Dog Attack - BE RESPONSIBLE

[habernac]

same thing happened to me years ago. I was delivering newspapers with my little dog on her leash. A Sheoherd came out of nowhere and grabbed my dog by the throat. The poor girl was trying to defend herself to no avail. I started punching the dog in the head. It wouldn't let go. I got behind it and kicked it square in the nuts. It let go and ran back into the yard. Every time I walked by after that it would go hide in it's dog house. Leash 'em, fence 'em, or have them under control.

[kipperfan]

Originally Posted by habernac

same thing happened to me years ago. I was delivering newspapers with my little dog on her leash. A Sheoherd came out of nowhere and grabbed my dog by the throat. The poor girl was trying to defend herself to no avail. I started punching the dog in the head. It wouldn't let go. I got behind it and kicked it square in the nuts. It let go and ran back into the yard. Every time I walked by after that it would go hide in it's dog house. Leash 'em, fence 'em, or have them under control.

Nice work man, I ould do the same thing....if the owner is iresonpible enough to let their dog attack another then they have to live with whatver happens to said dog. Again I say nice work.

[OilersBaby]

Originally Posted by habernac

same thing happened to me years ago. I was delivering newspapers with my little dog on her leash. A Sheoherd came out of nowhere and grabbed my dog by the throat. The poor girl was trying to defend herself to no avail. I started punching the dog in the head. It wouldn't let go. I got behind it and kicked it square in the nuts. It let go and ran back into the yard. Every time I walked by after that it would go hide in it's dog house. Leash 'em, fence 'em, or have them under control.

Well Im glad that you and your little dog were okay but you should also tell the owners because while that Shepard might be scared of you, it might not be afraid of other people and might go attack others the way it did you/your dog.

[shane_c]

Statement and pics have been sent to the bylaw officer. I'll let you know what comes of all this. Vet bill is up around $600 right now and will get a little larger because she has to go back on Wednesday to get things checked out again. I'm not to happy with our city's bylaws. I was told that the dog WILL NOT be put down. Who's dog or child is next??? Also, there is nothing to state that they have to pay our vet bills. I was told that if they decide to then they will but if they don't want to there is no law against it. We would have the option though to take them to small claims court if we so choose. I certainly hope that they come through on the bills but our hopes aren't high since the owner has yet to even call to apologize. FWIW the dogs were with the owners friend.

[ken0042]

Shane, I seem to recall something about "every dog is entitled to one bite"; meaning if a dog bites once and it is out of character, then they have one more chance. I'm sure as a dog owner yourself you wouldn't want your dog to be sentanced to be put down for one out of character incident.

I would make yourself a point of keeping a log book and making notes of time and dates of conversations. Wherever possible try to keep things in writing. Be firm, but polite. Say things like "I will have the final vet bill in X weeks, and I will let you know how much it was so you can reimburse me" instead of "I'll let you know what the vet bills are, as I would like some compensation." Be realistic; ie your dog did not suffer $100K in pain and suffering.

[pope04]

There're a lot of "unofficial" offleash areas in the city. I am a dog owner (lover, actually) but I also have kids and it's a pretty crappy job to clean dog feces off of your kid's shoe when you're in the park.

Sorry to hear about this incident, Shane. I hope your fiance and pup make a full recovery.

[shane_c]

Originally Posted by ken0042

Shane, I seem to recall something about "every dog is entitled to one bite"; meaning if a dog bites once and it is out of character, then they have one more chance. I'm sure as a dog owner yourself you wouldn't want your dog to be sentanced to be put down for one out of character incident.

I would make yourself a point of keeping a log book and making notes of time and dates of conversations. Wherever possible try to keep things in writing. Be firm, but polite. Say things like "I will have the final vet bill in X weeks, and I will let you know how much it was so you can reimburse me" instead of "I'll let you know what the vet bills are, as I would like some compensation." Be realistic; ie your dog did not suffer $100K in pain and suffering.

As much as I love my dog..... if she ran up to someone else, completely unprovoked, and immediately started attacking the other dog and then rip the dog from the persons arms when she tried to help her so that she could attack the dog some more and then attack that person when they fell then I would have her put down for what she has done. If it happened once it could certainly happen again and the next time there may be fatalities.

[shane_c]

Just an update... the other party will receive $600 in fines from Animal Services. Our dog is still very much traumatized by the incident and is nervous of large dogs.

On a side note I had her out last night for a walk and within 30 minutes came across 5 off leash dogs. One lady had three of them off leash and two of them came running at my puppy and she almost jumped out of her skin and yelped when I believe one tried to nip at her. Get with it people. Keep your dogs on their leashes.

[jolinar of malkshor]

Originally Posted by shane_c

Just an update... the other party will receive $600 in fines from Animal Services. Our dog is still very much traumatized by the incident and is nervous of large dogs.

On a side note I had her out last night for a walk and within 30 minutes came across 5 off leash dogs. One lady had three of them off leash and two of them came running at my puppy and she almost jumped out of her skin and yelped when I believe one tried to nip at her. Get with it people. Keep your dogs on their leashes.

So your puppy will be ok? Are they paying for the vet bills?

[shane_c]

Physically she will heal but emotionally I'm not sure. She freezes up now when she sees a big dog and we're out on our walk.

[Flashpoint]

Did you report the unleashed dogs? You should. You should also tell the owner that you are going to report them and why. Hopefully it will serve as a wakeup call.

[shane_c]

This is what they told me at 311 this morning. I had asked them put up some signs but they don't have any. They only have signs for 'off leash' areas and that the law states that if the area is not marked 'off leash' then it is assumed to be 'on leash'. So I told them I would erect my own signs at the known problem areas. They also suggested that if I see someone that has their dog off leash to get their address or license plate # and call it into 3-1-1 and they would send a bylaw officer out to talk to them. So from now on if I see someone with an off leash dog then I will see where they live and give their address to 311 so they can pay them a visit. Have to start somewhere with this to get people to wake up.

[guzzy]

Originally Posted by Looger

certain breeds are illegal in certain places - which, while i don't agree with it, does reduce dog attacks.

part of living in a (mostly) free society is that people have the freedom to be *******s.

I disagree. I had a pitbull that has since passed away and I spent a lot of time working with city council in the mid 90's when they were trying to ban the breed. From the meetings, closed door and public forums, the data that came forth was shocking. Places like Quebec City and Winnipeg, which had both banned the pit bulls, actually had an increase in vicious dog attacks after the breed was banned. All pit bulls with records of agression were euthanized immediately. In both cities, pit bulls with no record of agression were allowed to live but had to be muzzled in public and spayed or neutered. Five years after the laws were passed there was not one instance of aggression from the remaining pit bulls in both cities. The dogs that had been lost had been lost to natural causes, not put down because of aggression. In this five years there was an increase every year in vicious dog attacks. People who use these animals for the wrong things will just switch "vicious" dogs. If you ban pit bulls and rotties, they will use dobermans, akitas, and chow chows. Banning breeds does absolutely nothing for this type of action.

[ken0042]

Have you called CFCN or Global? This sounds like a good type of story for them. Perhaps media attention will make the city wake up, or at least educate some people about how to handle dogs.

[jolinar of malkshor]

Originally Posted by guzzy

I disagree. I had a pitbull that has since passed away and I spent a lot of time working with city council in the mid 90's when they were trying to ban the breed. From the meetings, closed door and public forums, the data that came forth was shocking. Places like Quebec City and Winnipeg, which had both banned the pit bulls, actually had an increase in vicious dog attacks after the breed was banned. All pit bulls with records of agression were euthanized immediately. In both cities, pit bulls with no record of agression were allowed to live but had to be muzzled in public and spayed or neutered. Five years after the laws were passed there was not one instance of aggression from the remaining pit bulls in both cities. The dogs that had been lost had been lost to natural causes, not put down because of aggression. In this five years there was an increase every year in vicious dog attacks. People who use these animals for the wrong things will just switch "vicious" dogs. If you ban pit bulls and rotties, they will use dobermans, akitas, and chow chows. Banning breeds does absolutely nothing for this type of action.

Do you have some data to show us?

[guzzy]

Originally Posted by jolinar of malkshor

Do you have some data to show us?

No it was back in '95. Everything the alderman had was on slides and Powerpoint. It was overwhelming evidence that had the focus group of alderman vote 5-2 to not do breed specific banning in Calgary.

[jolinar of malkshor]

Originally Posted by guzzy

No it was back in '95. Everything the alderman had was on slides and Powerpoint. It was overwhelming evidence that had the focus group of alderman vote 5-2 to not do breed specific banning in Calgary.

Is it because people who have more violent dogs will just train another breed to be just as violent for them? I have seen studies showing that happens when certain breeds are banned. Some dogs have an inherent disposition toward aggression...having said that...a responsible owner can prevent almost any kind of attack from their dog.

[shane_c]

...

[guzzy]

Originally Posted by jolinar of malkshor

Do you have some data to show us?

"In any case, says Dr Coren, banning one breed simply opens up the door for other breeds to be used and abused by breeders and bad owners. He mentions statistics from Winnipeg, which indicate that following a breed ban in 1990, bites from dogs defined as “Pit Bull Type” dropped from 28 in 1989 to 1 in 2003 – but bites from other breeds have risen across the same period of time, including those by Rottweilers and Akitas."

This was taken from http://thetyee.ca/News/2005/01/25/PitBullBan/

28 bites in 1989 to 1 in 2003. This while not destroying any pit bull without a history of aggression.

Here is a chart showing the dog bites in Winnipeg per breed: http://www.pitbullproject.ca/winnipeg.htm

[White Doors]

Originally Posted by jolinar of malkshor

Is it because people who have more violent dogs will just train another breed to be just as violent for them? I have seen studies showing that happens when certain breeds are banned. Some dogs have an inherent disposition toward aggression...having said that...a responsible owner can prevent almost any kind of attack from their dog.

And a bad owner can make any breed of dog violent.