We have just had the most dreadful weekend of our life's. Here is a link telling what has happened to us. www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/n ... k_by_dogs/ The woman has been charged, but the dog which bit my child and ripped my dogs guts out is still with the owner. The police have no power to take it away. I am desperate to do something about this. I have never begged any one for anything in my life. But i am begging any of you who think you may be able to help me in any way. I want to do something about this. How do i go about getting a petition going/ How can i go about getting my PM do get involved in this?

We have just had the most dreadful weekend of our life's. Here is a link telling what has happened to us. www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/n ... k_by_dogs/ The woman has been charged, but the dog which bit my child and ripped my dogs guts out is still with the owner. The police have no power to take it away. I am desperate to do something about this. I have never begged any one for anything in my life. But i am begging any of you who think you may be able to help me in any way. I want to do something about this. How do i go about getting a petition going/ How can i go about getting my PM do get involved in this?

Quote ="guess who"We have just had the most dreadful weekend of our life's. Here is a link telling what has happened to us. www.thetelegr...attack_by_dogs/ The woman has been charged, but the dog which bit my child and ripped my dogs guts out is still with the owner. The police have no power to take it away. I am desperate to do something about this. I have never begged any one for anything in my life. But i am begging any of you who think you may be able to help me in any way. I want to do something about this. How do i go about getting a petition going/ How can i go about getting my PM do get involved in this?'" Link don't work mate, unless it's [url=http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/9846001.Pet_mauled_to_death_in_attack_by_dogs/this one[/url Can't you get the RSPCA involved?

Quote ="guess who"We have just had the most dreadful weekend of our life's. Here is a link telling what has happened to us. www.thetelegr...attack_by_dogs/ The woman has been charged, but the dog which bit my child and ripped my dogs guts out is still with the owner. The police have no power to take it away. I am desperate to do something about this. I have never begged any one for anything in my life. But i am begging any of you who think you may be able to help me in any way. I want to do something about this. How do i go about getting a petition going/ How can i go about getting my PM do get involved in this?'" Link don't work mate, unless it's [url=http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/9846001.Pet_mauled_to_death_in_attack_by_dogs/this one[/url Can't you get the RSPCA involved?

Thank\you for that. I have also put the right one in.

They cannot get involved as its now in the hands of the police.

My main problem is as the law stand the police have no power to take this dog away.

If any dog attacked mine in that way, I'd be inclined to get a shotgun, put one shell through the dog and the second one through the owner

Seems to be a lack of clear procedure in such cases. It appears that you'd have been better off if your daughter was walking your pet sheep instead of your pet dog. [url=http://www.cps.gov.uk/legal/d_to_g/offences_involving_domestic_and_captive_animals/CPS Guidelines[/url

By Pit Bull types I'm guessing they were Staffords??? First of all the police do have the powers to take the dogs if they believe they are pit bulls or pit bull types. They will then be assesed by a tape measure to see if they were pure pit bulls or Staffords. The only time the police cannot do anything is if the attack happened on private property which in this case it happened in a public park. I would be in touch with the police and ask them why the two dogs which attacked yours (which are potentially a banned breed under the Dangerous Dogs Act) are still with the owner and why haven't they been seized under the DDA Section 1 - Banned Breed. My guess is that the police believe them to be Staffords. The DDA is worth a read: www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1991/65/contents I am sorry for your loss.

By Pit Bull types I'm guessing they were Staffords??? First of all the police do have the powers to take the dogs if they believe they are pit bulls or pit bull types. They will then be assesed by a tape measure to see if they were pure pit bulls or Staffords. The only time the police cannot do anything is if the attack happened on private property which in this case it happened in a public park. I would be in touch with the police and ask them why the two dogs which attacked yours (which are potentially a banned breed under the Dangerous Dogs Act) are still with the owner and why haven't they been seized under the DDA Section 1 - Banned Breed. My guess is that the police believe them to be Staffords. The DDA is worth a read: www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1991/65/contents I am sorry for your loss.

One of my wifes work collegues had their Jack Russell killed by a larger dog at the weekend too, the police won't get involved at all because it was a dog on dog attack.

More importantly I hope your daughter is physically ok and that she copes mentally with this horrendous attack, must have been awful for her.

Have you contacted your MP ?

What an awful story, that must have been horrific. Surely if one of the Dogs has also attacked your daughter then something more should be done about it? although attacking your dog in such a way should warrant something being done in itself.

I try not to walk my Dog through park's and "busier" routes now because there are so many irresponsible dog owners out there who either don't keep there Dogs on leads or simply aren't capable of controlling them, a few have gone for him in the past and it's not nice. From reading the article it seems as if the woman who had the 2 dogs simply wasn't strong enough to control them both, I've seen parents around here letting kids take hold of large dogs often bigger than them and it's quite horrifying to think what could happen if the dog went off on one.

I hope you get some sort of justice for what has happened. only 2 weeks ago a Dog near me was "destroyed" after it bit a young lad.

So get where you're coming from there. A few weeks ago we went to a Country Park with our two. We don't let them off in there, simply because I have a lurcher and if she hunts down a rabbit she will be missing for hours. I normally have them on head collars to help me control them but in the Country Park we have them on extending leads (the only place I will use those horrible things though). Coming in behind was a beautiful Shar Pei puppy about 6 months old, off lead. He came running upto our two on leads, I expected the usual dog greets and then the owner to call him back as our two were on lead. Instead this bouncy puppy (who was in no way at fault) so wanted to play and kept harassing ours, which in normal off lead circumstances would be great. My Staffy/cross will tell another dog if he harasses her and she did just that. Again we were expecting the owner to call him back, but no, not a word. In the end we had to deviate from the path and walk across a field just to let them get ahead of us as I didn't want my staffy/cross to snap because she'd had enough of being harassed. The owner and young son, who thought this was a game every time the puppy ran to ours neither said or did nothing. Totally irresponsible imo and should be made to go to classes to learn some dog etiquette manners.

I hate it when newspapers use the phrase "pit bull type" as if that is a catch-all explanantion for the attack.

There is no doubt in anyones mind that in recent years there has been an explosion in the Staffordshire Bull terrier breed, and cross breed variations thereof - and its the indiscriminate and uncontrolled breeding of the dogs that causes the problem - that and the owners who don't know how to, or are just not interested in controlling them, or worse still actively encourage their dog to be aggressive.

I know that there is nothing wrong with the Staffie as a breed and I know that there are plenty of examples of great family Staffies out there, I have a German Shepherd which is another breed that has had a reputation in the past and when I'm walking him you still hear comments from parents to children about how "fierce that big dog looks", truth is that he is castrated and has not an ounce of aggression in him.

Having said that I'm like HWS above in that I do not let him off the lead in public places simply because I got him at 18 months old from The Dogs Trust and although I've had him a year now I do not know him in the same way that I would if I'd had him from a puppy, he has had trauma in his early life and is still affected by that with panic attacks, so he stays on a long lead and probably always will - one thing that we have taught him in the past twelve months is not to bark at anything that passes the house or comes to the door, its un-necessary aggression and he is now totally calm when take-away food gets delivered or other strangers call - thats how it should be, you shouldn't own a dog for protection and shouldn't encourage them to be aggressive.

I feel desperately sorry for the OP as he passed on some contacts to me for Springers when we were looking for a replacement dog last year, to lose your dog like this must be terrible and I hope they can come to terms with the loss sometime in future.

Quote ="guess who"We have just had the most dreadful weekend of our life's. Here is a link telling what has happened to us. www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/n ... k_by_dogs/ The woman has been charged, but the dog which bit my child and ripped my dogs guts out is still with the owner. The police have no power to take it away. I am desperate to do something about this. I have never begged any one for anything in my life. But i am begging any of you who think you may be able to help me in any way. I want to do something about this. How do i go about getting a petition going/ How can i go about getting my PM do get involved in this?'" That's awful for you all, especially your daughter. If you know who your MP is just Google his / her name and you should get to their "website" and their email address. That's a start, perhaps with your link.I would guess that a proper letter may have more effect though, but would be less immediate. Is the identity of the "owner" of the dogs known and could the local 'paper name and shame them? Ask them to have their dogs put down due to their inability to control them? I don't know the law in this area but I would not just accept what the police say as they probably don't know either. Try to find out and see if there is an avenue to explore. It is not just dog on dog - your daughter was bitten and that could have been alot worse.

Quote ="guess who"We have just had the most dreadful weekend of our life's. Here is a link telling what has happened to us. www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/n ... k_by_dogs/ The woman has been charged, but the dog which bit my child and ripped my dogs guts out is still with the owner. The police have no power to take it away. I am desperate to do something about this. I have never begged any one for anything in my life. But i am begging any of you who think you may be able to help me in any way. I want to do something about this. How do i go about getting a petition going/ How can i go about getting my PM do get involved in this?'" That's awful for you all, especially your daughter. If you know who your MP is just Google his / her name and you should get to their "website" and their email address. That's a start, perhaps with your link.I would guess that a proper letter may have more effect though, but would be less immediate. Is the identity of the "owner" of the dogs known and could the local 'paper name and shame them? Ask them to have their dogs put down due to their inability to control them? I don't know the law in this area but I would not just accept what the police say as they probably don't know either. Try to find out and see if there is an avenue to explore. It is not just dog on dog - your daughter was bitten and that could have been alot worse.

About ten or twelve years ago, I was out walking our little terrier on a Saturday afternoon and he was attacked by an ex-Police dog. Being quite a large area with lots of trees etc, I didn't see the owner and dogs in the distance otherwise would've went for a walk elsewhere. The bloke sometimes used to take this dog and a smaller, more docile one, into the field over the road and it was always clear it should've been on a lead and muzzled due to the wild nature of it. Luckily it seems as if this dog was trained to stun, rather than all-out kill, as he picked ours up, getting nearly all of his middle in his mouth and shaking him about for what felt like an eternity. I was only around 12 and had never been so terrified in my entire life. The owner just stood there and waited for his dog to return, had no intention of giving the thing a kick in the ribs. We got him to the vets and the vet told us straight that he couldn't guarantee he would survive, let alone pull through the operation and other treatments required for his internal injuries. Vet reckons the little fella managed to shift himself round slightly before the German Shepherd plunged his teeth in and shook him, as it was only his ribcage that stopped him suffering fatal damage. All the owner of the dog that attacked said after it had happened was "he's up, he looks fine, don't worry about him", only after my dad gave him some rather strong words and also threatened to involve the police did he offer to cover all vet costs and our expenses, as we had to take him through to the vets about 10 miles away.

Makes my blood boil reading about things like this happening, sorry for the loss OP and for what you and your family had to experience.

Ours is a daft as a brush but still barks and growls at any strange footsteps he hears walking up the stairs to the flat and to be honest, I wouldn't have it any other way. Once he's been introduced to the "stranger" he's fine. So after the new postie has had a fright, thinking that there's some deranged hound at the other side of the door, the next time he calls, the dog just sits there wagging his tail.

He's even better when we're on an all-night fishing trip. Someone once asked if I wasn't scared of leaving £2k worth of fishing rods & reels just outside the tent, so I suggested he tried to take them away while we were asleep. He didn't get within 20' of the tent before the dog was snarling & growling and even though he had seen the dog the previous day, he confessed that there was no way he'd have gone any further.

The fact that the dog bit your daughter as well as destroying your property (your dog). Surely the owners can be held accountable for the dog's action's? It may be worth asking other dog owners in the park whether they have ever had any run in's with this dog. Being able to provide evidence that this isn't an isolated incident must help your cause.

Thankfully in over 20 years of owning dogs I've had very few incidents of note. Owning quite large dogs myself, a German Wire Haired Pointer and Munsterlander, probably spares them from quite a lot. The odd scuffle, but nothing more.

I hope this incident doesn't put you or your daughter off owning a dog again. I can't begin to imagine how traumatizing this experience must have been for your daughter.

Making a civil claim against the owner of a dog is a near impossibility.

As far as I am aware you have to show the dog had 'propensity' to attack other animals or human beings. In the absence of witness statements to that effect, it is virtually impossible to do.

You may be able to claim from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority if a human has suffered injury.

Would have thought that has already been demonstrated beyond any doubt.

No, it's not.


No, but you do have to satisfy the requirements of section 2(2) of the Animals Act 1971, and they have been confusing and defeating judges and lawyers for decades now. Why the fookin thing has never been repealed and re-enacted in at least some Earth language does beat me. I'm probably the only person who understands it, and even then only for about half an hour at a time, and then its gone



But on the limited info we have, I would say there is a decent chance of a claim. The question might be more whether it's worth making it, as (a) how do you find out who owns the dogs an (b) critically, is there any insurance policy that would pay out if a claim is successful?


No chance, because no crime of violence has been committed.

Re no crime of violence being committed. I have known people get compensation for psychological injuries.

Looks as though those involved have suffered some psychological injuries, and the girl suffered injury to her hand. Would this not be enough? (I seem to recall a £1000 threshold that you had to cross and that trivial injuries were not compensated).

I note the woman has been charged, presumably with having a dangerously out of control dog or something to that effect. Thus I guess an argument could be made, however spurious, that the OP did suffer as the result of a criminal act.

Such a sad tale , and I feel genuine pity for the family involved .Unfortunately these breeds of dog are becoming very popular as a status symbol among the chav fraternity , and thus such events are becoming more commonplace . There really is no need for such type of dog to be kept as a family pet . I wouldn't trust one with my kids . In fact I recently disposed of our Lhasa Apso , Tinkerbell ( AKA rat dog), because she bit my 5 yr old daughter . Dogs of any size can be dangerous , but breeds such as bull terriers can be lethally so .What kind of an eejit lets one run loose unmuzzled in a park ?

Me. I have a staffy cross who is more interested in chasing squirells then children. I only have them on extending leads in the Country Park because of rabbits. My staffy cross is not a status symbol and I don't agree with your "no need for such a dog to be a family pet" comment. What does that mean? We go through this every few years, it was once the GSD, then the Rottweiler, now the Staffy. I don't encourage my girl to "rough house", nor do I encourage her to play games where she has to nip/mouth. We have boundaries at home, she is allowed to go on the furniture and the bed, but if I tell her to move, she will do it instantly. She is not allowed to "harass" another dog, a quick sniff and if either dog initiates play then off they go and play. If either or one of the dogs isn't interested, I call her back and we go on our way.

I agree that any dogs can be dangerous, but to suggest bull terriers can be lethally so, so can Rottys, GSD's, Mastiffs etc etc just so happens the staffy is the "dog of the moment".

We need to end BSL (breed specific legislation) then innocent staffy and staffy crosses wouldn't get taken off the streets by a dog warden who was "just passing" (As shown on the One Show a few weeks ago).

And you can't have all bull breeds muzzeled either. That will make the situation worse. When a dog is muzzeled it can't defend itself, nor can they socialise properly so you will have lots of unsocialled dogs running lose which is ok in the park but not when the muzzle comes off at home.

The staffy is not called a nanny dog for nothing. It is the most loyal dog to its owner. IMO its the owners that need the training as well as the dog.

Time to reintroduce the dog licence, except based on the ability of the owner to control the dog rather than ability to pay.

If you have to show you're competent to own a car or a gun, why not a dog?

If it has the consequence of reducing demand for dogs and hurting the puppy farming industry in the pocket, even better.

I agree in principle but the problem with that Andy is every law abiding, responsible dog owner will comply (same if you make microchipping law) but I can't see every hoody wearing, gang member, chav complying. It will also be very hard to police.

In my opinion, you should be made to go on a 6 weeks training course when you get a dog. The breeder or rescue should only legally hand the dog over to you once you have the certificate to say you have completed the basic training course. I have even gone further than that, my two have passed their bronze Kennel Club Good Citizen Award and we would have gone on to do silver and gold had I not go too ill.

I agree more needs to be done about puppy farming. If no one bought a dog from them, they would disappear. We need more awareness about puppy farms and the dangers of buying a dog from them.

They just need to be more strict with the breeds people are allowed to breed and keep. There really is no need for dogs that have been specifically bred for aggression and violence to be permitted as pets. Kill them all. I just don't understand why anyone would want to own the pitbull/Staff type breeds anyway, given they are such a massive symbol of chav culture.

So you would ban the GSD because the police use them for agression and to stop criminals? Have you ever owned a bull breed? Obviously not. I didn't rescue my staffy cross because I am a chav, I rescued her because she was going to be put to sleep within hours because her 7 days were up at the pound. And I'm so glad I did because she is the most loyal and loving dog you've ever known.

Thanks for tarring us all with the same brush

I'm trying to help with a specific question in this specific case, not write a book on every possible aspect of the CIC scheme. If you want to go off-topic, if someone set an attack dog on me, intending that it attacked me, and whilst it didn't catch me, I suffered post traumatic stress, then technically I could claim, but that is because it would still have been a crime of violence.


Probably enough IF she could claim, but you only get to that once you qualify by having been the victim of violent crime.


But not that it was a crime of violence. As I said, it is not a question of a criminal act, but suffering a "crime of violence". So, if the dog had been deliberately set on the victim with the intent of causing her injury, yes, if not, no.