I see another poor little child has been savaged by a family pet. According to the Times-
“
A Limerick family is keeping a bedside vigil for their two-year- old son, who is in hospital after being attacked by the family dog.
Reece O’Leary was in a serious but stable condition at Cork University Hospital yesterday after the attack in the back yard of his home on Tuesday night.
According to eyewitnesses, the dog, a husky, ripped the boy’s clothes off and threw him into the air several times.
The boy’s mother Mags, his father Ernst and sister Rhiann (5) were at his bedside last night. Locals said they had never seen the dog behave violently before.
Neighbour Jonathan Curtin (21) has been hailed a hero by residents in Carew Park after he beat the dog off with a shovel.
“He was throwing the child up into the air, the child was like a rag doll to the dog,” Mr Curtin said.
“The woman [Reece’s mother] was holding on to the child and the dog was holding on to the child as well. The woman was trying to pull the child and the dog was pulling the child in the opposite way. I went in with the shovel and stopped it.”
Reece was transferred from hospital in Limerick to Cork at 8.30am yesterday. He was being treated for head, back, arm, knee and upper thigh injuries.
Gardaí contacted the Clare ISPCA dog warden Frank Coote. The dog had calmed down by the time he arrived. The dog was brought back to the Limerick dog pound yesterday where it was to be destroyed.”
The Sun naturally as a Suntastic take on it, there is mention of ‘devil’ dogs, and includes the immortal line “The humble hero added: “I had to lock the door. Those dogs are bred for taking down bears*. I went in not really thinking about the danger. I was just trying to get the lad safe.” (*nonsense)
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/irishsun/4239647/Family-pet-mauls-toddler-like-a-rag-doll.html
And finally, according to The Star, the dog was an ‘akita husky’ ( of course no such breed exists)
I feel sorry for the poor little child who has been mutilated. Naturally it’s a horrific story. But I would hope that FOR ONCE in this country, this case opens up a debate on the adequate care and treatment of dogs, and helps prevent this kind of thing happening again.
First off, according to the Clare dog warden, the dog in question was a Malamute and not a husky at all. So, here we have a large working dog, energetic, weighing up to 40k, intelligent, determined and difficult to train. They require an experienced owner, they require a great deal of exercise, they require stimulation and socialisation.
They are not on the restricted breed list. Nor should they be.
So here you have a large, young ( one paper says the dog was a Christmas present), with access to a small child. If this dog was unsocialised, or one of those poor unfortunate animals who resides the bulk of his time ‘outside’ in a small garden, well, it’s a recipe for disaster. I’m not saying this has been the case here, but I would like to know what WAS the case here, and what can be learned from it to prevent it happening again.
Dogs are not ‘evil’ or ‘devil’ anything, they are our companions, helpers and pets, but we daily do them a massive disservice in how we treat them. A pack animal, they do not do well left along for large periods of time, cooped up with energy to burn. The ‘fashion’ for wolf- like dogs is something I have noted too, as more and more huskies samoyeds, Mals and long-haired shepherd appear in our parks and streets. Often bought from sites like Donedeal from unscrupulous breeders by people who have no idea how to deal with the amount of dog they are getting for their buck.
I do not blame dogs for behaving like dogs, I DO think we need to scrap the restricted list, and put carefully in place a license/per/animal that is strictly enforced. I think people need to ask themselves honestly and with genuine truth why they want a dog, why they are getting a certain breed of dog and is that dog truly suitable for their family. If people stopped to think about what they were taking on and had to apply for a license for said dog before they got it, they might better ask themselves these questions.
I feel sorry for everyone involved in this situation, and I really hope to not read of any more children being harmed due to negligence
April 5, 2012 at 1:36 pm |
I absolutely agree. I am guessing it was the Childs pet as in the parents got the dog. And if that is the case I think they should be fined for wilful neglect. This is no different to driving your car with a child on board and not putting them in a car seat. It is common sense not to let a big dog roam around with small children. It is also common sense to train a dog. And not taking on board an animal you can’t handle is common sense too. We shouldn’t have to legislate for stupidity. I have a big dog, he is actually on the list, I know he will never bite anyone. He is fed, walked, trained, loved and by far most importantly, he will never ever get the opportunity to. If a dog bites it is a direct result of human error. To suggest otherwise would mean nobody should have dogs. I was away in country last week. Whilst we patiently waited outside for daddy nonny to bring ice cream we watched a girl no more than seven squeal with laughter while getting dragged around on roller skates by one unhappy Labrador. Not a parent in sight. Labrador are not built for that kind of exertion, despite their pleasant disposition, under pressure everyone will react. Man and dog. Peoples ignorance and willingness to avoid responsibility when it comes to animals is ridiculous.
April 5, 2012 at 3:39 pm |
I took my one year old to the playground last weekend. There was a Rottweiler there, in the fenced area with a couple of teenagers. No leash. Even with a leash the teenagers were too lightweight to have any hope of stopping that dog from doing anything it liked. We do not need these large breeds. We do need a restricted list because that is just about the only thing we can afford to do, and even that is done badly due to lack of resources. We are not going to get people to stop buying these dogs and keeping them irresponsibly.
April 5, 2012 at 4:41 pm |
I beg to differ, we don’t need a restricted breed list, we need restricted owner protocol. As to not needing large breeds, that’s nonsense; do we cull Great Danes? St Bernards? Newfies? Irish Wolfhounds? Labradors? Elk Hounds? A large gentle rottweiller is not a threat to people, a vicious collie is. Size means nothing, breed means nothing, as today’s post shows, what is important is the type of person who owns the dog in question.
April 6, 2012 at 8:27 am
What function do any of these large breeds serve? Do you accept my point that a Rottweiler can pretty much do what it wants due to its size and weight ? Nothing gentle is always gentle. A gentle dog with a pain can be vicious for a day. No need to cull them , just let the breeds die out. We don’t need them and they are an unnessesary risk to us.
April 6, 2012 at 8:43 am
I do accept that point, but I don’t understand the question ‘what do they serve?’ What does any dog serve if it’s not working? This seems to me like a fear-based reaction to size and potential. But I say again, any dog has the potential to be dangerous.
Example: The highest pay out for a dog bite in this country was made against a wicklow guest house owner when a collie, working dog and family pet, attacked -for no reason- a child holidaying there.
Example: The lady who runs EGAR, the East Galway Animal Rescue is renowned for her work with bull breeds and ‘dangerous dogs’. She had been put into hospital once, having been savagely attacked; the press came galloping to her door in droves, which savage bull/devil dog was it?
A golden labrador.
The press barely reported on it.
Rottweilers are not my type of dog, never have been, but I’ve owned a doberman, another dog on the ‘restricted’ list for no particular reason I can fathom but for a knee-jerk reaction. I can find NO instances of them attacking ANYONE in this country, yet there they are. Why? Because they look a certain way, and media hype/nonsense. When you have a list like this it’s only going to have breeds added, with little or no logic as to the why.
Yes these dogs in the wrong hands are potentially dangerous, but again I say make it difficult for idiots and ‘hard men’ to own these breeds, and leave people who can raise a sociable well-behaved dog to do so. Letting entire breeds die out is not the answer, and totally unworkable.
April 6, 2012 at 5:01 pm
Yes, large animals have more potential to do more harm. Why do we need large breeds when there are plenty of small breeds which serve the pet function just as well ? Yes these can also attack but a small dog is a lot easier to manage. For every one of you who would keep/excercise/condition a large dog properly there are nine dopes who won’t. The restricted breeds list attempts to keep those breeds away from those dopes. Again, why do we need large dog breeds? They are not working dogs.
April 6, 2012 at 5:23 pm
You’re slightly missing the point, size is not an indicator of aggression.
How small did you want these manageable dogs to be exactly? Would you ban labradors? German Pointers? Poodles? Retrievers? German Shepherds? Rottweilers? Or only large dogs you’re afraid of personally? Staffies are small dogs, easily lifted, are they still okay as they come into small/medium size frame? Pitt-bulls are medium-sized dogs, are they fine? Are bull dogs in or out? Bull terriers? What about boxers? Sibes or Mals? Which to chose? Where do collies come in? Japanese Spitz in, Samoyed out? – same family but different size. Vizlas might be in but Dobermans might not be depending on whither height? If height is a factor are greyhounds out? Deerhounds? Elk Hounds? Salukis? Afghan hounds? Lurchers too? Ridgebacks are bigger of course, but not common, mastiffs in general would suffer, even newfies, great big old slobs of things, would be in peril. Great Danes are massive but generally placid beasts, do they get the chop too? Bassets are large dogs on short legs, but can weigh the same as Lab, are they in or out?
I’m not trying to be a smart arse, but once you start chipping away at breeds purely due to size you’re sliding down a slippery slope. It is unworkable. What if a person does not want a small breed of dog, what if they want a dog who can mind a house, come running with them, and is not much of a barker? What if the larger breed dogs suits that purpose ideally?
The restricted breed list does nothing to keep dogs away from dopes in any capacity by the way. ANYONE (over 16) can buy any breed of dog in this country. Unfortunately, and I really do mean that, there is no law saying otherwise. That’s why you end up with the situation this original post was about.
April 6, 2012 at 5:28 pm
Draw first, I asked down the bottom of the comments. I have my German Shepard 7 yrs. I would like to know what you propose? he is on the banned breeds list. Should he be put down?
April 8, 2012 at 4:00 pm
Small enough that a good kick could sort out a dog who decides to attack.
April 5, 2012 at 4:46 pm |
But… but… but… it was such a cute widdle duppy when dey got it off de man who was sellin’ dem at de carboot market…
A dog like that could do 20km before breakfast and still feel energetic.
April 5, 2012 at 4:54 pm |
Of course he could, they are a working breed. And clever, not suited to a low energy family.
April 5, 2012 at 8:03 pm |
really pisses me off that so many people get big or energetic breeds when something like a norfolk terrier would fulfil their need for a companion. so many times it’s an ego/macho thing. i keep fish and i’ve even witnessed the same attitude with them as well… guys that know fuck all about water quality and chemistry but have an undersized tank with piranhas in it because keeping guppies would be “gay”
April 5, 2012 at 11:24 pm |
Oh for god’s sake yes! I was a party one where the host had an AMAZING tank ( seriously, you could stare at it all day) filled with – I think- tropical fish (?) and some gob shite starting telling him what he ‘ought to get’, disregarding the host TELLING them that particular breed of fish would no do well in that temperature or with the present fish. It was so ridiculous to listen to that people eventually kind of avoided yer man ‘telling’. ( I know nothing about fish!)
April 6, 2012 at 12:44 am |
I am all for a restricted breed list. Please start with my estate, most of those people should never have been allowed to breed.
We’re getting the same type of nonsense up here. I had one local yokel tell me that his dog was a “full-bred Japanese Nikita.” I was tempted to ask him if his dog bangs shoes on desks instead of chewing them but refrained.
Somehow we have ended up with two Lurchers from the pound, wolfhound mixes so they are the size of ponies but fairly easy-going dogs. They do donuts on the lawn for five minutes and then they’re exhausted and have to lounge around like supermodels giving me Zoolander looks. We don’t have Lurchers back home, but when I talked to the people at the pound and told them what our family requirements were they recommended a Lurcher. Worked out fairly well, all in all.
Almost everyone on our street has large dogs and almost all of them are kept outside. It’s sad. We’ve got a dog flap (that’s big enough for me to go through!) so the dogs can come and go. They’re spayed and neutered and socialized (except for our big one, I swear to god he has autism but he’s fully socialized with the Nestling who does have autism) and and and.
I do wonder why on earth someone would get a dog like a Malamute when they have small kids. I do hope that kid is going to be okay. And I do wish people would wise up and think before they get a dog.
April 6, 2012 at 8:54 am |
So do I birdie, but people are such mindless gobshites, like Conan said ‘Aw cute puppy, lets get one!’
Lurchers are the most laid back old slobs aren’t they? I love them, there’s a ‘sight-hound stroll’ group that walk their dogs in Clontarf every weekend, I see them when I’m out running, and am quite drawn to them.
Japanese Nikita, heh, Jesus. Akitas though, they’re on the rise our way too, which given their natural propensity for guarding and fighting will no doubt end up with a slew of them sitting in pounds waiting to be destroyed within 18 months. WAY too much dog for most people who have them and need a very consistent hand.
What I DO love though, is that a number of the scariest tattooed monsters around these parts have the daintiest dogs! We met guy in the park last week while Country Gay and I were walking his daft lovely dog; massive, wearing a vest, tattooed, shaved head, scowl, and hurtling along with him, a freshly-washed Maltese, who ran head long into us for rubs and coos, possible some squealing. Her name- Princess. That was awesome.
April 6, 2012 at 9:24 am
Heh, you know you’re a hard man when you can own a floofy dog confidently. Back home it was Chihuahuas, it would crack me up seeing one of the bangers carrying around a Chihuahua with a rhinestone collar.
My biggest Lurcher cracks me up, he was returned to the pound twice before we got him. The Nestling says “I like Dexter because he’s just like me” and it’s true. We’ve had to train him with eye contact (he can’t recognize social clues and will stare at you hopefully *forever*) and he’s scared of cats and pigeons and teenagers. We found out the little kids in the neighborhood have been coming to our backyard fence and using him as a petting zoo. He is blond and gorgeous and a massive doofus.
Our other one I’m ready to make a rug out of. We got her when she was 12 weeks old, had her spayed before she went into heat, and yet she’s going through a late teenager phase now so she’s eating my floor and walls and fence and door. She didn’t chew when she was a puppy! And then she snubs us and goes to her room. I figure if she’s gonna be a teenager she can have headgear, namely a muzzle as my patience has been thin since she ate the siding off the house out back.
There’s tons of pit bulls in the pound up here and they label them as “Staffies” instead. It doesn’t seem too common here for people to spay/neuter their dogs, even though it’s a lot cheaper than back home. I had someone at work tell me they like their dog to have puppies so the kids can see “the miracle of birth.” No mention of what happens to the puppies. For me the miracle of birth consisted of alternately screaming “Where’s my fucking epidural?!” and “Get it OUT OF ME!” Maybe they should let their kids witness that, heh.
April 6, 2012 at 10:09 am
Heh, the ‘miracle’ of birth eh? – http://www.theonion.com/articles/miracle-of-birth-occurs-for-83-billionth-time,775/
April 6, 2012 at 11:32 am |
Draw first and Ms Sparrow, my dog, a German Shepard, is on the resricted dog breed list in Ireland. I have him 7 years. So if the ‘banned breeds list’ was enforced should I take him to the pound and get him put down?
April 8, 2012 at 1:04 am |
I have a laid back almost-Collie now but my most aggressive-without-any-provocation dog was a Lhaso Apso with delusions of grandeur. 10 lbs of meanness, she would attack a wolfhound or a teenager. I had years of training with her with some vet intervention. He said he’d never seen a more alpha dog in all his years of practice.
Size/breed makes absolutely no difference.
XO
WWW
April 9, 2012 at 6:59 pm |
Heh, 10 pounds of meanness is pretty mean all the same!
April 9, 2012 at 6:49 pm |
I have four dogs, two huskies and two westies. All house dogs and well socialised. I would trust my huskies more around children than I would my westies
April 9, 2012 at 6:59 pm |
Understandable, Westies and JRs are the two dogs I watch out for when running!
April 10, 2012 at 7:20 am |
Hi fatmammycat, just discovered your blog. Love it. Congratulations. Would like to weigh in with my tuppence worth re:- the dog debate. My two year old Retriever/German Shepherd cross has recently started to get aggressive when people approached him and petted him. With two children in the house it was either send him to the farm or stop the aggression. I took him to a trainer who had him walking, sitting, staying in three minutes. The trainer then watched me interact with the dog and the diagnoses was made. The dog is just doing what a dog does naturally. I was the problem! When approached by strangers, children or adult, he perceived it as a threat and growls. So, when I’m walking him in public and someone approaches I politely ask them not to touch him and to ignore him. He relaxes. Some breeds and some dogs enjoy being approached and petted. Some perceive it as a threat. Its up to owners to act responsibly, to train and if possible, socialise their dogs. ANY dog, large or small is capable of biting. Children should never be left unsupervised with any type of dog. Equally parents should take care not to let their children approach a strange dog. There are some dogs who are just nasty vicious types, and should absolutely be put to sleep, but I think its the individual dog rather than a whole breed of dog. Maybe dog owners should be assessed for suitability to own a dog?
I totally agree with fatsparrow. There should be a restricted breed list, some breeds should be left to die out, and its not the dogs I’m talking about………
April 10, 2012 at 8:28 am |
Well don for addressing the problem. I think a lot of dogs prefer not to be handled by strangers, even CG’s placid old dog stays slightly removed from being touched while out and about and he’s the sort of dog that would climb into your pocket when he knows you.
AS I said, I had a doberman for years who actively disliked being touched by strangers( he had a bad start in life, spending most of his first 6 months alone), but like you, I couldn’t have a dog that might bite so we worked really really hard on socialization and stress situations, and a LOT of exercise- the end of which was a calm slightly aloof dog that you could bring anywhere. I’d never in a million years leave him alone with a child though, I wouldn’t leave any dog alone with a small child, seeing as how small children really don’t read body language all that well, even something simple like lip licking = stress in dogs.
April 10, 2012 at 12:43 pm |
http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/how-to-defeat-a-pit-bull-with-your-bare-hands/Content?oid=3708968