When dogs attack, blame the owners

THERE is no doubt in Bill Parker's mind who is responsible when a dog goes out of control and savages a child. It is not the dog who should be blamed- it is the owner.

Some owners have no idea of how to look after their animal, according to the Selby Dog Warden, who adds: "And if a dog doesn't receive any guidance as to what it is supposed to do, it does what its natural instincts tell it to do."

Dogs are hunting animals, descended from wolves. And what their natural instincts tell them to do, especially when threatened, is bark or growl and then bite.

York mum Jackie Robson agrees that when that does happen, the owner is at least as much to blame as the dog itself.

Jackie's 15-year-old daughter Kirsty had to be rushed to hospital on Christmas Eve after being bitten on the hand (see panel on the right).

But it is the dog's owner Jackie is angry with - and not only because he walked away after the incident. She believes he should be held responsible for the way his pet behaved.

"I think a lot of it is how dogs have been handled and brought up since they were puppies," she says.

The debate over just how dangerous dogs can be has been reignited following the death of five-year-old Ellie Lawrenson, who was mauled by a pit bull terrier-type dog in the early hours of New Year's Day.

Ellie was staying at her grandmother's house in St Helens, Merseyside, when she was attacked by the dog.

She died of severe head and neck injuries and her grandmother, 46-year-old Jackie Simpson, needed emergency surgery for arm injuries.

The dog was shot at the scene by police marksmen.

Investigators from Merseyside Police and St Helens Council are trying to determine whether the dog was a pure breed pit bull, which would make its owner legally to blame for the attack under the 1991 Dangerous Dogs Act.

Under the Act, it is illegal to own or breed American pit bull terriers or three other breeds of fighting dog - the Japanese Tosa, Dogo Argentino and Fila Brazileiro - in the UK without the permission of a court.

But despite the 1991 legislation, there are still far too many cases of dogs attacking people - often children. So does more need to be done to tighten up the law?

For most breeds of dog it is no longer even necessary to have a licence, points out Paul Stilgoe, RSPCA Chief Inspector in North Yorkshire. Anyone can keep a dog, of almost any breed, without needing to register it or undergo any training in how to look after it.

Owners of any dog which attacks or savages another person can be charged with owning a dog which is out of control.

In theory, their pet can be seized and the owners can face a fine or up to six months in prison - or up to two years if the dog injures someone.

That still doesn't stop there being far too many irresponsible owners, Paul says. Some young men seem to take a macho delight in being the owners of large, aggressive dogs that only they can control, he says.

There is no excuse for such behaviour. Dogs can be trained as guard dogs - if that is why you keep an animal - without having to be overly vicious, Paul says.

Deliberately training an animal to be aggressive is hugely irresponsible. "Nobody is ever going to be with their dog 24/7. People need to think about what might happen if their dog gets out."

Paul would like to see some changes to the law on dog ownership.

The RSPCA has been campaigning for years to make it compulsory for dogs to be registered and to have ID microchips fitted, he says.

"Then, if it was caught, a dog could be scanned and we would know who had responsibility for it," he says.

But above all, the tragic case of Ellie Lawrenson underlines how vital it is that a dog is properly trained from the outset, he says.

Taking your dog to training classes is as much about training yourself as your pet, Paul says.

"Dogs do bring a lot of companionship and happiness and enrichment to people's lives," he said. "They are very good pets - they always have been and they always will be. But people do need to learn how to look after them."

Bill Parker believes it should be compulsory for anyone who acquires a dog to attend dog-training classes with their pet.

That would enable them both to understand their dog's behaviour, and learn to control it properly, he says.

"You have to have a licence and get properly retrained before you can drive a car," he says. "It is my personal point of view, but I think people should be licensed to keep a dog, and that should involve training."

Paul Stilgoe does not believe attending training courses should be compulsory for dog owners.

It should be a moral requirement, not a legal one, he says.

But he strongly recommends that new owners of a dog should attend training classes with their pet - and take all the members of their family along too.

Owners have to learn how to look after their pets - and dogs have to learn what is and is not acceptable behaviour, he says.

Joyce Hopper, of the York Dog Training Centre, agrees.

Dogs are pack animals, Joyce says - and their human family becomes their pack.

It is vital that they learn, from being a puppy, what their status is within their human pack - ie that they are "at the bottom of the pile".

That is why it is important, where possible and especially when the dog is a puppy, for children to attend training sessions as well, she says - so that they can learn to dominate their pet.

"The dog has to know it is at the bottom of the pecking order," she says. "If a dog thinks it is higher up the pecking order than a child, it will, in effect, bully that child."

Proper training will enable every member of the family to control their pet - and will also inhibit a dog from biting, Joyce says.

It doesn't need to be done by using lots of slapping or physical punishment.

When done properly, the right, dominant tone of voice and body language should be sufficient.

The key, as with teaching young children how to behave, is to be firm and consistent. "The dog has got to know what will happen," she says.

York Dog Training Centre runs courses for puppies and for young dogs aged 5-6 months and older. To find out more, call 01904 481535.

Owners must be responsible, says mum of dog-bite victim

ONE York family has experienced the trauma that can be caused by unpredictable dogs.

Kirsty Robson, 15, of Acomb, was rushed to hospital on Christmas Eve after being attacked by a terrier while walking the family pet, Libby.

Two terriers set on Libby and when Kirsty tried to pick her up, one of them bit her finger.

Her mum, Jackie, said the dogs' owner then came over, put the dogs back on the lead and left.

At first Kirsty thought the dog had bitten her fingertip off, but X-rays revealed the tip of the finger bone had snapped off the rest of the bone.

Her wound is now healing, but Jackie is still angry about the dog owner's reaction.

"If you see somebody fall in the street you go over and that wouldn't be your responsibility," she said. "That was his responsibility and he just walked off."

It's difficult to blame solely the dog or the owner, but she believes the owner should shoulder much of the responsibility.

She accepts some dogs act out of character, but says most behaviour depends on a dog's upbringing.

"I think a lot of it is how they have been handled and brought up since they were puppies," she said.

"I've never had any issues with Libby (a two-year-old mongrel). "She has been brought up around children and she's a very placid dog."

Training could help, she says, but problems could arise with dogs who weren't used to other animals.

Tighter rules should be in place to help her trace the dogs' owner, she believes, but she is angry that the owner of the dog that bit her daughter walked away.

"Morally, he should have stayed to help."

Dangerous Dogs Act 1991

THE Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 was introduced following a spate of vicious attacks on young children by pit bull terriers in the early 1990s.

It involved strict guidelines for owners - and set rules about how their dogs should behave in public.

The act singled out four fighting-dog breeds in particular - pit bull terriers, right, Japanese Tosa, Dogo Argentino and Fila Brazileiro. It was made illegal to own or breed any of these in the UK without the permission of a court.

Any such dogs kept legally in the UK must be on a lead and muzzled when out in public, and must have an identification microchip implanted. They must also be registered and insured.

The act also created a new offence of being the owner of a dog of any breed which is dangerously out of control. Such dogs can be seized by the authorities and owners can face a fine or up to six months in prison - or up to two years if the dog injures someone.