Media at its normal level as usual!

I don't agree with emotive language used for shock tactics and to sell stories. However, why is it that some bull breed owners never see past the fact that one of these types of dogs (whether breed or xbreed) has been involved in an attack and reported as such? Instead of wondering how such a thing could happen, or feeling for the owners of the poor dog that has been killed , some seem to have some kind of chip on their shoulder that their *breed* or *type* or whatever is being victimised yet again. Can bull breed owners/lovers please explain this to me.

Mmm don't think that is always the case, i think my first did say that any dog has the ability to do this but Staffs have far more power in their jaws. ALso said that it was terrible and had no idea what the kennel owner thought they were doing.

Tonks is my first staff and even before i ever considered having one i was annoyed by the media portrayal of them, rotties, dobes etc etc in fact every breed they have targeted in the past, based on few attacks. I know of terriers and grey hounds that have attacked other dogs and killed them but would not consider putting them all in the same box and calling for them to be banned.

I've only ever been bitten by a lab and a yorkie but i certainly wouldn't tar all of them with the same brush.

If you have a bull breed you can get rather fed up of the comments and assumptions made. I've had "they aren't good ith children are they" "those are the children killers aren't they" "those dogs can turn at any moment" etc, Usually from people who have never really met one in the skin so i suppose that's why we are annoyed by the title of the artical as well as upset and shocked at what has happened.

I saw no chips so who are you referring to?

its very sad situation all round, the poor collie must have been terrified, the owners of the collie knowing that their dog was missing, and searching for it. and most of all the horrendous woman covering all this up.
The end result being that she gets a £400 fine for that ?

I think the title itself upsets most as it would never have been written in such a way if it was 2 collies that had killed a staffie. I think thats where the chips may come from to be honest.

The only reports you ever hear are about bull terriers, pitbulls, staffords, rotties etc they are always reported as such, when a huge proportion of the time, its either a) not accurate events or b) the wrong breed of dog.


I think few collie/lab/poodle owners get people whipping their children away from their dogs in the street shreaking or saying that its an illegal dog. Thats what upsets us as its not fuelled by fact or action but crap thats printed in the papers.

My dog does not have a butch collar, and he is a lover of all people, and i think its sad when he cant get a pat because of hype.

Nobody is saying that the collie is in anyway to blame and personally i think the kennel owner should be banned from running her kennels - how could you trust her after that anyway ?

;(

Moobli I note what you are saying but can I put it to you that sensationalist reporting about any incidents concerning dogs reflects badly on all dog owners, it also feeds the fears some people have about dogs.
I think the whole incident is horrifying particularly for the owners of the dog which sadly died.

However I do feel that Staffs in particular have had a bad press because their looks are associated with PBT.

Sensationalist none factual reporting of the kind we have seen in the newspaper article probably delights the 'hard tough boys' with their 'tough image' Staffs but it does nothing to help the image of the hundreds of Staffies in rescue. My cousin has just rescued a Staffie, she had plenty to choose from and the reaction of many people is 'why did you get one of those, they are killer dogs' when Cara is the sweetest most gentle of dogs who deserved a chance rather than being passed over because of some peoples misconceptions about the breed as a whole .

I agree with you, well said.All of us feel really sorry for the poor Collie, and the owners,but also concerned that this will further damage the reputation of staffies, but no one is condoning what happened.

On the original site I saw this story on I notice that people are posting negative comments about staffies, all the usual stuff about them being aggressive etc. I am the only one to challenge what they are saying, but I can see that its not going to make any difference, and these are dog lovers, it makes me sad that people are so prejudiced.

Same here Mini - I especially loathe the Daily Mail and find it to be full of racist, scare-mongering codswallop.

I don't get how any of it happened, and I blame the woman running it for letting the dogs get into the kennel, and the owners of the dogs for not socialising them enough.