Girl lost leg in dog attack

I do not fully blame this dog, these kids were home alone while mum was at work , seems the dog tried to bolt and this girl trapped it in the door, seems to me the dog had been hurt and was acting in self defense, your thoughts please .

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/milly-anne-hemley-amazing-bravery-of-girl-1536646

Wow! Something was done to the dog for him to attack like that! Especially if he never shown any type of aggression before. Perhaps there was another animal outside and he wanted to get that and when she stopped him he might of thought it was the other animal?? Perhaps she had cornered him and he retaliated?? Why on earth would a mother leave her kids with a 15 year old in charge? Surely there should of been an adult there? As much as I love my dogs, I would never fully trust them around children as all it takes is a child to grab the dog in the wrong way and the rest is history. That's not just with staffs but with all animals!

Very sad, poor girl. Whilst I love my dog it does make you stop and think. You can see why they get such a bad press with stories like this.

I have MASSIVE respect for the little girl for keeping positive and how she has dealt with the whole situation. I grew up around dogs but I'd never have been allowed to be around the dogs on my own at that age. Overall it's a horrifying story.

Logan is around children from time to time and has been very good, but he will NEVER be around kids or anyone outside my family without me being there. Nothing to do with the fact that he is a Stafford, just because he is an animal and it's better to be safe than sorry.

Not good for the breed just shows what damage they can do. Feel sorry for the dog and the child

Shouldn't have been alone with a 15yr old in charge in the first place and I feel there's more to this story that's not being told.

Milly-Anne said Staffordshire bull terrier Rory grabbed her leg when she screamed as he tried to bolt through an open front door.

I know if Bailey went to run out the open front door and my 6yr old nephew screamed, Bailey would stop dead, with his ears down and come back in. He wouldn't turn and grab his leg!

Why was the kids home alone? I understand she has to work, but thats sillly.

that not even a staffy look like a TYPE to me

All dogs are capable of extreme violence even staffys i wish people would stop thinking they arnt ,Olly isnt aggresive but i would not leave him alone with kids.

harlou wrote:All dogs are capable of extreme violence even staffys i wish people would stop thinking they arnt ,Olly isnt aggresive but i would not leave him alone with kids.

who sating they aren't?

that dog is TYPE not staffordshire bull terrier

Why is it allways type, we all say it cos we love our dogs and defend the breed .

A very sad story. I can understand the mother's feeling of guilt. Despite the appearance of neglect, judging by the daughter's comments, this sounds like a decent family.

I have no idea why this happened, nor do I wish to challenge the story, but one thing occurs to me. In all cases of family dogs becoming violent, no-one ever admits that the dog has shown earlier signs of aggression. In all cases, the dog never showed any signs before and the conclusion is that it could happen to anyone's dog.

As a dog owner (and therefore a dog magnet), I have met some very unpleasant dogs (of no breed in particular) and I would be reluctant to leave a child anywhere near them. Yet dogs like these are never the ones who bite, if stories are to be entirely believed.

It's possible that I pick the wrong case to make this point, but I think it's worth mentioning.

TS06 wrote:A very sad story. I can understand the mother's feeling of guilt. Despite the appearance of neglect, judging by the daughter's comments, this sounds like a decent family.

I have no idea why this happened, nor do I wish to challenge the story, but one thing occurs to me. In all cases of family dogs becoming violent, no-one ever admits that the dog has shown earlier signs of aggression. In all cases, the dog never showed any signs before and the conclusion is that it could happen to anyone's dog.

As a dog owner (and therefore a dog magnet), I have met some very unpleasant dogs (of no breed in particular) and I would be reluctant to leave a child anywhere near them. Yet dogs like these are never the ones who bite, if stories are to be entirely believed.

It's possible that I pick the wrong case to make this point, but I think it's worth mentioning.

Excellent point well put.

TS06 wrote:A very sad story. I can understand the mother's feeling of guilt. Despite the appearance of neglect, judging by the daughter's comments, this sounds like a decent family.

I have no idea why this happened, nor do I wish to challenge the story, but one thing occurs to me. In all cases of family dogs becoming violent, no-one ever admits that the dog has shown earlier signs of aggression. In all cases, the dog never showed any signs before and the conclusion is that it could happen to anyone's dog.

As a dog owner (and therefore a dog magnet), I have met some very unpleasant dogs (of no breed in particular) and I would be reluctant to leave a child anywhere near them. Yet dogs like these are never the ones who bite, if stories are to be entirely believed.

It's possible that I pick the wrong case to make this point, but I think it's worth mentioning.

They are the ones who show their aggression very openly, so people be aware. Staffies are more suttle, a lick of the lips, and dip of the head or trying to bolt can all be signs that the dog is very upset. People who don't know anything about dogs would not realise this and think that an aggressive dog will bark or snarl at you, which is not true. That is why these things happen, cause people get powerful but allbeit stressy dogs and have them in a small house with kids running around unsupervised. The poor dog probably had no peace

Also to add to steve, that is no a staffy at all. that is for sure a type, so god know where it came from under what type of breeding

Hayley wrote:

TS06 wrote:A very sad story. I can understand the mother's feeling of guilt. Despite the appearance of neglect, judging by the daughter's comments, this sounds like a decent family.

I have no idea why this happened, nor do I wish to challenge the story, but one thing occurs to me. In all cases of family dogs becoming violent, no-one ever admits that the dog has shown earlier signs of aggression. In all cases, the dog never showed any signs before and the conclusion is that it could happen to anyone's dog.

As a dog owner (and therefore a dog magnet), I have met some very unpleasant dogs (of no breed in particular) and I would be reluctant to leave a child anywhere near them. Yet dogs like these are never the ones who bite, if stories are to be entirely believed.

It's possible that I pick the wrong case to make this point, but I think it's worth mentioning.

They are the ones who show their aggression very openly, so people be aware. Staffies are more suttle, a lick of the lips, and dip of the head or trying to bolt can all be signs that the dog is very upset. People who don't know anything about dogs would not realise this and think that an aggressive dog will bark or snarl at you, which is not true. That is why these things happen, cause people get powerful but allbeit stressy dogs and have them in a small house with kids running around unsupervised. The poor dog probably had no peace

We don’t know what happened here. You may be right, some subtle (bully breed) frustration signs could have been missed. This could well explain some other incidents. Fortunately for us, not all dogs who attack in the home are from this group.

On the other hand, anyone who has noticed earlier signs of aggression, whether subtle or overt (and has done nothing about it) can't admit this after an attack. To do so, would mean they were entirely responsible for the gory incident, maybe even criminally negligent. It’s easier just to shrug it off and say that the attack came out of nowhere. Since we can’t know the dog’s side of the story, there’s no evidence that it’s not true

Hayley wrote:Also to add to steve, that is no a staffy at all. that is for sure a type, so god know where it came from under what type of breeding

Absolutely. The media (and the public) just throw out any breed name they wish and, if the breed has had bad publicity (whether justified or not), it's just accepted as being true.

Maybe if people like us keep trying to educate the public about Staffies, then in future, journalists will think twice before playing the stereotype game

All dogs have the power to snap, just some more extensive. I haven't got kids, but my heart goes out to them, a hard lesson learnt that even though you trust them implicitly, accidents happen.

Hayley wrote:Why was the kids home alone? I understand she has to work, but thats sillly.

I have to stick up for the woman here i have 2 kids and from the age of 13 my 2 kids have been left at home alone whilst i have had to work but and a very big but they have been brought up around dogs and have had it drummed into them not to grab the dogs (at first we had 2 very big gsds)
Its a sad story and as usual we will never hear the full truth i feel sorry for the girl and for the dog as even though i have had a dog aggressive dog (buster at the moment) and in certan situations he can be nervous he has never gone to the level that that dog must have gone to.
I have however seen a pit become over zellous and have to be hit with a baseball bat before it let go but even that dog didnt manage to cause as much harm (he was one that was siezed by police when the ban first came into place)
We all know dogs, any dogs are animals and they can be unpredictable no matter what breed