No such thing as a dangerous dog

Today saw the happy return of one of my favourite little clients, a small Yorkshire terrier called D. D was a fairly regular client of 4Paws along with his 'sister' B until earlier this year. Tragedy struck when D and B were being walked on Hampstead Heath, near the South End Green fair ground site. Out of the blue the dogs were attacked by a staffie/mastiff cross and poor B was mauled to death. The killer dog was being walked by a couple of youths who fled with their dogs after the attack. That's right, once their dog had savaged another in an unprovoked attack they turned around and left it to die. Despicable.


Despite D & B's owners' best efforts the owners and dogs responsible for this attack have not been brought to justice. After all they don't care, nor apparently do the police. Today was D's first day of daycare since the attack and he brought with him his new baby sister 'G' a beautiful 5 month old Yorkie.


But this sad tale isn't over . A few weeks ago G and D were once again attacked by a pair of staffie/mastiff crosses on Hampstead Heath. This time on the tree lined avenue leading from East Heath Road, just near the water fountain. At the time of the attack G weighed just 1.5 kilos, she was set upon by a much larger dog who made a beeline for her. Despite the dog wearing a muzzle G suffered serious injuries, her eye was prolapsed and it was feared she might lose the sight in it. However, after several weeks of hospital treatment G is doing really well and we were happy to meet her properly today.


When B was attacked I offered my sympathies to the owners and tried to reassure them by saying it was an unlucky, one in a million event. Yet less than 6 months later the very same thing happened in the same place. Despite living only five minutes from some of the most beautiful outdoor space London has to offer D's owners will no longer walk him and G on Hampstead Heath, and who can blame them?


Such attacks are clearly not random or isolated, if you ask dog walkers on the Heath all know of someone who has had a dog recently attacked. Almost without exception these dogs have been attacked by staffie/mastiff mixes and Rottweilers. 


It is outrageous that such a large dog walking community should live in fear of these animals. Just the other day I met a man with a young staffie that was being walked off the lead and without a collar. I asked myself how he expected to control the dog should a dangerous situation present itself. Similarly there is an owner who is now being avoided as he has an out of control young staffie and an older rescue Rottie. Too many people who have seen the animals 'at play' have mentioned that this pair are an accident waiting to happen. 


We in the UK are known to be animal lovers yet it appears to be a twisted combination of naivete and political correctness that allows dangerous dogs to walk the street leaving death and destruction in their wake. Far too many people hold staffies up as loyal and friendly dogs yet they are the number one animal killer on our streets and their presence has left many dog owners terrified. 


Staffordshire Bull Terriers were bred to fight and kill, they have a strong prey drive and tend to be very dog aggressive. Anybody who tells you otherwise is lying. Yes, there are some that are lovely but I would never trust one not to turn, it is in their nature. I don't judge the staffies for being like this anymore than I judge a lion for killing its prey. I lay the blame at the feet of a society that is burying its head in the sand and is unwilling to accept that we really have created a monster.


Mainly, however, I feel sad, sad that so many of these dogs are being bred, sad that they are being used as a status symbol and encouraged to fight, sad for the hundreds of pet owners (myself included) who have suffered the heartache of having their pet savaged by someone else's, sad for every dog who is killed unnecessarily, sad for the scarred and traumatised survivors like Dulce and Gigi, and sad that so many of these killer dogs end up being euthanised.


This problem is already out of hand. I, like many other small dog owners, no longer walk my dog in the local parks of Islington, nor on the streets near my home. Why? because I can guarantee that I will see staffie after staffie, many of them without leads or even collars and I don't want to have my dog dicing with death. 


Did I mention that there's apparently no such thing as a dangerous dog?

Woman arrested over dog fighting

The following article was published in The Times on September 9th:

A leading member of one of England’s biggest dog-fighting gangs, which had links with Northern Irish paramilitaries, wanted to become the Don King of the pitbull training world, a court was told yesterday.

Gary Adamson, 38, trained his illegally owned dogs on treadmills to compete in fights around Britain and attended “conventions” in Finland where severely injured animals had clips fastened to their ears and were electrocuted.

The harrowing accounts and secretly filmed footage of cruel treatment emerged at the start of a two-week trial at Lincoln Magistrates’ Court.

During a series of raids by the RSPCA, after an undercover investigation by a former SAS operative, it emerged that gang members also made pitbulls train in swimming tanks or by attacking “lunge poles” with dummies hanging from them to maximise the animals’ aggression.

The RSPCA raids also seized “break sticks” for parting the animals once their jaws had locked on to others, and veterinary products to treat animals injured in makeshift fight pits.

Five people, including Adamson, a welder from Yarm, North Yorkshire, have admitted a series of dog-fighting offences under the Dangerous Dogs and Animal Welfare Acts. They face jail terms of up to six months and fines of £20,000.

Claire Parker, 44, a mother of three from Kexby, Lincolnshire, was also in court yesterday. She denied being present at a dog fight, keeping premises for fights and owning three pitbulls. The breed is banned in Britain.

Mohammed Nasir Farooq, 33, from Birmingham, denied involvement in a dogfight, causing unnecessary suffering to a pitbull and possessing equipment associated with dog fights.

The RSPCA brought the case after Steve Ibinson, an undercover investigator and former SAS member, infiltrated a dog-fighting gang called the Farmer Boys, with alleged paramilitary links in Northern Ireland, for a BBC Panorama programme.

Mr Ibinson went on to uncover a series of links between that gang and dog-fighting criminals in England. Only now can his identity be revealed. He died of natural causes earlier this year while serving as a security guard in Afghanistan.

The court heard that after a fight at Mrs Parker’s garage, Adamson’s dog, Pablo, was so badly scarred that it appeared to have had a shotgun fired in its face. In secretly recorded video footage, Adamson is shown standing next to three reinforced pens in his yard, boasting that Pablo suffered a “real good ragging” during a 26-minute fight for a £500 prize.

The dog appears nervous as Adamson lifts it at one point by the collar to show numerous white facial scars, a badly torn ear and some wounds stapled up. The animal lost the fight and is thought to have died from its injuries, the court heard.

Mr Ibinson said in a recorded statement that Adamson was the representative of northeast England of the Farmers Boys, from Co Armagh, and aspired to be to pitbull fighting what Don King was to boxing.

Adamson was shown explaining that he wanted to make Pablo train in a swimming tank. At one point he grinned as he said that his mother was a member of the RSPCA, while was a badger-baiter.

Mr Ibinson said that he travelled with Adamson to Finland where they watched “conventions”, or dog fights, one of which resulted in a severely injured animal being electrocuted.

Michael Shorrock, QC, for the prosecution, said that RSPCA officers seized treadmills, break sticks and veterinary products at the house where Mrs Parker lived with her children and her late husband John, known as “Odd Ball”, a convicted dog fighter who died in prison.

Mr Shorrock rejected her suggestion that she was unaware of what took place in the garage.

The case continues.

A street status symbol

Two thirds of all dog fighting reports received by the RSPCA are directly connected to young men and women using their dogs as “weapons” in streets and parks

Animal welfare officers have reported horrific stab wounds, broken bones and cigarette burns to the dogs’ heads

In 2007 37 per cent of calls to the RSPCA about dog fighting related to instances where youths were “fighting” their animals outside. Last year that figure rose to 66 per cent

London has emerged as a hotspot. The Metropolitan Police seized 38 dogs under the Dangerous Dogs Act between April 2004 and April 2005. Between April 2007 and April 2008 officers seized 719

BBC3 - my weapon is a dog

Last night there was a great programme on BBC3 which dealt with the phenomenon of 'dangerous' dogs being used as weapons. If you have the time to watch it then please do, it's very pertinent not only to this blog but to the situation with dogs in cities more generally.

There's still time to watch the programme both on iPlayer and over the next few days when it is shown at the following times:

1. Thu 21 May 2009
   21:00
   BBC Three
2. Fri 22 May 2009
   00:15
   BBC Three
3. Sun 24 May 2009
   00:05
   BBC Three
4. Sun 24 May 2009
   04:05
   BBC Three
5. Mon 25 May 2009
   00:15
   BBC Three
6. Mon 25 May 2009
   04:35
   BBC Three
7. Wed 27 May 2009
   02:15
   BBC Three