ANOTHER DOG ATTACK

        Yet another child’s life lost as a result of a dog attack. The latest is a baby only days old, attacked in its home by a huge dog, an Alaskan Malamute. This breed was originally bred to pull sleds in the arctic region. The males can grow to just under 40 kilos. The breed are reputed to be fond of people and children making them ideal house dogs. They bond quickly with their owners are intelligent but can sometimes be difficult to train. They are great with children old enough to play with them.
So what went wrong? Reading more into the story it turns out this particular dog was ‘acquired’ by it’s owner from someone in a pub. The previous owner was going to have it put down, and the new owner was a dog lover and no doubt thought he was doing the right thing by saving it from being put to sleep. There is no information on why the previous owner was considering having it put down. Was it being ill-treated ? Had it already bitten? Did the new owner get a full history of the animal before he decided to take it? All of these questions are being asked in the various papers that you read. But I don’t see any of the papers asking what in my mind is the most important question. What was the dog doing in the room with the baby on its own? Where were the mother and father when the attack happened? No matter how well you think your dog behaves, under no circumstances should ANY dog be left in the presence of children without adequate adult supervision. ANY dog is capable of biting, they all have teeth, if pushed to their limit. I am becoming more and more worried that these ‘attacks’ are now a popular news worthy item. Is the underlying trend that the amount of attacks are on the increase? Or are they just being reported more? I don’t know the answer to that I would love to find out. One attack is too many, but I am concerned that with all the media attention these incidents are being given, we might see a knee jerk reaction which affects all dogs and their owners. Up in Scotland we have the countries leading newspaper embarking on a media campaign called ‘dangerous dogs’. Politicians read these papers and assume that this is what the voters want. Newspapers are very influential in getting people to change their attitudes to things. I fear what these politicians are talking about right now, about how to deal with this issue which is on the front pages out our newspapers.
Lets not forget we domesticated these animals decades ago. They are an integral part of our society. They not only provide companionship to many millions of people throughout the land but they provide many functions to professional people also.
Professionals whose job could not be done without dogs. Search and rescue, helping the disabled, working in the forces home and abroad. Putting their lives on the line for their human counter parts. Lets not forget also the contribution dogs are making in health care where they are being trained to identify early signs of seizures and the like. We cannot exist without dogs nor should we. But we have to start learning to understand them more. Understand basic things like their needs. If we continue to ignore a dogs basic needs and not understand what motivates and drives them we will continue to run into conflict. Only through proper socialisation at the earliest age and proper training throughout its life can we hope to coexist without future incidents like the latest tragedy which occurred this week. Its up to us, the dogs can’t do it for us. We need to take the initiative here. We owe to them to try.

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