Bull mastiff crossbreed that bit two men had history of attacks on dogs

A 60kg bull mastiff crossbreed that mauled two men and a dog at a Wellington school had attacked other dogs in the past.

The animal was put down yesterday after it attacked a labrador-cross dog and the man out walking it at Rongotai College sports field on Thursday morning.

Former All White Stu Jacobs, who was teaching children to play football on the field, was bitten on his leg, arm and hand when he stepped in to help separate the fighting dogs. The labrador's owner was also bitten.

Wellington City Council is still considering prosecuting the owner, but Mr Jacobs said he had to be punished.

"Animal control officers spoke to him and he had no understanding of how much damage the dog's done. He just took his dog away without speaking to any of us . . . he's a coward really."

He was probably scared actually.

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Les Dalton, president of the New Zealand Institute of Animal Control Officers, said the number of dog attacks had decreased in the past two years.

interesting... or is it that there has been less reporting of them?

Those that did attack tended to be unregistered and were often not neutered, he said.

Being neutered doesn't mean that the dog is less dangerous. That's a myth. If the dog has been well socialised, having their balls on or off doesn't make a huge difference. There are lots of bitches that fight, and they've been spayed.

"The bull mastiff cross [involved in the Wellington attack] may have been protecting its territory and bit people in the confusion. It may never have attacked a person in its life."That's correct! but because it's a former sport player, the media dive into this one...

Separating fighting dogs was highly risky and people, including dog controllers, tended to get bitten.

I suppose the dog owner of the mastiff thought that if that guy didn't try to break up the fight, his dog wouldn't have bitten a human, and wouldn't have need to be put down. You never, EVER try to break up a dog fight. Walk away and call you dog. Walk away so that your dog doesn't think he has to protect you (it's the other dog that you have to worry about)

But Dominion Bullmastiff Club spokeswoman Sharron Mischefski defended pure breed bull mastiffs as "gentle giants". They were often confused with pit bulls but were not by nature aggressive, she said.

Before anyone jumps on me, I'm not supporting the owner of the dog that attacked... I'm just allowing some other points of view which the media sometimes don't always consider. But a dog that attacks another dog because, perhpas, he thinks he has to defend its territory means that the dog owner hasn't done the right thing in teaching his dog how to live in our society....

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