They already are. Animals Act.


I don't know what circumstances of negligence have been alleged. What's she supposed to have done? I haven't read of any allegation of any "previous" by any of teh dogs yet they don't seem like young dogs so on what basis? (I would agree that having young/youngish kids alone with a pack of bull mastiff/terrier-type dogs seems like exceptionally poor decision making but expect that it happens on a widespread basis on housing estates up and dow the land on a daily basis.

If she has fallen foul of the requirements of the Animals Act then she IS liable. (That is, to pay compensation). But it wouldn't be much, as the life of a young child isn't worth much in civil law.

If you mean she should be prosecuted, I don't know the full facts, it would seem the CPS have decided no offence has been committed. The criminal law on this subject has been a bit of a shambles for a while, though, but the government has seemingly little appetite to improve it.


No, not at all relevant.


I doubt it would make any difference, in the same way as kids TWOCCing and getting killed does absolutely nothing to teach a lesson to even their mates let alone future TWOCcers.

There is no answer to this if you are going to allow people to keep dogs. As others have pointed out there are that many dogs and that many owners that, whilst you can discuss licences, chips, etc. it seems plain to me that there isn't a cat in hell's chance of the resources which would be needed to adequately implement and constantly police and enforce any such scheme being available now or in the foreseeable and there is absolutely no point in schemes if there isn't the money to run them.

Better criminal law is possible, but I don't know that even a better framed criminal law could have avoided this tragedy.

My sister has a rotweiler (bitch) and a 2 year old son. I wouldn't think twice about leaving him alone with her to play in the back garden. He can poke her in the eye and she doesn't even flinch. If someone came into the garden and was a threat to him, she wouldn't let them get near him but wouldn't be dangerous - he probably wouldn't even realise anything was wrong. She is walked a minimum of twice daily on decent length walks. She is great with other dogs.

In contrast, my next door neighbour has a border collie. It's hardly ever walked now and sits in the window all day barking. When she is allowed out into the back garden she goes mental. When it was young I used to walk her as a favour and look after her quite often and she was difficult to control on the lead because her owner doesn't keep her disciplined when they used to walk her.

We took both these dogs for a walk together and the border collie tried to attack the rotweiler and every other dog at every opportunity. I hadn't walked the border collie for a couple of months and only offered becuase the owner seemed to have stopped walking her altogether. It was so viscious that I haven't walked the border collie since. It is brought up in a house which I would describe as crazy and it has rubbed off on the dog.

I have seen both grow up from pups and I feel I can definitely say that the dogs are how they are because of their owners not their breeds.

Poor girl what a shocking and terrifying way to die.

What was that girl doing in that house while the owners weren't there? Has anybody asked that question yet? Nah, open season on dogs again, it seems.

She was with the owners daughter apparently and they went to a neighbours to warm up some food and she returned first. The friend returned shortly after to find her mate ripped to shreds by the dogs. HTH Columbo!

You appear to have the most appropriate avatar on RL Fans.

As for the law my understanding is that she cannot be prosecuted because the dogs attacked the girl in private property. If it happened on the street she could have been prosecuted because she did not have control over the dogs in a public place.


My comment about the owners responsibility came from a news report where the female owner of the dogs had apparently told people that she was scared of the dogs and could not control them yet seemed to do nothing about it. If that was the case i would have thought there was some civil liability assuming it could be proved.

...and the fact that there had been no previous complaint about the dogs behaviour either inside or outside the property.

Yeeeer. And that girl wot got raped the over day, wot was she doing out after dark? Has anybody asked that question yet?

We have a "nova scotia duck tolling retriever" and he's a bloody brilliant dog. He's the softest most loving dog we've ever had, we got him as a very young puppy when he had been abandoned and he's been brought up in a loving environment. Well looked after and walked twice a day. He was a little git as a puppy at times, nicking food of plates and chewing through thing's etc but that phase passed and we made sure he knew his place. Very passive and patient with kids and generally very affectionate and outgoing. He hasn't had anything snipped or cut off and it's never been an issue for us. He get's excited when it's time for a walk and jumps around a bit but that's nothing out of the ordinary for a dog. He's pretty intelligent and know's what time it is when it comes to walkies... Bark's whenever someone knocks on the door and as soon as the door is opened he will lick them to death.

My mate has a Staffie and he's got a very similar temperament and he's been brought up in a similar environment. When I first saw the dog I was apprehensive but I soon learned otherwise, And I feel bad for the genuine good owners and Dog's like that because I know they aren't all bad, however, be stupid enough to put that dog in a room with 3 other dog's of the same breed, leave them stuck in a house all day and the situation might change.. Unfit owners and bad breeder's are the one's who should be responsible.

I'm putting it down to coincidence what with starting this thread the other day but my dog got attacked in the park where I walk him this afternoon, by another German Shepherd.

Fortunately it was a standard dog attack, a show of aggression to scare he other off, a couple were walking a large white GSD and it had wandered 30 yards or so away, my dog trotted along the path and caught up with this couple, their dog saw him with them and ran at him probably to defend his owners, he knocked my dog over, there was some snarling and barking, my dog stayed on his back in submission and then ran away, no harm done, it wasn't an aggressive attack just a show of strength.

Thats how it should work, it when more aggression is bred or trained in that it gets nasty.

Its not always down to the owners though is it? Some dogs, of whatever breed, are just aggresive.

My sister had several dogs over a 30 year period. All mongrels. Looked after them all by the book. Had them properly trained. They were all fine apart from the last one which, for no apparent reason, attacked my niece.

Similarly a neighbour had two dogs, brothers. Not sure what breed but not one of the obviously aggresive types. One was perfectly fine, the other was vicious.

Both my sister and neighbour had the two dogs put to sleep once they realised they had a vicious streak. But I dont think either of them were responsible for the way the dogs turned out. Some dogs are just like that.

They should bring back dog licencing and on top of that, fine he s heavily who let there dogs all over too

Just a quickie for you doggiefied people.
I'm currently dog sitting (black and white collie thing) whilst sprawled on sofa awaiting Sun/Man U kick-off followed by horse racing.
Will it get cold sat out in the garden in a snow blizzard?

Aren't Collies bred for the cold outdoors of the lakes and Scotland. Get the lazy thing outside.

My sister in law had a Collie and when we had a family party all the kids were outside in the garden when we heard one of them crying, the bloody dog had herded them into a corner and was trying to nip her ankles when she tried to get out, good job it had a muzzle on.

This one's tame as fook mate.
If it's indoors later it'll be ting itself when I'm shouting my horses on.

Mind you it's come out lovely in your little town now.
Fook it, she can stay outside for the duration now.

Can always stick it in the garage or greenhouse if it get's a bit nippie later.

Well obviously you can't be prosecuted for any "public place" offence if you aren't in one, but certainly you can be prosecuted for dog attacks on private property; for example in the case of guard dogs you commit an offence, if the dog is off the leash, unless a handler is present and in control of the dog. If no handler is present, then the dog must be secured and not allowed to roam.


I'd be amazed if there was no civil liability (for what it is worth) even if that was not the case, I don't think that's the point, as she wasn't there so it's irrelevant whether she was scared of them or not.

the problem of dogs is more one of either inaction, or lamentably inadequate action, by governments over many decades. EFRA recently reported on many related issues in the [url=http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmselect/cmenvfru/575/57502.htm#evidenceEnvironment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee - Seventh Report "Dog Control and Welfare"[/url and the 'government' recently announced its intention to extend the provisions of the Dangerous Dogs Act to make it a criminal offence to allow a dog to be dangerously out of control in any place, including on the dog owner's property. If that was already the law, then IMHO that offence would be right on the money here. It is a provision which is also practicable, as it costs precisely nothing to implement and puts the onus entirely on owners of such dogs.

Worst thing I ever agreed to was to have my lab de-nadded, all because some vet asked my wife was we going to breed him, she answered no and the vet convinced her it was for the best. At the time he could be a bit of a handfull but was a cracking gundog, really soft mouthed and the best nose I've ever seen on a dog.

If he retrieves anything now, he just lets other dogs take it from him and looks perplexed, knowing he shouldn't let it happen but not knowing what to do about it.

If it makes you feel any better I bought my retriever from a gamekeeper in North Yorkshire, his family tree looked like a Who's Who in the gundog world with all sorts of champions in there, we never had him castrated but if you ever threw anything for him he'd just point to where it landed so that you knew where to go and fetch it from for him.

Do dogs always treat their owners return with such frenzied exaggerated excitement?

He's the only one in my family who even acknowledges my existence when I walk in the door.

They do if they've had a 2@ like you babysitting them

True, true.

There's a simple test: lock your wife and your dog in the car boot, leave them for an hour then open the boot. Guess which one will be more pleased to see you

Probably right but your dog isn't going to dress up in stockings and sussies and exchange bodily fluids with you.
At least I hope not anyway!

You won't be fussed about all that business at your age I wouldn't have thought mind Coddy.