Dogs Attack Swan

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This was front page news in the local rag

Warrington news from the Guardian - the place for all of the latest news for the Warrington area

Whats your veiws? What should happen and what will happen?

[Kayleigh]

This is outrageous. Dog owners (I am one) should be accountable for the dogs actions, The dogs should be on a lead in public places.
They should bring licences back.
I had to kick a staffy that came running over to me and my dog, mine was on a lead. The staffy ran from its owner and jumped on my dog growling. I put the boot in and and threatened to do again when it ran back to it owner.
I was so angry. Why can't people be responsible.
I hope they find out who this man is and ban him from keeping dogs.

[AJH748]

What happened to law about putting dogs like this in muzzles?

Either that or get rid of them altogether.

Too many tragic incidents to let it be.

[Ukwildlifeo]

This has hap[pend in Regents park, where at least two duck were killed by one dog. Its a shame the swan didnt have more strength when it got in the canal - Probably would have drowned the dog and then the owner might have taken more notice.

When will dog owners learn? I like dogs but early wednesday morning I was jumped up at by one dog and then later had a pair of large boxers(?) run 200m up a hill toward me be jumping up at me barking aggressively - the sort of bark you get from a dog when you go into its garden and it doesn't know you. This was scary enough. But 5 mins after I heard one of the nasty things running up behind me and tried ignoring it again and this time it was so aggressive i put my arm up as I was worried it might attack. But what really annoyed me is I was by the Red Deer enclousure and had been careful not to disturb them, as a number are heavily pregnant. So they were spooked, which also meant I could really photograph them so I carried on, only for that same damn dog came pelting towards me again - I was so close to losing it but it was two women owners and me being a male in is low 20s they probably would have called the police or something so I bit my tongue gave up and went home - the whole morning ruined for me - but atleast that silly bint had a nice walk with her dog

Sorry for the rant but this story just brought that anger back up.

[NuttyMeg]

that was a really upsetting and disturbing read Atrocious behaviour.

I'm with Kayleigh on this one, I believe dogs should be on leads in public places.
I have an Alsatian and he is never let off the lead except for his half4 run in the morning on a nice quiet recreation ground. He was once attacked while on the lead by a mastiff who wasn't and my dog's attitude towards other dogs changed completely after that. You hear about attacks by staffies and bull terriers all the time, doesn't half give the breed a bad name but why won't people realise that thay are an aggressive breed when they want to be, and control them in the appropriate manner? grrrrr it makes me so angry, that poor swan.

[Dan Salter]

My dislike of dogs and of dogs in nature areas is beautifully highlighted here!

[ChrisJB]

So is my belief that there is no such thing as a bad dog, only bad owners.....well, apart from Cujo of course.

Regards, Chris

[witham]

as I've mentioned before we've recently had a bike track built on an old railway line not far from us and it's where over many years I've walked my various dogs along with other locals as it was a very quiet 'green' area, it has now become a bit like the A1 or M1 at the weekends and has attracted not just bikes, horse riders etc but loads of irresponsible dog walkers, some with 3 or 4 dogs who let them run amok amongst the undergrowth where Partridges etc normally nest and also in a wooded area where there's 2 large active Badger setts, one large section is fenced off where sheep are allowed to graze yet even though 'please keep your dogs on a lead' signs are displayed at each entrance gate, these are still ignored and we regularly see sheep being chased or scattered as the dogs run round after fresh smells etc, the company who build these tracks nationwide arn't very helpfull, they got their way despite local reservations and now it's as if they don't want to know.

[Adam Cheeseman]

I don't know about this particular place, but it is currently illegal to have your dog off lead (lead must be a maximum of 2 metres) anywhere that is covered by the CROW Act 2000, because it is nesting time. This applies from 1st March to the 31st July.

I'd hate to think how many laws and byelaws this one incident has broken.

Cheers,

Adam

[Robbodog]

I agree that there is no such thing as a bad dog only bad dog owners. Also Staffordshire bull terriers are amongst the friendliest dogs that you could possibly have and make fantastic family pets due to them being great with kids and adults alike.
It gets my goat when people bang on about dangerous dogs and the like, the idea that needing a license to have a dog would make the very small minority of eejits who do not care for the dogs properly suddenly become responsible is laughable.
Dogs also imo have a right to proper exercise, which means being able to have a good run off a lead.

[Ukwildlifeo]

Originally Posted by Robbodog

Dogs also imo have a right to proper exercise, which means being able to have a good run off a lead.

that they do, but it should only be allowed in set areas where there not going to harm wildlife or jump up at some poor toddler

[Kayleigh]

Originally Posted by Robbodog

I agree that there is no such thing as a bad dog only bad dog owners. Also Staffordshire bull terriers are amongst the friendliest dogs that you could possibly have and make fantastic family pets due to them being great with kids and adults alike.
It gets my goat when people bang on about dangerous dogs and the like, the idea that needing a license to have a dog would make the very small minority of eejits who do not care for the dogs properly suddenly become responsible is laughable.
Dogs also imo have a right to proper exercise, which means being able to have a good run off a lead.

If people can't CONTROL their dogs they should be on a lead.

[NuttyMeg]

Originally Posted by Robbodog

Dogs also imo have a right to proper exercise, which means being able to have a good run off a lead.

Very true but I would still be a bit dubious about letting one off in a public place, even a park. Certain breeds can be unpredictable at the best of times and unless you can fully trust and control your dog then I wouldn't contemplate it. Our dog is not exactly small, and although he is very obedient, you just never know when instinct might just step in. I should think this was very much the case here and the whole situation could have been well avoided.

[Adam Cheeseman]

All dogs bite. It's not just toddlers and wildlife you should think about either. There are other dog owners, people with a natural fear of dogs for whatever reason, the elderly.........

Cheers,

Adam

[NuttyMeg]

Originally Posted by Adam Cheeseman

All dogs bite.

Indeed. Unfortunately you cannot assume that just because you're dog has never so much as showed a tooth to you that he/she wouldn't think twice about nipping someone if the occasion called for it. Dogs are funny things and make judgments about people just as much as we do when we walk in a room full of people. All it takes is for someone to smell different or utter one bad word and - obviously depending on the temperament of the dog of course - it could all end in tears.

My dog, being a rescue dog, has a background of which we don't know a lot about other than he was an ex-police dog. As a result we don't take risks even after our 6th year of having him. We know he has a bit of a dislike for men carrying big sticks and smoke, but who knows what else goes on in his mind? We love him to bits and take every effort to make sure he isn't put to the test at any point. As I mentioned before, he was attacked by a dog off the lead when he wasn't, and we can't help thinking if that dog had been properly restrained by his owner then things may have turned out a little differently

[Anyanka]

Originally Posted by Adam Cheeseman

All dogs bite. It's not just toddlers and wildlife you should think about either. There are other dog owners, people with a natural fear of dogs for whatever reason, the elderly.........

Cheers,

Adam

Not true. I've lived with Irish Setters that would only bite sandwiches. One of them even co-habited with a Rabbit for a while, and protected a robin's nest from cats. There are trade-offs, too; my own three dogs are not 100% toothless - they'll chase Rabbits and squirrels, and two of them could theoretically catch deer and are only let off with muzzles - but they deter cats from our garden, which therefore has the best birdlife in the vicinity.

As someone said above, blame the owners, not the dogs.

[bounce]

As it was me who started this thread and absolutly horrified by what happened I wondered what peoples thorts were. I also have a german sheperd who when on walks (daily) is generally off the lead, she is scared of most things even cats, we used to have 2 Rabbits who she adored. I think the problem is the chav dog attitude of the owners of these kinda (chav) dogs there more of a image/acsesorie and the owners want them to be visious, the big problem in this case which highlights the owners attitude is the fact that walking past the first time the dogs attacked the swan but on walking back past (when they attacked and killed) he still didnt put them on the lead or better still walk the other way comlpetely for this reason he should be punished BIG time by the law. It really is the owners, not the dogs, people with dogs should understand the natural insticts of the breed, also how dogs work socialy within a pack.

[demicav]

The bloke, I would have hung, drawn and quartered. He actually returned to the area half an hour after the first incident with his dogs still off the lead, knowing full well what would happen. This sort of thing makes me so furious. If he couldn't be hung, drawn and quartered then he should be held upside down and a pack of dogs set on him. I've no time for mamsy pamsying around these sort of people and the law's a complete waste of time as well. Also the dogs should have been shot on sight, that could be a child next time.

From an angry dog lover and responsible dog owner.

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Originally Posted by demicav

The bloke, I would have hung, drawn and quartered. He actually returned to the area half an hour after the first incident with his dogs still off the lead, knowing full well what would happen. This sort of thing makes me so furious. If he couldn't be hung, drawn and quartered then he should be held upside down and a pack of dogs set on him. I've no time for mamsy pamsying around these sort of people and the law's a complete waste of time as well. Also the dogs should have been shot on sight, that could be a child next time.

From an angry dog lover and responsible dog owner.

Quite well put, were on the same wavelengh

[ChrisJB]

Originally Posted by demicav

The bloke, I would have hung, drawn and quartered. He actually returned to the area half an hour after the first incident with his dogs still off the lead, knowing full well what would happen. This sort of thing makes me so furious. If he couldn't be hung, drawn and quartered then he should be held upside down and a pack of dogs set on him. I've no time for mamsy pamsying around these sort of people and the law's a complete waste of time as well. Also the dogs should have been shot on sight, that could be a child next time.

From an angry dog lover and responsible dog owner.

I think I'd prefer to see the owner shot on sight.

Regards, Chris