these tragedies.

[Barsel]

There has been a post mortem on the dog and it has been established it was an illegal dog so surely they should be prosecuted for that at least. Mikey, why do you say (Yes, although the charge may be difficult to prosecute successfully in court.) I don't know who the dog belonged to but I saw somewhere there is to be some sort of inquiry next month so I suppose we will just have to wait and see but I really hope someone pays for this.

[jno]

sandyRoe, yes, I wouldn't (and didn't) leave a baby round any sort of dog at all, and I'd have been careful with sharp-clawed cats too. Most would be fine but a few wouldn't, and as a parent I just wouldn't want to take the risk.

[Tizzi24]

Yes

[ludwig]

// It's not the breed of the dog but the stupidity of their owners that leads to these tragedies. //

It's usually a combination of both. The owners (whoever they are) should obviously be prosecuted for owning an illegal breed of dog, because it was an illegal breed, and they owned it.

[janbee]

YES!! The word being ILLEGAL.

[ummmm]

Yes.

[Old_Geezer]

Based on the limited information, if they knew it was a banned breed then probably yes. If they hadn't a clue, then in the circumstances it wouldn't do more that make their despair worse.