Bad Owners are Everywhere!!

I was made aware of this story by a friend. Check out the site, there's some good comments after the story.....and some ignorant ones.

http://news.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=7022007

Owner warned but then pit bull mauls his niece aged 5 to death

THE OWNER of a pit bull terrier which mauled to death a five-year-old girl had previously been warned about the dog's behaviour, it emerged last night.

Ellie Lawrenson was found bleeding to death in the living room of her grandmother's home shortly before 4:30am.

Her grandmother Jackie Simpson, 46, also suffered serious arm and leg injuries, but managed to get the animal into the garden before calling police.

The dog - named Reuben - was owned by Ellie's uncle, named locally as Kiel Simpson.

It is not clear why the dog attacked the child but officers are investigating whether the animal had been scared by a fireworks display.

A spokeswoman for St Helens council confirmed Mr Simpson had been sent a warning letter about his dog's behaviour in June last year after a neighbour complained the animal had attacked his dog.

"Police received a report on May 29 2006 about the dog's behaviour, which was passed on to us at the council on 31 May. A warning was sent out shortly after."

A police spokeswoman said the police and local council were in the process of looking through their records to find out whether the dog had a history of violent behaviour.

She said: "We think now we were aware of the report of the dog attacking another dog in May. We've come across no mention of the animal attacking a person."

The dog was immediately destroyed after the attack yesterday.

Former Labour MP John McAllion, who campaigned for tighter controls on dangerous dogs after an 11-year-old girl from his constituency was killed by two Rottweilers in 1989, said some breeds of dog were just too dangerous to keep.

And he called for an outright ban on the animals dubbed "devil dogs", including Rottweilers, which are not covered by legislation on dangerous dogs.

Mr McAllion, former MP for Dundee East, said: "Some dogs can't be kept because of their nature. If the right circumstances come up, these dogs will kill. Dogs bred for hunting and fighting should never be kept as pets.

"Nobody would suggest keeping a lion or a tiger in the house and there are certain types of dog just as dangerous as that."

Dorothy Watkinson, who lives near the family home in St Helens, Merseyside, said that Ellie was used to handling dogs - but claimed the animal was a problem.

Mrs Watkinson added: "It barked its head off all day long. It was a menace."

A 69-year-old neighbour also claimed he was once attacked by the dog who killed Ellie. He said last night: "I was walking my dog early one morning sometime in September last year when I was attacked by that animal outside their house.

"It was jumping up at me, really going at me, but I managed to hold it at bay with my walking stick."

Mrs Simpson's injuries are described as "serious but not life threatening".

Yesterday's attack happened in Mrs Simpson's home in Eccleston, St Helens. Mrs Simpson was babysitting Ellie while the child's mother Lyndsay was out celebrating the New Year.

Merseyside Police Superintendent Jon Ward said: "This is such a tragic incident. When a child loses her life in such circumstances, it has an effect on the whole community.

Of utmost importance in such incidents is the safety of the public and of police officers.

"With that in mind, we were left with no other option but to have the animal destroyed quickly and humanely."

Supt Ward said: "It is important to stress that this animal was thought to be a pit bull terrier-type dog but it still needs to be examined to assess exactly what breed it was."

The breeding of pit bull terriers and three other types of dog assessed as particularly dangerous was outlawed by the Dangerous Dogs Act in 1991.

Existing dogs had to be registered, neutered and muzzled and on a leash when in public. They have declined almost to extinction in the UK.

But pit bulls are not recognised as a pedigree breed, so police often have difficulty identifying a dog as a pit bull without genetic fingerprinting.

And the law only covers dog attacks in public. No charges can be brought if the attack is on private property.

St Helens MP Shaun Woodward said: "This is a terrible tragedy for the family and my deepest sympathies are with them. We must now await the critical police report looking into the circumstances of the attack."

PETS NOW MACHO STATUS SYMBOLS

PIT bull terriers were originally bred for bull-baiting, a gory gambling game. They were never trained to be aggressive towards humans, and made fiercely loyal, obedient pets.

The dogs have in recent years become macho status symbols for young men - and some are bred to growl and bark at other people to reinforce their owner's own aggressive image.

Chris Laurence, veterinary director of the Dogs Trust, said badly trained pit bulls could lash out at any person - but children, because of their height and vulnerabilit, were more likely to suffer serious or even fatal injuries in an attack.

A series of attacks on young children led to the 1991 Dangerous Dogs Act, which banned certain breeds from the UK and laid the legal blame for attacks on owners.

It outlawed the breeding of the Pit Bull Terrier, the Japanese Tosa, the Dogo Argentino and the Fila Brazileiro.

 

yeh i tried to post this the other day but couldnt,its absolutely terrible what happened to this little girl and the fact that it could have prevented so easily, as soon as the story broke they were saying "pitbull terrier" but i also heard staffie mentioned too so we dont really know, if it was an apbt which are banned in england who knows what way it was bred or for what purpose,r.i.p

 

I'm so sick of stories like these, it almost makes me want breed specific legislation to pass. If the dog had shown aggression towards people before, why was the dog allowed around a five year old child? And why was the child found at four something in the morning? Shouldn't the child have been in bed and the animal put up in some manner? Surely if a dog attack had occurred by accident, the parents/grandparents would have heard the attack while it was still in progress, not hours later. Stories like these never add up to me, yet no one questions the circumstances surrounding pit bull attacks. "It was just another pit bull attack, it was bound to happen, euthanize them all, blah blah blah." Nevermind that the owners of the dog and the gaurdians of the child were completely negligent. I hope the owner is brought up on charges ... Idiot.

On a side note, do these people know nothing about temperament testing? No hunting dogs should be owned? Hounds are some of the most stable breeds of dogs out there. People really should do some research or simply think before they open thier mouths and speak, especially when speaking to the press.

 

When I was in Cambodia, Napal, India, Thailand etc. I saw several breeds of tiger. In Africa I seen Lions. Lions however I doubt would be even a slight match for a Tiger. Nothing beats the tiger and nothing is that damn dangerous. When they let loose of a good roar you will shit yourself I don't give a damn how bad you think you are. Their roar carries more dcb than a frieght trains horn. And they can take your head and sholders into their mouth and ripe your ass abpart in seconds you are dead. No dog comes close to that.

However the story is tragic. I don't think that dog agression is the problem that caused this. Neglect, a scared dog and a squeeky kid probably played factors. Neglect for sure. Every one should know to crate a dog when shooting off fireworks with a dog that don't hunt on a regular basis. Mine don't even blink when I fire my rifles. It happens daily.

Tragic this child is gone because of another set of idiots.

 

Yes Tiger are awesome animals...but do you know that indian-wild -dogs hunt Tiger? In packs with sometimes more than 40 members they hunt them down....if the Tiger has no change to climb they eat em alive...