children attacked by dog in playpark

ok.. i jus found this article whilst looking for something else.
I think its a bit stupid. as u will read that the dog hasnt actually 'attacked' anyone.

CHILDREN ATTACKED BY DOG IN PLAYPARK

A DANGEROUS dog ran amok in a playground viciously attacking a number of children.
But despite an emergency call and the widespread panic caused by the dog, police took SEVENTY hours to respond.
The Staffordshire Bull Terrier was loose in the children's playground off Roselands Avenue, last Saturday, and went for at least three children — ripping holes in clothing and tearing apart sports equipment.
Nigel Parker, 40, of Windermere Road, had been playing with his three-year-old daughter, Megan, when the dog appeared.
He said, 'It was jumping all over the kids. The dog had got over the fence into the children's compound.
'There were kids playing cricket and the dog got a hold of a boy's cricket bat and ripped it out of his hand. The dog also ripped up another boy's cricket glove while he was wearing it.'
The dog went for Mr Parker who had to try to 'bounce' the dog off his back to protect himself.
Fearing for his daughter, Mr Parker rushed Megan home and immediately called police at just after 5pm.
He says they did not respond until 9pm that evening, to apologise for not attending, and didn't visit the playground until 3pm on Monday — a full SEVENTY hours after he made his first call.
After taking Megan home, Mr Parker returned to the park and confronted the dog's owner who had arrived on a bike.
The owner became aggressive after Mr Parker told him to remove the dog.
The situation was only diffused when a council officer, the dad of one of the children, arrived and took the owner's details.
It's not the first time that the dog has caused a problem in the area.
Mr Parker said that only a month before police had to come and collect the dog after it had been roaming around the playground biting swings and chasing children.
He said, 'One of my neighbours saw the dog rip off a kid's running shoe as he was on a swing.
'The police and the council have got to liaise a lot better because four hours shouldn't have gone by after a call like that was made. At the end of the day all I want is for this place to be safe for my kids.'
At the time of going to press police were unable to respond.
22 September 2004

Horror attack at the school gates
Mum tells of terror as toddler is bitten by terrier as she waits for her big sister to come out of school
A TODDLER was attacked by a terrier as she waited at school gates for her big sister.
Parents and children looked on in horror as the dog, like a Pitbull Terrier, leapt up, biting three-year-old Sara Coyle on the face, gashing her cheek just below her eye.
Sara was with her mum Laura Wright when the attack took place at Langlees Primary.
Laura, of 25 Haugh Gardens, Bainsford, said: "We were waiting to pick up my other daughter, Danielle, who is in primary one.
"Sara bent down and patted the dog on the ears with her two hands and it just jumped at her.
"I got such a fright when it happened. There was so much blood. I just picked her up in my arms and ran into the school. I was in a terrible state. All I could think about was Sara. It would have been a lot worse if it had bitten her eye."
An ambulance was called to the school and Sara was taken to Stirling Royal Infirmary where she had butterfly stitches put on the wound.
Head teacher Janeine Patrick said: "Sara was immediately brought into the school and a first aider was called to assist.
"We hope she makes a full recovery from her ordeal."
Sara is now fine but Laura is still concerned about how the incident happened.
Educated
She said: "I understand the dog had just had pups and shouldn't have been taken away from them.
''I'm all for taking dogs for a walk but I don't think you should take them to the school, for the safety of both the dog and the children.
"When the police came, nobody would tell them what had happened. But what if it had been their child?"
Provost Jim Johnston believes children and dog owners both need to be educated.
He said: "It is a very unfortunate thing to happen to any child.
''There is always a danger when kids try to stroke a dog they don't know. Dogs can be easily frightened by lots of kids.
"One would have to question why a dog like this was at the school playground in the first place, why it was not kept under better control?"
One angry parent, Sharon, who has three children at the school, believes it was an accident waiting to happen.
She said: "People chain their dogs to the fence, which is just outside the gate and they're not under control. I'm really not happy about the situation. I always tell my kids not to touch dogs they don't know, but it's hard to stop them – kids love patting dogs."
Inspector Alistair Tait said police were aware of the incident and were continuing their inquiries.



Does this sound like the dog actually bit the child?

Indie jumps up on us all the time, and sometimes she nips a bit cos shes excited, and we've had cuts on our faces.. but shes not biting.
It jus seems they're making a big fuss over nothing.

And they are again ASSUMING it was a pitbull??

'like a pitbull terrier'. i mean.. what is that?

i know what you mean jenny cody tried to peirce my ear for me the other day, pups get excited they can hurt but that doesnt mean there agressive they are just learning there limitation of how hard they can mouth humans.but as for taken a dog to school to pick up kids thats lookin for trouble ,not that i blame the dog its the kids yer got a be aware of round dogs.

it seems to stupid that they r making a big deal out of something so little. If it was a pitbull... as they seem to think.. i think if it was going to actually aggresively bite.. that child would have been seriously more injured.
From the article.. it jus seems that perhaps it was nipping to get closer to the childs face (indie does this until shes close enough to lick) and then maybe caught its sharp teeth on the childs cheek.

Its bad press like this that makes it all worse!! vicious dogs my a***

'Like a Pit Bull Terrier', could've been anything from a Jack Russell to a Lab. Generally people have zero idea about what PBTs look like, as demonstrated in an earlier thread somewhere (Find the Pit, or something!). They will have added 'like a Pit Bull' to make the whole thing more dramatic, but I should think it was more along the lines of a JRT... a Staff/Pit/Bull Terrier wouldn't have had to 'leap' up to nip a 3 yr old on the face, they would almost have been on the same level.

The article says that "Sara bent down and patted the dog on the ears with her two hands", so she could very well have hurt it... who knows? Just seems stupid for the dog to have been left unattended. Also stupid that parents can't control their kids:

"People chain their dogs to the fence, which is just outside the gate and they're not under control. I'm really not happy about the situation. I always tell my kids not to touch dogs they don't know, but it's hard to stop them – kids love patting dogs."

It's laughable really, she complains that the dogs are out of control and it the same breath admits the same of her kids!

However, I do hate the way dogs are tied up outside schools, not safe for the dog at all, kids can be horrible and the dog will always take the blame..

At least the little girl is OK, and hopefully her Mother will be sure to teach her not to pat dogs she doesn't know from now on.

yer i see what you are sayin ,if it was an agressive pitbull it wouldnt of bin just a nip on the cheek.

it could well have been a scracth from a claw?

When indie see's children.. she jumps up on them, evem if they bend down. With sharp claws and nipping to get closer... scratches and cuts can easily be caused.

But as u mentioned.. it could have been anything! Its interesting that most people have no clue what a pitbull even looks like. So creating bad press for a dog that wasnt even involved. wouldnt have sounded quite so dramatic.. or worth publishing had the woman said it was a poddle, JRT or a labrador!!

it's always the same how the dog gets the blame esp if there's the slightest hint of bull breed in it's appearance it will immediately become "vicious pitbull" regarding these stories, in the first one the Staffie must have been having a ball he found a captive audience of his favourite type of humans - little ones- sounds to me like he was running around trying to play in the way staffies like but this was treated as agrressive causing him to be even more excited I can picture the scene... should never have happened of course. I am always aware of how people perceive my dogs to be and always make sure I have full control around children because I know they would love to go say "hello" and play and it would just take them to knock a child over for someone to accuse them of attacking their child.
The second story ; The dog shouldn't have been unattended but the child should never been allowed to approach the dog let alone touch it.. glad the little girls ok though

Kirstie

I think in the first story the staffy was definately wanting to play as has been said if it had wanted to attack it would have done straight away!, this happened to my daughter a few years ago, through no fault of her own I might add, she was attacked by a staffy that was walking off lead, heard children playing and ran round the corner and visciously attacked her (I do know not all dogs are like that and my daughter has gone on to love staffs as much as any other dog and has since thanks to our beautiful Blue overcame her fear of dogs )

The second story as the first I think is totally down to the owner, I know children should all be taught never to approach a dog without the owners permission but lets face it, not all of them are and any responsible owner would know that and never leave an unattended dog at the mercy of a gang of school kids!!!!!!

I hope all the children involved have not been affected in any way by these incidents and that the owners of the dogs have since leanrned that had they been more responsible with their pets then none of this would have happened.

One thing I do with Star is not let her loose near a swing park and she would jump all over the kids which could be seen as an attack by their parents. like in the first story.