Another tragic attack

Just reading this http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-26131934

I really can't see why people leave their dogs with children and babies. My 2 are as soft as anything but I wouldn't ever trust them 100% IMO any dog can get over excited and revert to instinct.

Poor little thing, RIP.

RIP,sweet Angel.

Well said Jeltz. This type of idiocy makes my blood boil, because it is not fair on the dog, and certainly not fair on the poor victim. I had my grandson for the day on Saturday whilst my daughter moved house, and I would never ever ever ever trust Ben alone with him even for a second - every time I wanted to leave the sitting room and go into the kitchen, Alfie came with me in his car seat. And Ben is absolutely brilliant with him ... but you just cannot be too careful.

Its been on the local radio news and there's been 2 updates on it whilst I've been on the bone run.
Firstly a man and a woman arrested on possible child neglect
Secondly (half an hour ago) they were re-arrested on suspicion of manslaughter.
Dog been pts, possibility it is an America Pit Bull type and tests to establish its breeding are on going and they are looking to see if there have been previous complaints about it. If there had been previous complaints, did no one even bother to see then what breeding it was
These dogs MAY make great family pets in the RIGHT homes with the RIGHT people, but they are not legal in this country, end of.

Regardless of breed, size, etc... it's simply not smart to leave a baby or small child alone with a dog. The baby crying or something could send the dog into a panic and the dog might attack. These people were clearly stupid and shouldn't have owned ANY dogs.

As for this comment:

"These dogs MAY make great family pets in the RIGHT homes with the RIGHT people, but they are not legal in this country, end of."

These dogs DO make great family pets in the right homes with the right people (same as any other breed) and there wasn't and isn't a solid reason to ban these dogs (or really any dogs). The DDA of the UK and B.S.L. laws in America and other countries are horrible.

What if YOUR favorite breed was sought after by criminals (and in this case - idiots) and ended up biting tons of people and being banned? What then?

The pit bulls aren't to blame for their actions. And what's worse about the B.S.L? IT DOESN'T DO ANY DAMN GOOD! It only makes the government feel like they are trying.

Also, seeing as there is not a photo of the dog, but just a bunch of pictures of the baby... this might be a classic case of the pit bulls being blamed for the attack of another breed or mix of breeds. Most people cannot spot a pit bull out of a group of bull breed dogs anyway.

Sure American Pit Bulls are banned there, but that doesn't mean one caused this attack... or that they are banned for any GOOD reason. What does it even matter what breed it was? Any dog could have done this is left in this situation. The owners are to blame 100% for leaving the dog alone with the child.

The DDA of the UK is ambiguous and ineffective. For some stupid reason it excludes many dog breeds that are very high on the bite list. Rottweilers, GSD, Dobermans, Mastiffs, Staffies, and other dogs just as "dangerous" as pit bulls.

There is not a bit of evidence to lead anybody to think it has done a bit of good. Actually, dog bites has gone up and up and up since the law was passed.

Same goes with B.S.L. laws in America. Not a single one has seemed to do any good and several were repealed because of this. Not cost effective and not generally effective.

So in the end... it doesn't help to "ban" the dogs because people will get them anyway. Perhaps if there were better laws to hold dog owners accountable for their actions rather than placing the blame on the breeds, then dog bites would actually go down.

R.I.P. to the pretty little girl, this didn't have to happen and I feel so sorry for her family.

Bet you can't guess which breed of dog has the highest incidence of reported bite injuries

Isn't it something like Yorkie or Labrador???

yeah bang on correct, its the Labrador, the one that in most people's minds is 'least likely to'
As regards the American Pit Bull ..... regardless of the rights and wrongs of the ban..... this dog is an illegal breed as far as this country is concerned, so if the law of the land had been followed, then it would not have been there to kill an 11months old girl would it. I appreciate what has been said and yes BSL is totally flawed, however that is the case in this country, and this dog should not have even been born, never mind put in a situation where it was able to do the deed.

No sympathy for the parents whatsoever. They should know better. An innocent child and dog lost their life. That's all that matters.

I just said the same elsewhere, but no real facts will be heard. It will just be another story of scare mongering, assumptions and incorrect information. The parents should be held accountable for their child's death, but more then likely, the blame will lie with the dog, and that's the case closed.

Disgusting!

Very possible. However, also possible that they simply might have had a different breed, and exactly the same thing might have happened anyway.
In my opinion, the breed of the dog is the last thing they should look at. The circumstances of the biting and the actions of the parents, and the way the dog was kept and trained, should be the first thing to look at. From that, you can more clearly see what the whole problem of these incidents is. Not the breed, but the circumstances.
All these bites lately have been towards children, either not at their own home or without adults around. Dogs kept in flats, in poor conditions, rescued from ambiguous places with unknown pasts. Steretypical council estate environment where knowledge about proper dog care is scarce. That's the problem. And all these poor children bear the consequences.