just flicked through this and might have missed some points but agree yes it is a big shock to see a child get 50 stitches in their face. immediate thought is dog should be pts after doing that. But no I disagree. If somebody goes into your house when they have been told not to and something happens I would protect my dog. I would think anybody would. My dogs were being cuddled by a small girl at a show at the weekend. I was watching, the mother wasn't. When the mother turned round she said come away, I said its ok my dog is fine with children. If in that position the dog had bitten then it would have been my fault. If a person came into my house without permission no way and I completely agree with bajaluna.

Having just read the posts on this thread in regards to whether bajalunas dog should have been pts after a child had to have 50 stitches - i can see both sides of the coin.

First instinct is to put the bl***y animal (no offence Balajuna - its just a general statement that i think someone would say ) down.

However: When i was a lot younger and we had just settled into our new house in the borders, our next door neighbours collie came out and for absolutely no reason at all attacked my younger sister and ripped half her face open - luckily the neighbour was there and saw it. They immediately said they would take the dog to the vets and do the decent thing but my parents decided that as long as they kept better control then it would have a 'stay of execution'. It made my wee sis absolutely terrified of any dog for years so we got a wee xbreed pup and it took ages but she got over her fear. Now she has kids who are nervous round dogs but i am always doing a lot of socialisation with them and my pair to try and lessen the fear but always tell them they must ask before going anywhere near other dogs.

I don't have kids and i actually sympathise with Balajuna as it is her choice what dog she chooses to own and how dare anyone just walk in and take it out when it has obviously been put away for a reason. My dogs are pretty soft but if anything like that happened then i would NOT have my dog pts. Instead i'd look at pressing charges against the other person for being so irresponsible and whatever else i could come up with.

We have two discussions going on...:

Dog bites child has got quite a few varied responses... In Australia, regardless of the stupidity of people the dog would have been put down... I had a dog extremely aggressive to aborigines (some of them had been tormenting him) and one day he attacked one of them... My son had hold of the lead, but just could hold him... This was at our home, and the kids came to our door... I was fortunate that Zenta never wanted to hurt anyone, just wanted to trip them over... The boy was shocked, but had no marks at all.

Here in Australia there's no tolerance at all for dogs who attack someone, being it a child or adult - they HAVE to be PTS. It doesn't matter who's to blame, and if I had a dangerous dog, I certainly wouldn't tell my neighbour, where the key was...

When I had Zenta, I had asked someone to come and mowe my yard, and told them NOT to go into the backyard, if I was not there... They did, anyway... and everything was fine, until they'd finished and jumped the gate to get back out (The gate was always padlocked).. When I arrived home, the gardener said, he was just going home to change his pants, and would be back... lol..

They got ripped on his way back over the gate...

Cheers
Lene

Sorry I disagree because I know different. That is a general sweeping statement of how the entire of Australia views this (not a very good picture to portray), and it simply isn't the case. Not all Authorities in Australia have the same rules/regulations, so this may be the case in Bris, but not necessarily the rest of the Country, I know it certainly isn't the case in WA, and our old Vets in Perth & in High Wycombe would certainly not put a health dog down just because it had bitten, if it wasn't the dog's fault.

My dogs know I am top of the pack then kids then them. Its the way in my house it has to be. If a dog is not in pain and is growling dictating it doesnt want to move ect then I feel the owner obviously has no control of said dog. And disgusting if these dogs are attacking kids, 50 stitches in a childs face is unforgiveable.

I think it's now time to stop the snidey digging to a certain member. You've made your point and views clear, and are deviating away from the OP. The dog in question wasn't an ourtright child savage, it was removed from it's own home by a relative stranger, put in a place it didn't know or feel comfortable in, and was surrounding by unknown children. God in that situation, I think I would be on the defensive too !!

you should read the whole thing before posting stupid replies unless you are just acting dumb on purpose in which case dont post at all

I have mixed views on this, but if I lived in the same set up bajaluna lived in, I guess its not as high a risk as living in the town were kids are impossible to avoid, x

We had a dog pts after he badly attacked my son,it was a difficult decision to make but I believe the right one,we spoke to alot of people in the breed and it was a very difficult time,my son was 12 and spent 4 hours in A&E.We also had to deal with the flashbacks that Luke suffered.He was petrified of dogs so much so that we had to make the decision of rehoming our bitch.People can see the physical scars but the mental ones are so much worse.It has taken Luke a long time to get over his ordeal.He still get nervous around big dogs.
We brought in Tyler 2 1/2 years ago as a puppy and encouraged Luke to help with feeding, training etc and he has a wonderful bond with him.

I don't believe in giving any dog that attacks and bites a child a second chance.

I cant believe someone would even think something like that, let alone write it!
Why would ANYONE in there right mind want to own a child killing dog...just because they didnt have kids.
Even to say it, is sick!
That is a shocking statement to make, I cant believe someone can think like that...are you for real!