Perhaps you saw this report a few years ago about a UNO survey:

“A UNITED Nations report has labelled Scotland the most violent country in the developed world, with people three times more likely to be assaulted than in America. England and Wales recorded the second highest number of violent assaults while Northern Ireland recorded the fewest.”
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1786945,00.html

smarock10@yahoo.com

However, many dog owners are not aware their dogs can have a negative effect on people. Even though, I am not scared of dogs, but I am always weary of walking past one, especially if it a breed that looks a dangerous like the one in your photo. Certainly, I don’t like seing dogs on their own or far from their owners.

Perhaps, your dog club your encourage owners to recall their dogs when they head towards people….

Not ban them, but we do need tougher enforcement on tailgating.

Recently saw a BMW doing 10mph in a 70 zone – it was an open road with no traffic and the poor sod was confused as he had nobody to tailgate.

Agree with this thread, DDA needs abolishing, and replaced with better laws on animal cruelty with tougher punishments, including life bans on ownership for repeat offenders. Its the owners that are the problem.

“Substitute Lion, or Tiger for the word dog and would the author be happy to have people keeping Lions next to his house. I don’t blame the dog, just in the same way I would not blame the Lion.”

I missed this comment the first time round. It is so so stupid to make comparisons of Tigers and Lions to domesticated dog breeds. Especially when the domesticated dog breeds we are usually talking about, like the Pit Bull Terriers, have historically been bred to be very human friendly. Sally there are 10s of thousands of dogs that fit into a Pit Bull phenotype in apartments and houses in the UK that never bite anybody. There are not (unless you want to prove otherwise) 10s of thousands of Lions and Tigers living in apartments and houses in the UK. So how can you even think that is serious comparison?

“I guess if you had a kid, and that kid had been mauled to death by a dog, you might feel differently on the matter.”

For anybody to take your comment seriously they should FIRST consider what chances there are of a child being killed by a dog in the first place. You see in reality children are much more likely to be killed on roads in cars or bikes or even at home in bathtubs. So if you choose to IGNORE the multitudes of other things which are much more likely to kill children, then you DON’T even have a sincere argument if you think banning dogs is going to save children.

Blanc would you mind passing our joint good idea onto Kit Milkshake for consideration.

smarock10@yahoo.com

17. soru – “But what if some mad scientist created a breed of pit bull that can use a machine gun?”

That’s nothing, wait until they have frikken laser beams on their heads.

Sally, I would be perfectly happy to live next to people keeping lions or tigers. If they were responsible owners.

39. Blanco – “I think the use of dogs as weapons by gangland thugs is a good argument for some action to at least control the sale.”

Really? I hear they also like low-slung trousers and BMWs. Let’s ban them too. I am sick and tired of laws that impose undue burdens on law abiding people. If gangland thugs are the problem then let’s jail more gangland thugs. Why do the rest of us have any case to answer at all? Frankly I can’t stand pit bulls, but my sister-in-law used to raise them and I don’t see her selling crack on the corner. Nor do I see why I can’t own one if I want. It is not as if leaving the gangland thugs out but taking away their dogs is going to make them decent people.

“Not all dog-wielders are grumpy late-30s middle class feministas who love their doggy-woggies and wouldn’t ever let their little diddums maul a human being.”

Yeah but so what? Salt of the Earth, grumpy, middle-class, middle aged feministas who love their doggie woggies.

@26: “Substitute Lion, or Tiger for the word dog and would the author be happy to have people keeping Lions next to his house.”

I hope this helps with comparisons:

“An annual profile on homicide offences, to be published [in January 2009], will show there were 784 victims of murder, manslaughter and infanticide in England and Wales in 2007/08. That is a three per cent increase on the 759 offences the year before and up five per cent on the 748 committed in 1997/98.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/lawandorder/4273125/Murder-and-manslaughter-rate-increasing.html

On crimes of violence, the results of an international study by the UN were reported in 2005:

“A UNITED Nations report has labelled Scotland the most violent country in the developed world, with people three times more likely to be assaulted than in America. England and Wales recorded the second highest number of violent assaults while Northern Ireland recorded the fewest.”
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1786945,00.html

I’m told that lions can be tamed though few believe lions can as a rule be kept safely as domestic pets without strict regulation. But try this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNv2A4Kfx4k&feature=related

There is a tiny minority, frequently grouped in more deprived areas but not exclusively so, who treat their dogs badly and encourage them to fight.

Dogs are a domesticated species, and will take their lead from the ‘pack leader’, their owner. If the owner is an areshole and encourages them to be aggressive, they’ll be aggressive.

But as part of their domestication, many many dogs are instinctively protective of humans generally and children specifically. It takes specific human action to condition a dog to be dangerous to humans.

When Jennie had a dog set on her by a BNP tattoed thug, that didn’t change her opinion of her own pet dogs, it was the thug that was to blame, and probably ought to be subject to restrictions on dow ownership. The exact same breed of dog is kept by a neighbour across the street, and that dog is lovely and gets on well with ours.

Regardless of whether you want to ban all dogs or not, it’s a political impossibility within a democracy–sensible legislation that actual deals with the minority of dangerous animals (and their owners) is what is needed; Kate’s completely right on that score.

Not all dog-wielders are grumpy late-30s middle class feministas who love their doggy-woggies and wouldn’t ever let their little diddums maul a human being.

The word ‘politics’ is derived from the word ‘poly’, meaning ‘many’, and the word ‘ticks’, meaning ‘blood sucking parasites’.
Larry Hardiman

smarock1o@yahoo.com

“EVIL CAN ONLY SUCCEED WHEN DECENT HUMAN BEINGS DO NOTHING”-Edwin Burke

“Tough looking dog” is normally only a problem, however, with an abusive owner. We can assume that our predecessors owned tame dogs before they painted on cave walls.

Alas, there are lunatic dogs, owing to genes, that need to be put down. Owing to inbreeding, there are examples of traditionally placid breeds that cannot serve as family pets.