Marty
02-25-2008, 07:37 PM
Posted By Ryan O'Meara
Last week I made a short appeal to the media (http://www.dogmagazine.net/archives/323/an-open-message-to-the-british-media-keep-up-the-devil-dog-hype-be-prepared-to-live-with-this/) to show a little more ‘care’ when ‘reporting’ on dog attacks.
The appeal was in relation not just to the tragic death of pensioner Jim Rehill who died on January 28th.
It was motivated by the sneaking suspicion that it was very possible, maybe even probable, that Mr Rehill was not - as was almost universally reported at the time - ‘killed in a savage attack by his own dog’ (a Rottweiler).
Some of the headlines from January 28th would leave you in no doubt as to how Mr Rehill died:
Grandfather Killed by rottweiler On walk (http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article736518.ece)
Rottweiler ‘Chews Master’s Face Off’ (http://www.bignewsday.com/story.asp?code=QO2846020I&news=rottweiler_chews_masters_face_off)
Owner killed by rottweiller (http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/s/1034102_owner_killed_by_rottweiller)
Man mauled to death by his own Rottweiler (http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/33059/Man-mauled-to-death-by-his-own-rottweiler)
Dog kills owner in horror attack (http://ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5gGLABmonSzapxvi8S0fEbqRMEAfw)
Dog brutally mauls owner in London (http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2008/01/28/dog_brutally_mauls_owner_in_london/9518/)
Rottweiler attacks owner on daily walk (http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/topstories/2008/01/29/rottweiler-attacks-owner-on-daily-walk-89520-20301900/)
Yesterday (a little over a week after Mr Rehill’s death) the small, not entirely insignificant matter of coroner’s report revealed that Mr Rehill’s death has been recorded as natural causes. No inquest necessary. It is confirmation of what was stated by some eye witnesses who saw the incident take place.
In between telling reporters that “dogs like rottweilers should not be allowed out in public”, one witness, Aziz Rahman, let slip that “(the) dog was over him, licking and biting him”.
Yes, I highlighted the word licking. Why? Because I’ve seen dog attacks, I’ve seen dogs fight, I’ve seen lots of things dogs do when they are being ’savage’. Licking is quite an unusual thing for them to be doing in the middle of a frenzied ‘horror attack’. Unusual, not impossible though. Anyway, let us move on.
Another witness saw what happened. He was a little clearer as to what he believed he’d observed.
Lee Hanson who works at a nearby taxi firm insisted the dog was trying to help the man.
Mr Hanson said: “The man was face down and the dog was trying to wake him up. “The dog wasn’t attacking him at all… it was his own dog. It was banging his head, trying to wake him up.”
Another comment recorded in the aftermath of the death:
A neighbour of the dead man, Bhupendra Karia, 30, said: “He loved that dog. He’d had him for at least 10 years, since he was a puppy and he never had any problems with it being aggressive.
You may or may not be surprised to know who’s accout of what happened got the most press coverage. Have a guess. Was it….
Mr Rahman’s observation that the victim was: “like a piece of meat” going on to add “My wife could not believe it. She got frightened. Now she’s thinking it’s fairly scary to go to the local shops on her own”
or, for balance, do you think Mr Hanson’s pretty clear cut: “the dog was not attacking him” comment got equal column inches?
In case you’re still wondering, Mr Hanson was quoted in the Sun’s ‘report’. Here’s what they published from him:
Cab firm boss Lee Hanson, 41, said: “I saw a man face down with this dog standing over him.
It was grabbing his neck and lifting his head then banging it down really hard.”
It reads a little differently, don’t you think, when the words “the dog was not attacking him” are completely dropped from the article and the words slammed, dragged and smashed are highlighted in their coverage?
They (the Sun), it goes without saying, used an image of a wild eyed, frightening looking Rottweiler in full aggression mode to highlight the horror of the story. Not Mr Rehill’s dog you understand. No, just a generic Rottweiler, mouth agape, snarling and ready to eat you, your children and your children’s children.
The Sun is not alone in its reporting of this incident.
A rottweiler chewed off its owner’s fingers and nose as it savaged him to death in the street, shocked eye witnesses said today.
The powerful beast repeatedly battered the pensioner’s skull against the pavement and ripped and chewed at his face, it was claimed.
Reports Big News Day (http://www.bignewsday.com/story.asp?code=QO2846020I&news=rottweiler_chews_masters_face_off)
The Press Association (http://ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5gGLABmonSzapxvi8S0fEbqRMEAfw)claimed:
A pensioner was “dragged like a doll” through the street in a fatal attack by his dog.
Witnessed looked on in horror as railway engineer James Rehill, 78, was savaged by his rottweiler in Newham, east London.
Residents armed with baseball bats desperately tried to free Mr Rehill as the dog inflicted horrific injuries to his face and head. It was only when police officers arrived and discharged six fire extinguishers that the dog was distracted and released its owner.
And the most common line taking by the media is typified by the Mirror’s (http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/topstories/2008/01/29/rottweiler-attacks-owner-on-daily-walk-89520-20301900/) assertion that:
Grandad James Rehill was mauled to death when his pet Rottweiler suddenly turned on him during their morning walk.
We (K9 Magazine) elected not to report on this particular incident at the time. Not, you must understand, because we don’t report on dog attacks - no, in fact we have an entire website dedicated to rounding up coverage of dog attacks (http://www.stopdogattacks.com/) - and not because we are actively involved in trying to highlight the incredibly misguided, weak, poor thought out and unsuccessful dog legislation (http://www.opsi.gov.uk/ACTS/acts1991/ukpga_19910065_en_1) Britain is saddled with (and, incidentally, is trying to saddle us with more of (http://www.dogmagazine.net/archives/304/scottish-dog-owners-have-been-sold-out-over-new-dangerous-dogs-proposal/)) - no, our decision not to report on this incident until the post mortem was conducted was based on what we, and a number of other people who have a shred of understanding about dogs, felt were some loose ends in this sorry story.
Loose ends like, oh I don’t know, Mr Hanson’s protestation that “the dog was not attacking him” - even the excitable Mr Rahman gave us cause for concern in between declaring his opposition to Rottweilers being allowed out in public when he revealed the dog was “licking his face”. And finally, and this is the biggest clue of all, this is the one that really kinda tipped the scale in favour of us deciding to wait for the facts to come out before jumping the gun, was our understanding that DOGS WHO’VE LIVED WITH THEIR OWNER FOR 10 YEARS SINCE BEING A PUPPY AND HAVE NEVER SHOWN ANY SIGNS OF EVER BEING AGGRESSIVE IN THE ENTIRE LIVES DO NOT SUDDENLY DECIDE TO KILL THEIR OWNERS WHEN OUT ON THEIR DAILY WALKS!!! (emphasis added, tabloid style)
Continued below...
Last week I made a short appeal to the media (http://www.dogmagazine.net/archives/323/an-open-message-to-the-british-media-keep-up-the-devil-dog-hype-be-prepared-to-live-with-this/) to show a little more ‘care’ when ‘reporting’ on dog attacks.
The appeal was in relation not just to the tragic death of pensioner Jim Rehill who died on January 28th.
It was motivated by the sneaking suspicion that it was very possible, maybe even probable, that Mr Rehill was not - as was almost universally reported at the time - ‘killed in a savage attack by his own dog’ (a Rottweiler).
Some of the headlines from January 28th would leave you in no doubt as to how Mr Rehill died:
Grandfather Killed by rottweiler On walk (http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article736518.ece)
Rottweiler ‘Chews Master’s Face Off’ (http://www.bignewsday.com/story.asp?code=QO2846020I&news=rottweiler_chews_masters_face_off)
Owner killed by rottweiller (http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/s/1034102_owner_killed_by_rottweiller)
Man mauled to death by his own Rottweiler (http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/33059/Man-mauled-to-death-by-his-own-rottweiler)
Dog kills owner in horror attack (http://ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5gGLABmonSzapxvi8S0fEbqRMEAfw)
Dog brutally mauls owner in London (http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2008/01/28/dog_brutally_mauls_owner_in_london/9518/)
Rottweiler attacks owner on daily walk (http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/topstories/2008/01/29/rottweiler-attacks-owner-on-daily-walk-89520-20301900/)
Yesterday (a little over a week after Mr Rehill’s death) the small, not entirely insignificant matter of coroner’s report revealed that Mr Rehill’s death has been recorded as natural causes. No inquest necessary. It is confirmation of what was stated by some eye witnesses who saw the incident take place.
In between telling reporters that “dogs like rottweilers should not be allowed out in public”, one witness, Aziz Rahman, let slip that “(the) dog was over him, licking and biting him”.
Yes, I highlighted the word licking. Why? Because I’ve seen dog attacks, I’ve seen dogs fight, I’ve seen lots of things dogs do when they are being ’savage’. Licking is quite an unusual thing for them to be doing in the middle of a frenzied ‘horror attack’. Unusual, not impossible though. Anyway, let us move on.
Another witness saw what happened. He was a little clearer as to what he believed he’d observed.
Lee Hanson who works at a nearby taxi firm insisted the dog was trying to help the man.
Mr Hanson said: “The man was face down and the dog was trying to wake him up. “The dog wasn’t attacking him at all… it was his own dog. It was banging his head, trying to wake him up.”
Another comment recorded in the aftermath of the death:
A neighbour of the dead man, Bhupendra Karia, 30, said: “He loved that dog. He’d had him for at least 10 years, since he was a puppy and he never had any problems with it being aggressive.
You may or may not be surprised to know who’s accout of what happened got the most press coverage. Have a guess. Was it….
Mr Rahman’s observation that the victim was: “like a piece of meat” going on to add “My wife could not believe it. She got frightened. Now she’s thinking it’s fairly scary to go to the local shops on her own”
or, for balance, do you think Mr Hanson’s pretty clear cut: “the dog was not attacking him” comment got equal column inches?
In case you’re still wondering, Mr Hanson was quoted in the Sun’s ‘report’. Here’s what they published from him:
Cab firm boss Lee Hanson, 41, said: “I saw a man face down with this dog standing over him.
It was grabbing his neck and lifting his head then banging it down really hard.”
It reads a little differently, don’t you think, when the words “the dog was not attacking him” are completely dropped from the article and the words slammed, dragged and smashed are highlighted in their coverage?
They (the Sun), it goes without saying, used an image of a wild eyed, frightening looking Rottweiler in full aggression mode to highlight the horror of the story. Not Mr Rehill’s dog you understand. No, just a generic Rottweiler, mouth agape, snarling and ready to eat you, your children and your children’s children.
The Sun is not alone in its reporting of this incident.
A rottweiler chewed off its owner’s fingers and nose as it savaged him to death in the street, shocked eye witnesses said today.
The powerful beast repeatedly battered the pensioner’s skull against the pavement and ripped and chewed at his face, it was claimed.
Reports Big News Day (http://www.bignewsday.com/story.asp?code=QO2846020I&news=rottweiler_chews_masters_face_off)
The Press Association (http://ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5gGLABmonSzapxvi8S0fEbqRMEAfw)claimed:
A pensioner was “dragged like a doll” through the street in a fatal attack by his dog.
Witnessed looked on in horror as railway engineer James Rehill, 78, was savaged by his rottweiler in Newham, east London.
Residents armed with baseball bats desperately tried to free Mr Rehill as the dog inflicted horrific injuries to his face and head. It was only when police officers arrived and discharged six fire extinguishers that the dog was distracted and released its owner.
And the most common line taking by the media is typified by the Mirror’s (http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/topstories/2008/01/29/rottweiler-attacks-owner-on-daily-walk-89520-20301900/) assertion that:
Grandad James Rehill was mauled to death when his pet Rottweiler suddenly turned on him during their morning walk.
We (K9 Magazine) elected not to report on this particular incident at the time. Not, you must understand, because we don’t report on dog attacks - no, in fact we have an entire website dedicated to rounding up coverage of dog attacks (http://www.stopdogattacks.com/) - and not because we are actively involved in trying to highlight the incredibly misguided, weak, poor thought out and unsuccessful dog legislation (http://www.opsi.gov.uk/ACTS/acts1991/ukpga_19910065_en_1) Britain is saddled with (and, incidentally, is trying to saddle us with more of (http://www.dogmagazine.net/archives/304/scottish-dog-owners-have-been-sold-out-over-new-dangerous-dogs-proposal/)) - no, our decision not to report on this incident until the post mortem was conducted was based on what we, and a number of other people who have a shred of understanding about dogs, felt were some loose ends in this sorry story.
Loose ends like, oh I don’t know, Mr Hanson’s protestation that “the dog was not attacking him” - even the excitable Mr Rahman gave us cause for concern in between declaring his opposition to Rottweilers being allowed out in public when he revealed the dog was “licking his face”. And finally, and this is the biggest clue of all, this is the one that really kinda tipped the scale in favour of us deciding to wait for the facts to come out before jumping the gun, was our understanding that DOGS WHO’VE LIVED WITH THEIR OWNER FOR 10 YEARS SINCE BEING A PUPPY AND HAVE NEVER SHOWN ANY SIGNS OF EVER BEING AGGRESSIVE IN THE ENTIRE LIVES DO NOT SUDDENLY DECIDE TO KILL THEIR OWNERS WHEN OUT ON THEIR DAILY WALKS!!! (emphasis added, tabloid style)
Continued below...