SO ANGRY

So yesterday me and my friend take our boys for their afternoon walk (she has EBT Bam, 7 mths ). at the end of the walk when we were litrally about to exit the park came what looked like a pit bull, ( or had been crossed to make him look like one with his ears cropped ). The dog came out of nowhere grabbed hold of Bam's throat and just wouldn't let go, we screamed for the owner who came running round the corner it was a young girl who also couldn't call him off so she resorted in hitting him with his lead!!. By this point Gordon was growling at the dog prob because it was attacking his friend so the dog turned and ran at Gordon, ( by the way both our boys were on their leads ) but before the dog could grab him Gordon grabbed his face and pinned him to the ground, so the girl then hit Gordon with her lead telling me to get my effing dog off hers!! which I managed to do, she grabbed her dog but still looked like she couldn't control him so we ran from the park.( I know it sounds like a lot happened but it was litrally a matter of about a minute or two ). We called the police and took Bam to the vets where he had to be sedated and his wounds flushed, the vet explained that when they flushed his wounds it had gone in one hole and out the other, hes now on a course of antibiotics with stitches in his neck. Gordon has no injuries but last night and today he has become really clingy around me. Sorry for the long post i'm just so bloody angry not at the dog but the owner, it has been going round my mind all day. The police say she is known to them and we will here more tomorrow, but my dilemma is that if we prosecute the dog will be PTS which is not what I want ( although at the moment I could quite happily stick the needle in the owners arm). If I thought they were responsible owners and this was an accident I would be more than happy for them to agree to keep their dog on a lead at all times, but I really don't think they are, they want a status dog that they don't give a s**t about. Again sorry about long post just needed to vent.

So sorry to hear about this, it must have been awful, not just for you but for the staffies too.
Its a difficult one as you have said you don't want the 'pit bull' to be put to sleep but at the same time the girl needs to be prosecuted. It sounds like the owner is just not deserving to have such a dog. As always the problem is on the other end of the lead.

I hope everything gets sorted though and rather the dog gets proper training/help and the owners are banned for life. *chance be a fine thing*

Any incident like this shakes you up. Wonder weather conditions would be better than taking the dog away to who knows what fate. Training and a muzzle could be an option.

Feel free to rant as much as you need Tracy.

ahh Tracy so sorry you and your friend had to go through this,you have every right to come and have a rant glad Gordon is ok and your friends dog heals soon,when our sash was attacked a couple of years ago our vet asked if we had reported it to the police,i like you did'nt like the thought of the dog being pts(it was another staffy)and the vet told me one attack would'nt do that.but if the owner and dog that attacked your friends are already known to the police it might be a different matter.

Gosh so upsetting, i dont understand if someone has a dog like that (i mean a dog that bites others) why don't they have them on a lead esp in a park  Owners can be so stupid sometimes, so sorry about about your friends dog poor thing. Hope your boy is ok too.

That's awful. The poor pup, what a horrid thing to happen to them. Well done Gordon for giving them a bit back. A similar thing has happened to my sister recently with her guide dog in Portsmouth, two teen girls and a dog off the lead with a muzzle just dangling and it attacked her guide dog Libby and wouldn't let go of her neck. Her husband kicked it and then it bit him. The two teens just stood there saying "Poppy Poppy".They've reported it to the Police and so should you. As awful as it was though try to calm down and get back to normal asap as your dogs will be sensitive to your stress etc. My sister says she's scared to walk Libby now and her husband walks ahead of her to look first. Libby's eight now and she'd like to get a GSD as her next guide dog. Give Gordon and Bam a pat from us please. All the best, Ian and Stan.

if the dogs known to police i think the very last resort the dog being pts the dog might have to be leashed and muzzled at all times. glad the dogs are ok

Oh boy that's awful I hope your boys are okay and recovering well. How is Bam and Gordon today?

What a useless owner she should have had her dog under control and sorry but hitting it with a lead while it's in the height of excitement, obviously she knew nothing.

She's lucky Bam isn't at full maturity, most EBT's I know would have dealt with that dog in seconds, they are very agile and very fast, no match of any other breed.

I hope your boys are okay and recovering well.

So sorry to hear this

Realistically if it is reported as being 'type' and has complaints against it then the dog will likely be seized for assessment if found to be 'type' then in many cases if it passes a temperament test then it could be released back with the muzzle, tattoo, registered, insured restrictions however that all depends on the owner being deemed responsible if she is already 'known' then it is likely that the dog will not be released back to her and therefore unable to rehome and pts. 

I know this is a tough thought for us responsible owners and dog lovers however on the flip side if she is hitting it and other dogs with the lead in public no doubt similar is happening at home and sad to say with her lack of control it could be a matter of time before it kills another dog and or seriously injures an owner.

Hi thanks for the replies, I saw Bam yesterday and he seemed much better, he is allowed out tomorrow on lead walks because of the stitches so were going to meet up and get things back on track with his socializing. OH has been off today so taken Gordon for walks, but I took him yesterday and I was so nervous about the way Gordon would react to other dogs, we met a couple of small dogs and he was ok. As for the other owner we are going to prosecute, Jules your right god knows what the dogs home life is like it makes me so sad/angry, but the flip side is it would be awful if the same thing happened again and it killed a dog. Ian i'm so sorry about your sister's dog it really does shake you up, I hope she soon feels more confident about taking libby out again, thanks again for your support

Tracy that's just awful. It once again comes down to responsible dog owners and how they are brought up. It's no wonder Gordon is very clingy at the moment, it must have been an awful experience for both of you.
The main thing is Bam will recover, it sounds like it could have been so much worse so thank god it wasn't.
I completely agree with Jules' comment above about her hitting the dog with a lead. She could be doing that at home and no wonder it is attacking other dogs if that's the way it has been brought up.
Give Gordon a big cuddle from us.
Paul & Cooper

Thanks Tracy, right back at ya baby!

Ai the lead thing is a raw subject for me, Ledger would always (and still does at times) attack the lead and I put 2 + 2 together with the lead clip sized scar on his nose that in one of his previous homes he had been hit (I know the last owner had dragged him off the sofa by the collar and were shocked when he bit them!) despite being with me for nearly 4 years now it hit home the other week when I'd picked up the lead in my hand ready for a walk and at the same time caught something knocking it off the table and just said 'oh f...' And Ledger just cowered back against the wall staring at the lead! To say I was devastated was an understatement

Ai the lead thing is a raw subject for me, Ledger would always (and still does at times) attack the lead and I put 2 + 2 together with the lead clip sized scar on his nose that in one of his previous homes he had been hit (I know the last owner had dragged him off the sofa by the collar and were shocked when he bit them!) despite being with me for nearly 4 years now it hit home the other week when I'd picked up the lead in my hand ready for a walk and at the same time caught something knocking it off the table and just said 'oh f...' And Ledger just cowered back against the wall staring at the lead! To say I was devastated was an understatement

That's so sad I would love to get my hands on some of these people to be honest, see how they like it!

What an awful experience for you and the dogs, especially Bam. A huge relief that everyone's ok.

I know the decision to prosecute is hard for you, with the future of the other dog hanging in the balance, but the consequences to others of having it in the hands of such an irresponsible owner are potentially lethal, not only to another dog but also to a human. Can you imagine what might happen if there is a young child involved, who maybe shrieked with fright, causing the dog to attack the child instead?

To be honest, any which way you look at it, this dog will end up in the hands of the police at some point and by that happening now you are probably saving others from injury or worse. It's much more likely to end happily for the dog with that intervention being sooner rather than later.

Glad you are going to prosecute; as others have said better to stop it happening to anyone else. Hope the pups soon recover.

Jules that's so sad about Ledger why the hell people get dogs to treat them badly is beyond me, thank god he's got a lovely home with you now. Debs I with you on giving some of the owners a taste of their own medicine. Thanks for the well wishes for Gordon and Bam i'm sure they will be back to their naughty self's soon xx

So sorry you had to go through this and your poor doggies. I think you are doing the right thing prosecuting as others have said,, who knows what it could do to another dog if something isnt done. Such a shame for a dog to be turned into a menace by stupid owners, I hope she is banned from keeping dogs.

So sorry to hear about this I hope they're both ok and your friends socialising isn't out the window!

Just the other day there was a young teen girl walking two staffies in the park! One fully grown and one puppy and the adult one wasn't friendly. She couldn't have been any older than 14 and could barely hold on to them when near other dogs as one was trying to attack and the pup trying to play!

That's ridiculous Emma, what were the kids parents thinking of !

I have no idea what goes through the minds of these people. If dogs attack people they get put down and the owners most of the time get a slap on the wrist, it's so unfair on the poor dogs as that's the way they have been brought up. Something needs to change and quickly.

Only a bad workman blames his tools as they say.

I hope you and your friend and your dogs are okay, I hope bam heals well, I hate when things like this happen I get really angry too, hope your okay