Bitten by a Staffordshire Bull Terrier

JonathanAnon

hi there, I was bitten by a Staffordshire Bull Terrier last Friday while passing by a house on my bike. I contacted the guards, who go the owner to contact me. The owner said that it had happened once before, and that the dog was very passive except sometimes with cyclists.

She has agreed to cover my costs, but should I be pushing for the thing to be put down, muzzled (or what other options is there???) in the interest of public safety.

To be honest, I'm a bit insulted that she would leave this dog out on the road KNOWING that this had happened once before.

kildara

Why dont you tell her that you will accept her covering any costs you have incurred as a result (as she should and you are rightly entitled to), but that also, in the public's interest, rather than getting the dog put to sleep, that you want her to muzzle the dog when in public. That way you are not punishing the dog for her negligence.
She should see that you are being reasonable and the dog gets to live and a possible future child on a bike is protected.

LadyTBolt

I believe this lady was negligent as she let the dog out unmuzzled after knowing the dog has bitten in the past.

If this dog has bitten twice already it is an almost certainty it will bite again in a similar scenario, but what if next time the cyclist is a passing child?
The dog should be muzzled before it does serious damage to another person.

Try contacting your local dog warden and request an injunction be taken against this lady to have her dog muzzled when outdoors to prevent this from happening again.

I understand you are in an awkward postion as she has offered to cover your medical costs but they should be covered by her anyway. Do something if you can, if at least by talking to her to explain how serious this is.

andreac

Is this dog out loose on the road without the owner?

All dogs must be kept under control and restricted breeds are not meant to be off the lead in public too.
Now i am a restricted breed owner (rottweiler) so i know all too well the laws, but this is an irresponsible owner and should know better.

I wouldnt be pushing the dog to be put down but she should be given a warning for having the dog wandering the streets and should def cover your costs as the owner is responsible for the dogs actions.

cowzerp

The dog should be kept in secure area when not with the owners, no dog should be allowed to wonder.

Tell her you dont want the dog put down but will have to contact the warden if the dog is left out unattended in future..

i dont like calling wardens as the dogs mostly get put down but the owner might need the fright of been told you'll call them..

JonathanAnon

andreac wrote: »

Is this dog out loose on the road without the owner?

Yes the dog was out on the public road. The road is a quiet enough country road beside a farm. I wouldnt say that many people would cycle past which is why I would think that it hasnt happened on many more occasions.

thank you for the responses.

sickpuppy

Surely two biting offences is two too many?
I am not one for saying ban all tehse dangerous breeeds etc as i know stafiies can be great dogs but what if its a small child next?
or what if the dog does not stop at a single bite?
i personally think the dog should be destroyed put to sleep whatever
ane the owner should be banned from keeping animals due too her negligence.
In this forum you are obviously gonna find a lot of animal lovers but a dog let loose that bites is a danger and horrible and all as the verdict is it must be carried out.

JonathanAnon

Well this is the bite that it got me. Starting to clear up now, but awkward/irritating cos it's kind of on the knee joint.

andreac

Holy crap, that was some bite. It def sounds like this dog is def a nuisance and obv a danger to society. If the attack was un provoked then it could be a case that the dog might need to be put to sleep to prevent anyone else being hurt.
What exactly had the owner to say about it??

Hellrazer

I really hate this crap to be honest.Why should the dog be PTS when its obviously the owners fault.Unfortunately the law doesnt allow for the owner to be PTS punished.

andreac

Yes it is the owners fault, but a dog that has bitten people on more than one occassion is not safe to have around people. Im not saying that all dogs that bite need to be put down, but look at the injury that it caused.

The owner is aware that the dog has bitten on more than one occassion and still has done nothing.

Why would a dog that isnt a danger to people bite unprovoked?? there are plenty of dogs wandering the streets that dont attack people, if a dog is attacking people like this, im sorry but its not safe to have around, regardless of what breed it is.

Hellrazer

andreac wrote: »

The owner is aware that the dog has bitten on more than one occassion and still has done nothing.

You see Im of the opinion that the owner should have been punished after the first bite.At least then they might have did something about it.


If the owner was obeying the letter of the law then this dog should have been muzzled and the bite wouldn`t have happened.

Whatever way you look at it--its the owners fault and not the dogs.And it annoys me that dogs get punished for their owners failings.

andreac

I understand the owner is at fault here, but at the same time, the dog has bitten 2 people, and the one bite that we have seen a pic of looks very nasty, so it wasnt just a nip.

So is a dog that is really this aggressive safe to have around?? Dogs dont bite just for the fun of it and if they do, theres something wrong and is a danger to people.

xxmarymoxx

any dog that bites should be put down im a dog lover myself but i cant stand to hear people say its not the dogs fault of course its the dogs fault this is what happens to many people ignore it then when a child gets torn apart its all guns blazing u shud insist that the dog is put to sleep no second chances i took in a dog a few months back and he was lovely until my four year old nephew came in and the dog went to rip his face off straight to the vet that dog went and put to sleep i cudnt care less how nice a dog is if it bites then that should be the end of it

ISDW

What I don't understand is the Guards attitude. Under the restricted breeds act, the dog shouldn't have been out without a muzzle and off a lead anyway - thats the law as andreac has said. I don't want to see any dog being pts, but the law has been broken, why has it not been enforced? All the owner has to do is keep the dog in their garden, if its not fenced, they could get a dog run - better that than another person gets bitten like this.

Noopti

xxmarymoxx wrote: »

any dog that bites should be put down im a dog lover myself but i cant stand to hear people say its not the dogs fault of course its the dogs fault this is what happens to many people ignore it then when a child gets torn apart its all guns blazing u shud insist that the dog is put to sleep no second chances i took in a dog a few months back and he was lovely until my four year old nephew came in and the dog went to rip his face off straight to the vet that dog went and put to sleep i cudnt care less how nice a dog is if it bites then that should be the end of it

1. If you got the dog when it was young -> Socialisation with other dogs/people/children might have not resulted in this reaction

2. If you got the dog when it was olde,r and as such, were not sure of how it would react to certain people, children, animals then you should have taken on a strict programme of slowly introducing the dog to particular situations and trying to counteract any problems that became apparent.

Maybe if the dog had another owner it would never had gotten to the stage of just attacking a person.

kildara

Noopti wrote: »

1. If you got the dog when it was young -> Socialisation with other dogs/people/children might have not resulted in this reaction

2. If you got the dog when it was olde,r and as such, were not sure of how it would react to certain people, children, animals then you should have taken on a strict programme of slowly introducing the dog to particular situations and trying to counteract any problems that became apparent.

Maybe if the dog had another owner it would never had gotten to the stage of just attacking a person.

+1

cowzerp

+2

Busta Hyman

sorry but this isnt the first attack therefor its not an isolated incidence. the dog has shown agressive tendancies towards humans has on multiple occasions attacked and harmed ppl. Domt waith till it seriously harms / kills someone

giddybootz

OP that is a horrible thing to happen and i hope it is healing well.

the owner admitted that it was the 2nd time the dog had bitten a cyclist...perhaps this dog had a bad experiance with a cyclist when it was a pup?

I am not saying that the 2 incidents should be brushed over BUT i firmly believe that if this pooch lived with an experianced dog owner/handler the situation would never have happened.

My friend has a staffie and she is a bit grumpy (the dog, not my mate!) so my friend does not allow the dog to unsupervised around strangers and warns people to act calm around the pooch if they are visiting her house.

irresponsible people should not be responsible for any dog...large or small.

xxmarymoxx

Noopti wrote: »

1. If you got the dog when it was young -> Socialisation with other dogs/people/children might have not resulted in this reaction

2. If you got the dog when it was olde,r and as such, were not sure of how it would react to certain people, children, animals then you should have taken on a strict programme of slowly introducing the dog to particular situations and trying to counteract any problems that became apparent.

Maybe if the dog had another owner it would never had gotten to the stage of just attacking a person.

the dog was well used to kids as i have three and there was no excuse for what the dog did if it had of bit the child it wud have tore his face off as i said before there shud be no excuses the dog deserves to be put to sleep simple