Don't let dogs roam, says bitten girl's mum
Arrowtown parents Rae and Mark Williams want dog owners to take more responsibility with their animals and stop them roaming in the town.
Their daughter, Brehna, 7, was bitten by a red heeler on Saturday while she was playing with friends at a reserve near Isabel Crt.
(...)The dog was apparently known for its aggressive behaviour towards children and cyclists, and dogs that displayed that type of behaviour should not be in Arrowtown, she said.
Mr Williams said dog owners should not take risks with their animals.
Can we set the record straight here. Can people stop labelling ALL dog owners as BAD.
Can people start to understand about dog behaviour and how socialisation or the lack of it plays a HUGE part in dog attacks. If this THIS dog wasn't socialised and was known to to attack, then YES, get the damn dog off the streets. But don't put ALL dogs in the SAME basket when you talk about WANDERING, or ROAMING dogs.
Like I said before, if dogs were all socialised, then nobody would need to fear about roaming dogs. It is the UNsocialised roaming dogs that are THEE problem.
Sergeant Andy Grant said it had not been decided if the dog would be destroyed or charges laid.
5 Comments:
At 9:10 p.m.,
Anonymous said…
regardless of weather a dog is socialized or not they dont need to be roaming around town they need to be in their own yard.
I understand being a previous dog owner what great companions they are and how they become part of a family, but also being a mother i completely understand the anger of the parents involved.
When you sit and watch a child get their face stitched back together you really dont give a toss weather a dog is socialized or not you just want them to be at home with their owners.
We try and teach our children to do the right thing when it comes to animal, to be kind and gentle and also a little carefull, this little girl did'nt get an opportunity for that!!!!!
At 9:50 a.m.,
Natalie's Life said…
Finally someone willing to debate !!
Thanks for your comment.
My point about being socialised is that...
1) if you see a socialised dog roaming, you are less frightened. (of course, you need to know what you are looking for!)
2) with the media hyping this up, it plants a seed in people's brain that every time they see a dog without their owner, they should be on high alert.
3) in today's society, and in today's climate of fearing dogs, it doesn't help us help "dogs".
Dogs are becoming the next thing that we are vilifying. Then comes more laws, then comes more finger pointing, and less personal responsibility.
At 2:29 p.m.,
llew said…
I agree with anonymous, I'm a dog owner, my dog's socialised yet I see no reason why it should be roaming, potentially pooing on the footpath or in someone else's garden, chasing cats, getting knocked over by cars...
...scaring people - because yes, some people are irrationally scared of dogs & I don't consider that their irrationality is any excuse for me to foist my roaming dog on them.
And finally... they're dogs, they can't be trusted on their own - ask anyone who owns sheep - I never trusted my dog even with my own sheep, sure she left them alone when I was around... I extend that lack of trust to letting them roam free in public.
So I do think that people should keep their dogs on their own property.
At 4:15 p.m.,
Natalie's Life said…
I don't want people to think that I think that letting a dog roam is a good idea and we should all do it.
It's our reaction to it...
Good dog owners will try their best to keep their dogs inside. My neighbours' dog dug a hole under our fence, and what happened? our dog and their dog got out... and yes, they roamed. yikes!
We did everything possible at the time once we found out what happened, we filled the hole, put chicken wire etc etc...
That's trying to be a good dog owner. Sometimes a dog can roam without you meaning too. It happens. Dogs and humans live in the grey area of life. We can't control everything.
It's our reaction to it that matters. That's the point I'm trying to make. (and a few others:) )
If you went out and shot our dog (like that Gore guy wants to do) and our neighbour's dog because our dogs were roaming, you'd have two angry neighbours on your hands.
My argument is how we deal with this issue.
By the way, usually good dog owners also do the right thing and socialise their dog, walk their dog, respect their dog, and respect the rules of society of dog ownership, to an extend that they are perceived to work.
Being gay was illegal just a couple of years ago! And some people felt threatened by their gayness... even killed them!
Sounds like that guy's attitude about roaming dogs, isn't it? I betcha he's a conservative! (referring to the article in the newspaper about how our minds are wired!)
At 9:23 a.m.,
Anonymous said…
The behaviour a dog displays when with it's owners does not guarantee it will behave the same when roaming. Dogs that seem well behaved and safe at home have been found to be responsible for attacks on farm animals when roaming un supervised. Dog owners anthropomorphise their dogs, and forget that they have wild instincts.
Surely the point is that with nearly 600 dog attack victims in the year 2005-6, that figure not including un-reported (to protect the dog?)cases or less serious attacks not requiring medical attention, simple measures such as preventing dogs roaming free are common sense. What is more important here- The safety of our children or the liberty of dogs?
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