Boy of six injured in dog attack

[daffy654]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlan ds/7056118.stm

"The attack happened as Jamie was playing in a side road with his friends. It is understood the dog, which was from a house nearby, was dragged away from him after a bucket of water was thrown over it. Another of Jamie's family said the dog had been reported to the RSPCA a month earlier after it was seen fighting with another dog in the street."

Yet another child injured by a dog that was not being controlled by a responsible owner. Is it time to bring back the dog licence but to make the terms much stricter?

[chicklin]

Bringing back the dog licence won't stop this kind of thing happening. Do you think that these irresponsible owners will actually buy a licence?...and comply with any rules imposed?...I don't think so somehow.
If it is a pit bull terrier, the owner is obviously not afraid to flout the law. Pit bulls were outlawed by the Dangerous Dogs Act and yet this person allegedly has one...

As long as there are owners who just want a dog that they think makes them look macho but who has no idea how to look after and treat one properly, this will kep happening again and again.......and its not the dogs fault. Its the owners who fail it.

[4GS]

What I can't understand is why anyone would want a dog like that, I mean those pitbulls should be destroyed, they are not pets, they are chav/thug fashion accessories

[youngmafbog]

I agree the licence wont change it all you do is penalise the vast law abiding majority just like with hand guns.

Not all dogs are pets remember. Dogs like this are often bought for protection - usually if the individual is up to no good.

The only way (as to solve most of the problems this country has) is to use the laws we have to the max. If the breed is banned then it is destroyed - simple(ish)

[anotheoldgit]

I do not think this dog was a pit-bull, I believe it was a Staffordshire Bull Terrier, which are not on the dangerous dogs list.

I agree entirely with youngmafbog we have got to inforce the present laws to the full, ie. zero tolerance for all laws.

Another law I would bring in regarding dogs, that is when outdoors they must be under supervision, on a lead, and muzzled. Hard on those dogs that belong and have been trained by responsible owners, but then as is the way these days the majoritiy have to suffer for the ways of the minority.

[Booldawg]

to quote the media 'the dog was thought to be a pit bull terrier'; Wasn't it, the media, baying for the pit bulls blood, instrumental in the introduction of the rather hurried 'Dangerous Dogs Act' of 1991?

Shouldnt the media be more involved in reporting how come a current pit bull terrier breeding programme is in operation 16 years after the all pit bulls were due to be registered and all male pit bulls castrated?

[anotheoldgit]

Sorry about that Booldawg, I think it all depends on the media source, on the TV news I was watching last night it said it was a Staffy.

[chicklin]

How many people can honestly tell a long legged Staffy from a Pit Bull? When the Dangerous Dogs act was brought in, many cases of mistaken identity were made - and by people who think they know all there is to know about any animal related matters - the RSPCA!!!
The way this so-called animal welfare society jumped onto the bandwaggon and joined in the persecution of Pit Bulls was disgraceful.
At the end of the day its the fault of the owners, not the dogs.
You can have really nasty snappy Poodles and Yorkies but just cos they are smaller and can't cause so much damage - they're not banned.
But on the other side of the coin - there are also very nice natured Pit Bulls.
They shouldn't all be tarred with the same brush.