Gun analogy ???

This kennels has a contract to board stray dogs for 7 days, after this time they are free to sell the unclaimed dogs or have them killed. They are not required to employ staff to assess the dogs to see if they are rehomeable & until the law is changed this will continue to be the case. They are free to sell the dogs & people are free to by them. They are not & never will be a real rescue

However if you are living somewhere were you are NOT allowed to keep a dog it is your decision & yours alone, whether or not to buy one.

BTW I took a GSD from a home, the dog had been assessed as extremely aggressive & unpredictable by the local RSPCA inspector & the owner advised to have the dog destroyed or sold as a guard dog ! Nowt wrong with the dog(which in fact was a 14 month old bitch) who was on the verge of starvation, kept outside without a kennel or shelter on a 1 inch steel link chain & totally untrained & socilaized. She weighed 13 kgs & the Inspector was too scared to get close enough to examine her & notice she was a bitch.

With assessment expertize of a similar standard the norm in council contract pounds what chance do the dogs have ??

Trouble with that is money I am guessing, will we really spend more on dog pounds when humans are getting food from food banks and our elderly are afraid to put the heating on or being neglected in homes ?

Yep, that's what frustrates me too. More children die at the hands of their parents/family members every year then they do dog attacks. Yet, anytime a dog attacks a child, it's considered to be an "increasing" problem and all these calls for outlandish laws and regulations. The problem really isn't that big at all. Of course, it's sad that children have been attacked and killed in some instances, but in the grand scheme of things it's a very rare occurrence.

I find myself struggling to comment on cases like this anymore too. While it's sad a child has died, I can't always say I feel pity or sorrow for the family. Call me harsh or whatever, but I honestly feel more sorrow for the dogs that are put in these situations in the first place.

Saw on Dogs Today, from the same article you quoted Baxter, that the Daily Mail are asking people to come forward with rescue dogs who have bitten before. They've already contacted Wood Green and Dogs Today I think. Dogs Today gave them fair and positive links to follow up regarding dogs and children and they was totally ignored! Daily Mail obviously only wanting to demonize dogs and scare the public!

Yes exactly - the chances of your child being killed by a dog is absolutely miniscule. I recall posting all the statistics i.e killed by cars, guardians etc.. and dogs didn't even feature because it was statistically insignificant!

This dog suffered a terrible death and I suspect a terrible life too.

I feel so upset for the little girl too and the family - it was a series a misjudged decisions that ended in catastrophe. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

The Daily Mail is looking for stories that sell newspapers and cuddly rescue dogs just don't cut it right now!

I know this is a website for dog lovers but the lack of compassion to dog owners who make a mistake is a little hard to read. This is the second such post I have read which left me uncomfortable.

This mother will have to live with her guilt for the rest of her life. It is not the place of anyone else to judge her for her mistake. Even the best of pets can react depending upon the circumstances. Unfortunately there are just too many pets being bred, given up and ending in pounds/rescues.

It is so tragic that the little girl lost her life this way.

I think the majority were sympathetic - extremely sympathetic in fact. I think there was a lot of analysis on what went wrong. A lot of people on here have rescue dogs and a lot work with rescue kennels so the discussion was quite varied.

I think most wanted to work out how it happened and as uncomfortable it was for you to read there were a contingent on here that thought the mother was to blame - not a nice conclusion but when you look at the evidence a reasonable one. That's not to say that there wasn't sympathy for her.

Sad story. Nobody deserves to die like this, especially a child. How on Earth did the child's mother manage to kill an enraged Dogue De Bordeaux? If she was American, then sure... shoot it, but she lives in the UK and she normally would not have a gun???

As for some of the comments on rescues endeavoring to re-home aggressive dogs and not docile ones... I don't think they do that. People come to these places and pick the dog they want, the rescue doesn't pick for them. Also, had the dog been aggressive while they were there, they'd not have picked it.

If they don't consider all possible options before doing so, the rescue cannot be blamed. Getting a huge adult dog like that when you have a small child might not have been the best idea... not the shelters fault.

For people calling the woman names... please stop. If she had seen this coming, she'd not have done it... so she made a mistake. A huge, fatal, grave, horrible mistake (or combination of mistakes)... but a mistake nonetheless. I'm sure she regrets her decision. All she wanted was a dog for her family, she never saw this coming.

In the end, it pays to follow rules, act with conviction and not on impulse, and exercise good judgment, but what good does that do her now?

The dog was NOT a DDB it was a White cross breed ! The DDB belongs to an uncle & was NOT involved.

No one will ever know the truth about what happened except the mother & she will know that her thoughtless action of buying a dog knowing that she wasn't supposed to was the start of the events that ended her innocent daughter's life.

I see, thank you. I went back and read some more of the comments and I see that now.

You're right. Getting an adult dog like that wasn't the best idea and she will regret it for the rest of her life.

From the sounds of it, she was also a questionable dog owner, making one feel even less compassion for her...

But I will stand by what I said earlier... calling her names won't do a thing to bring the kid back or make her feel any worse than she already does.

I've never called her names, however she knew that her tenancy did not allow dogs, went to a dog pound, & not a rescue I'm 99% sure a rescue would have asked for details of tenancy allowing dogs & would also have assessed the dog correctly, & bought a dog who no one knew anything about. A totally avoidable disaster for which she must bear the blame