Dangerous Dogs Owners

While I generally don't recommend Facebook there is a Rhodesian Ridgeback Ireland Facebook group which you might want to join.

My friend was utterly heartbroken when hers died. She was asking on that group and adopted a 1.5 year old. The family that owned it didn't realise what they were getting in to when they originally got it and have small kids. When it started getting big they realised they would have to give it up for adoption and it now has a happy home with someone who knows how to handle it.

Again, not a person.

Let it get away to do more damage elsewhere? Your own farm or someone else's?

Presumably you're going to attempt to remove the dog unharmed first and identify it's owner and if it does have to be shot you'll be informing the nearest Garda station within 48 hours, both of which you're obliged to do.

Not sure what’s your point, we obviously can’t ban all dogs but my point was banning dogs that are dangerous to most people. If that poor 9 year old was attacked by a Jack Russell he wouldn’t be in hospital now

Who and how is gonna decide what dog breeds are dangerous to most people?

There should be the same legislation applying across ALL breeds, doesn't matter the size. Proper enforcement of rules which are already in place. Proper education around the dogs. And all dog owners have to be made responsible for actions of their dogs.

" A better solution to dog bite prevention

Animal control and legislative approaches to protecting a community from dangerous dogs should not be based on breed, but instead on promoting responsible pet ownership and developing methods to rapidly identify and respond to owners whose dogs present an actual risk.

The AVMA recommends the following strategies for dog bite prevention:

Enforcement of generic, non-breed-specific dangerous dog laws, with an emphasis on chronically irresponsible owners

Enforcement of animal control ordinances such as leash laws, by trained animal care and control officers

Prohibition of dog fighting

Encouraging neutering for dogs not intended for breeding

School-based and adult education programs that teach pet selection strategies, pet care and responsibility, and bite prevention"

Source: https://www.avma.org/resources/pet-owners/why-breed-specific-legislation-not-answer

I'm sure you're an absolute saint. Your halo is in the post.

Don't you just love it when people become experts via Google.

Let's do a little history lesson. The Pit Bull was brought to the States by English and IRISH immigrants, only then the breed was called Bull & Terrier. And they weren't brought for dogfighting, either. They were versatile and worked from guarding/ herding livestock, to hunting dog and family pet. Pit Bull were never those huge jowly dogs they became in the States, created by crossing in Mastiiff types. The American Pit Bull has nothing to do with a proper old family type dog.

They are no more than knee high, lean and have extreme stamina (an acquaintance of mine in Montana trains them for Search and Rescue because they never give up and have to be literally lifted off the trail with exhaustion). People say they have Pit Bulls when in reality it's a Bull Breed cross of many colours ;) .

Most decorated dog in WWI? Sergeant Stubby who was - oh shock, oh horror- a Pit Bull.

I am on the wrong side of 50, I've spent my life with them and still do. And no, I didn't get most of them as pups, either. And quite a few of them from the pound, history unknown.

So before you shout ban them all because you believe the hype of the gutter press and that every dog with a big head is a Pit Bull, you might try to show some common sense and listen to those who have actual experience with the breed.

Besides, banned this and that ALWAYS attracts scumbags because it's "cool". Banning solves nothing, on the contrary, it makes them more attractive to gobshites.

A prison sentence.

This a curious one to me. There are laws about inbreeding in humans for good reason. Give me an "ugly", pleasant, smart dog or cat. I'm a mongrel and proud!

https://www.breakingnews.ie/amp/ireland/parents-of-boy-attacked-by-dog-challenge-authorities-over-refusal-to-investigate-1322570.html

The family in question here where completely let down by the system, where their child was attacked on the face by a dog and the guards or the local authority failed to do anything. Imagine the trauma they went through and had to seek legal help to try and get a dog who attacked a child put to sleep. In their case the dog had more rights then their child. I can just imagine how seeing this other child being attacked has brung back some painful memories and the trauma that child faces on a daily basis.

The law has to change if a dog draws blood once they will do it again. If my dog bit someone I would put my dog to sleep I wouldnt think twice.

Yes, it can do damage. But a larger more powerful dog can destroy a child, small person in seconds.

All dogs can do damage, but the bigger stronger and more powerful ones can kill. And they’re far more difficult to stop/fight off than wee small dogs.

Just saw the injuries to that poor child. Absolute sickening to think that a dog owner did this. It’s the owner that did this…

So, you agree with me, they were used for dogfighting & when introduced to America the breed was further developed & used in ratting and dogfighting events in the new world.

That fact is widely publicised and accepted. The dog is an integral part of Americana and that's ok, so don't try and rewrite history. The breed was designed to fight other dogs in a new world a long time ago when that was acceptable. There's lots of cases where dogs integrities and uses were repurposed for other jobs. There's lots of dogs that have nefarious and dodgy backgrounds including the Doberman pincher, the Rhodesian Ridgeback and even our own Wheaten terrier and Kerry Blue.

Make no mistake. These dogs have evolved from British Isle dog fighting breeds and your various kennel club wiki pages may portray them as companion dogs, rescue dogs etc..AND the are fantastic at those jobs... but the facts remain. They were originally designed & evolved with wide mouths for molar mauling, incredible musculature, a high pain tolerance (which you've given evidence of) & a low gravity stance suitable for scrapping in a pit.

They are a very powerful Pit Bull Terrier designed to scrap. Nobody can argue that.

Do you thing their a suitable dog for a 18 year immature boy that's never owned a goldfish who lives with his mam? Someone that won't socialise the dog, will only walk it when it's cool to do so? Won't clean up after it & refuses to train it properly, someone who considers it an extension of their fragile ego?

These are the important questions. Try and concentrate on them.