Calls for tougher dog control laws re-ignited
A Wairoa toddler who nearly lost an eye in a pit bull attack will bear scars for the rest of her life, her surgeon says.
Yup, and I feel off my bike and I am wearing scares for life too! My scares remind me how stupid I was... but the toddler will wonder why that dog owner didn't socialise her dogs better!
The Government plans to review "ramshackle" dog laws next year, but the toddler's mauling on Sunday was the second on a young child that day. It has sparked renewed calls for tougher dog laws and bans on dangerous breeds.
Ya, that's really going to help!
ACC has paid out more than $10million in compensation and medical fees on nearly 50,000 dog bite claims in the past five years.
That's why we have ACC... we live in a civil society where we take care of each other, or so we want to think.
I'd like to know what the bill is for family violence? No point saying it's $10 million for dog attackes when in actual fact that is relatively little in comparison to, say, alcohol fueled violence on our society.
Margit Christensen, mauled for 15 minutes by eight pig dogs in August, said the Government needed to ban dangerous breeds and give dog controllers more authority. "I think they should be put down straight away."
But they are.
Dr Macdonald, who has operated on about four similar cases in the past seven years, is a dog lover with an old English mastiff "who's my best friend". "All the [dog attack injuries] I've seen have been by pit bulls."
So that proves it, does it?!
Tauranga District Council manager John Payne – a council dog control officer for 20 years – compiled details on dog attacks from 13 district councils for the past two years.
Unregistered dogs were more than eight times more likely to attack than registered dogs, according to his figures.
yes, and what does that tell us?
Mr Payne said menacing dogs – most of which were American pit bulls – accounted for 2.3 per cent of the dog population but 12.5 per cent of reported attacks.
Statistics are great but like they say... you can manipulate the numbers. Read paragraph below.
About three-quarters of dog bites were not reported because the animal was the family dog or known to the victim's family. "The amount of dog attacks reported to council is just miles off the dog attacks reported to ACC and hospitals."
How would they know that what the number is if it's unreported?!?
Local Government Minister Rodney Hide said he planned a major review of dog laws next year. Existing dog laws had evolved in "a ramshackle way" because they were passed in response to particular incidents. "What I want to know is ... have we got the laws right?"
And the review should be based on evidence and not through emotion. Why do I think it wouldn't be? Which politician will benefit espousing "Oh, but for the sake of our children?"
1 Comments:
At 3:06 p.m.,
zip said…
"A Wairoa toddler who nearly lost an eye in a pit bull attack will bear scars for the rest of her life, her surgeon says."
So do people who have been attacked by ALL breeds. I know somebody with a scar on her nose next to her eye she received about the same age. Clearly nowadays the severity of an attack is no longer determined on the severity of the attack itself but more likely by the breed of dog which was blamed for the attack. This article claims there were 50 thousand claims made for compensation to the ACC over the last 5 years and yet if we were to take a look at which dog attacks the media have focused on, it is obvious they pick and choose Pit Bulls or Rottweilers while ignoring similar attacks from other breeds. Hence we now have this rather skewed perception of what a "dangerous dog" actually is.
"Margit Christensen, mauled for 15 minutes by eight pig dogs in August, said the Government needed to ban dangerous breeds and give dog controllers more authority. "I think they should be put down straight away."
And what would Ms Christensen propose we ban? Dogs containing Greyhound or English Bull Terrier in them? As I have said elsewhere a ban on certain breeds of dogs would not have helped Ms Christensen for the simple reason the breeds which attacked her aren't typically on breed ban lists, if at all.
"Dr Macdonald, who has operated on about four similar cases in the past seven years, is a dog lover with an old English mastiff "who's my best friend". "All the [dog attack injuries] I've seen have been by pit bulls."
Strange that all or even most of the dog attacks this doctor has seen have come from Pit Bulls considering somebody else in this same article claimed Pit Bulls made up 12.5 percent of all dog attacks. Statistically speaking it's near impossible odds, especially again considering, this article also mentions there have been 50 thousand claims for dog bite compensation in New Zealand over the last 5 years.
"Mr Payne said menacing dogs – most of which were American pit bulls – accounted for 2.3 per cent of the dog population but 12.5 per cent of reported attacks."
And? Over the last month or so, I have read about Pit Bulls being burnt alive, stabbed, kicked to death and attacked with other weapons. There was even a case in NZ not long ago about an idiot who killed his Pit Bull cross with a hammer and prepared it for a bbq. I read these types of stories with great regularity and it's uncommon that I read about a Golden Retriever or Kings Charles Spaniel being treated this way. It would take a very naive prick not to realize that dogs, can be treated VERY differently depending on their breed. It is not a secret that Pit Bulls are a hell of a lot more likely to be mistreated or encouraged to be aggressive in the care of their owner than for example a Golden Retriever is.
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