This makes me so sad and angry at the same time .
The poor little girl what terror and pain she went through .
Are the parents completely and utterly brain dead ?
How many babies have to die before it gets through to dumbos that a dog is basically a domestic wolf not a cuddly toy
The reputation of Staffordshire Bull terrors must be known to anyone who is literate surely ?
Actually they are nice dogs properly treated .
However they have been bred up in size and so many are really now pit bulls ( which is a type not a breed )
Itâs wasnât as the stupid DM reprts âthe family petâ it was a strange dog a potentially dangerous animal in a new environment itâs didnât know anyone an accident waiting to happen .
One warning sign should have been that it was not a pup ( who are at least smaller and more forgiving to small children ) but came from elsewhere who and why .
No reputable dogs home would give a dodgy staffie to a family with a small child .
So I assume it came from some acquaintance .
And where werethe parents ?
Was the child alone with the dog even for a few seconds ?
My dog who adores children and has no aggression at all I still would not leave alone with a little child ( he just might unintentionally knock them over and frighten them .
He would do nothing but a crying child on the floor might spark aggression in some dogs .
I had had a lot to do with pit bulls overseas and they are lovely loyal dog but their jaws are formidable if they bite itâs serious . Staff ies are the same they were bred to take hold of a bulls throat what chance has a baby ?
The dog who has been euthanised I do not blame it.
People have made it what it is and put it in a position that it should not have been ie in close proximity to a very small child .
I donât understand this at all. They only had the dog a weekâŠthat is no time at all to socialise it to the family and why they got it when they have a tiny baby, is beyond me. Its so utterly tragic and pointless. So sorry for the family - and the poor dog of course. Its probably not been the first time it has been passed around.
This particular breed of dog and itâs derivatives maybe, but not all dogs are aggressive. Labradors, spaniels, and beagles are very gentle and affectionate.
Always ends up the same way a child and a dog dead the child in horrendous circumstances.
I really think that they should bring back dog licences and certain breeds forbidden for families with small children .
Having said that any dog can bite and maim and hurt however you are unlikely to be savaged to death by a small dog .
A Staffordshire bull is a very muscular dog and they were bred to hang on . Once they have set their jaws they will be difficult to get off .
I have seen so may oversize Staffordshire bulls that are in effect pit bulls .
They are supposed to be prohibited in the U.K. but if you cross a pit bull with a larger dog you will get a pit bullâŠ
I a dog lover all of my life would hesitate to expose any little child to any dog without extreme care and attention much less an unknown adult Staffordshire bull.
They are not all . Even Labradors will bite if annoyed too much or inadvertently poked in a tender spot by a small child .
Spaniels can be snappy and beagles arenât really except for their size what I would call a family pet ( their nature is to run off and hunt rabbits ) How many beagles to you actually see off the lead ?
A 17month old child is hardly more than a baby it has no defence at all against what is a large animal armed with canines .
One of my granddaughters runs a livery stable in Newmarket, and her beagle is always off the lead and is soft as a boiled turnip (as we say up here). My daughterâs Labrador is much the same - very soft and mild temperament - I suppose itâs all down to training and both having loving homes?
We all want to blame somebody, but none of us really know what happened. When will parents learn that, if you bring a dog into a home where children live, it will take a long time before both the dog & the child learn how to behave with each other.
We give children fluffy toys that they can bite or squeeze so how can the child know that a dog will attack if they do the same?
The dogs instinct will to be to attack if it is being hurt!
I dont even allow young children to be alone with my cats because the child wont know if it is hurting the cat but the cat may scratch or bite if they do hurt them. Sadly dogs can do much worse!
The worst thing is that both the child and the dog are now dead & the parents will have to live with the regret that the child and dog should never have been together without constantly being watchedâŠespecially after just on week!
I despair, I really do. How many children have to die before people get the message loud and clear? Never, ever, leave a small child alone with a dog. For that matter, they donât even have to be left alone with them - a large staffie can attack a small child no matter how many adults are present. And once itâs got its teeth in there is no letting go.
Many years ago there was a dear old German Shepherd dog who lived across the road from us. She was getting on in years, and wouldnât hurt a fly. She used to like to poke her head through the bars of the driveway gates to see what was going on up and down the street. Unfortunately one day she did it just as a person was walking their staffie past. Understandably the staffie was spooked, and it grabbed hold of the GS by the throat and hung on, and on, and on. Several people tried to prise its jaws apart to no avail, and that poor GS was screaming in pain. Eventually someone played a pressure hose on it, and the shock made it let go. I went cold to think it could have been a toddler running up and down the driveway and putting its arms through the gate.
My daughter always defends staffies, because sheâs known several and theyâve been as soft as butter. But I canât get past their iron jaws, and would never, ever have one.
Possibly because your granddaughter is laid back with animals and they are probably loose mooching around the stables .Yet a loving home doesnât always make for a friendly dog . Many problem dogs come from loving but incompetent homes . Not everyone is good with animals some people just canât manage them . And the breed of dog matters . Chihuahuas are notorious biters but because they are so tiny they do little damage . Terriors are quite capable of nipping but big dogs like Dobermanâs Rottweilers and Pitbulls ( I have had all three ) are formidable dogs not for everyone and quite capable of doing someone serious harm .
And border collies such as my lovely gentle Mungo are not all like him . Some are surly and want to herd everyone up especially children who they will have no problem nipping into line .
Many dogs including labradors are defensive in their own territory ask any postman !
On the whole if you donât have a clue about how to look after and if possible train a pet and canât be bothered to try and find out, then donât get a pet!
I agree with you, Pixie. Stupid parents to get an adult dog & only a week ago too.
We donât know the whole story but no parent in their right mind would mix a toddler with a fully grown & large dog not known, even if parent was with them.
Our Border Collie didnât like being teased & I would never have left her with a toddler & weâd had her since a pup too.
Any dog can âturnâ. We have had dogs all our lives and luckily never had a bad one. They have all been great with visitors and children but I would NEVER leave a small child alone with a dog. That is just asking for trouble.
Any dog, whatever the breed can attack for no reason.I knew a man who always had golden labradors and they were never nasty. he kept a shop and the dog always slept on the floor and bothered nobody. One day he bent down to pick something up and the dog went berserk and nearly ripped his face off. He had to have extensive plastic surgery and the dog was put to sleep and the vet could only guess that the dog had a brain tumour or something.
Who says it was a staffie? I understand theyâre still investigating. You can bet your bottom dollar however that tomorrowâs newspapers will be full of library pictures of staffies that theyâll fail to correct if the dog is found to be a different breed.
Little kiddies of that tender age usually havent a clue how to behave around a dog, let alone a strange one.
Children are often either frightened of them so scream at them, or throw toys at them or even smack them.
Other children can be the opposite, and try to squeeze and cuddle them , climb in the dogs bed with them, sit on them, take the dogs toys to play, poke things in their ears, squeal in their faces, pull tails in play . . . etc.
Very young children would not understand doggy language either, like a change in the body language, a change in their eye, or even a warning growl.
I can easily see how these tragedies happen.
It can go both ways too though, and a dog that has never been raised around children, or has perhaps been ill treated by children in his past, so doesnt like, or understand them, this can be a dangerous situation too.
The last I heard on the news was they were still trying to establish the dogâs ancestry to decide whether it could be classed as one of the banned breeds. They were also trying to trace the previous owner(s), - which surely the parents must know, as I didnt get the impression it came from a reputable rescue.
It seems there were so many serious mistakes were made along the way, that it was a disaster waiting to happen.
