I have just been reading the article about the 'French Bullmastiff' that attacked a child and ripped her jaw off. I can't believe that this could happen, I have never met a Dogue with aggression issues. Am I just lucky in this aspect or is this incredibly rare in the breed? I was hoping to purchase a puppy in 2012 when I have finished my training, but due to where I work they have banned certain dogs from being taken to work (Rotties, staffies, rhodesians and Akitas), I'm quite worried that they will take it into their heads that these mastiffs are dangerous dogs as well. Also, I was up in London last week visiting a friend who lives in Bermondsey and he said that the idiots who have the status dogs are starting to breed mastiffs and Boxers into the mix to get a bigger dog, he is terrified to take his toddler out to the park where they are 'training' them. Also, if you look at the story on the daily mail website, don't you think the picture of the dog isn't a great representation of what the breed looks like?

I can't believe it , I have dogues and they are the softest breed I've ever owned they are great with kids . However I don't leave my son alone with any of my dogs as any dog can turn - be it a Rottweiler , dogue de bordeaux or a yorkshire terrier!!!!
I am interested to know what the family are like , ie: has the dogue been brought up properly and from a puppy. Keeping two dogs with a bitch when she is in season is just asking for trouble!!

Poor little girl , I hope she makes a good recovery. I can't help but feel sorry for the dog though as this could've been prevented if the dog were in the right hands!!

I know, that poor little girl! I agree about never leaving a child with a dog. I'll never forget when I was over in the US and a story came on the news about a pom killing a 6 week old baby.

I've just read on the sun  website that it was a bullmastiff , not that it makes any difference as they are also know to be good family pets , and the few that I know have wonderful temprements.
With regards to the Pom attack , I really don't think that would make headlines in the UK , I know of a few dog attacks by toy breeds that have never made the news , but you could bet your bottom dollar if it were a Rottweiler or Stafford etc they would make the headlines!

Yep the pic is of a bullmastiff, I don't for one second believe that the attack was unprovoked, poor child... my mum and her brothers were brought up with bullmastiffs and then me and my sister and all were great big lumps of soppyness.

Infact there is a lady on this forum who has her two young daughters show both her male and female bullmastiffs.......

That documentary that was on TV last year, about dogs as weapons, showed and told how the DDB is a breed many of these irresponsible Pit Bull etc owners have turned to.

I don't for one second believe that the attack was unprovoked, poor child... my mum and her brothers were brought up with bullmastiffs and then me and my sister and all were great big lumps of soppyness

That is a very strange statment to make IMHO. I have no idea of anything at all about this dog but do know that it is one of the breeds which is becoming ever more popular and being bred by those who just want to line their pockets.

I know of someone near me who had 2 rehomed DDBs and the first thing they did was to breed a litter from them. Parentage of dog and bitch was unknown, there were no health tests done and the temperament of one of the dogs is less than desirable to say the least. At 5 weeks old the owner decided she couldn't cope with the mess and the noise so all pups went to their new homes at that age and thus missed out on vital socialisation within their litter.

Without knowing anything about this dog it is impossible to comment on the cause of the attack - but once again a child suffers and the breed is brought into disrepute. Joe Public will label all mastiffs as dangerous and reputable breeders who work so hard to ensure that the dogs they breed are healthy, well bred and of good temperament will once again all be tarred with the same brush :-(

My thoughts are with that poor child and her family.

Sadly I feel it was bound to happen (large powerful breed) getting into the wrong/inexpereinced/ignorant hands.

With the population/popularity explosion of the breed, leading to unsuitable breeding ( I have met some pet ones of very doubtful temperament, usually nervous) and selling of the resulting puppies to anyone with the purchase price.

So sad. :(

I noticed on the report that the police had also seized two other dogs they have. Now would this be standard practice or is their some concerns here other than from the one dog that apparently attacked the little girl. The father allegedly killed the dog by stabbing it
Awful situation.
News report also commented that french mastiff is not a band breed. maybe I am just suspicious but I wondered what was being implied ?

> I don't for one second believe that the attack was unprovoked

The news report I read in the Evening Standard (London) stated the Bitch of the same breed in the house was in season...

However I have to say I'm a believer in the 'error chain' principle, generally in any tragedy its not one singular event but an accumulation of events. So in an instance like this it may well be the accumulation of poor breeding, poor temperment,Poor managment, poor training, poor control, poor judgement..etc etc etc (<- I don't know the facts of this particular tragic incident, so I'm not saying this is the case per se in this instance but just that 'provocation' is not quite as cut and dried maybe)

The breed is going to pot basically.

I first got into the breed in 2002 after visiting a breeder one of not very many back then (even though it wasn't that long ago). There has been an explosion of them, and all of a sudden the drunk with a can down the street knows the breed and can actually pronounce it. Majority of breeders are backstabbing lairs, who only care about rosettes and who has the best dogs. The constant bitching is sickening. The day after a show wo-betide you if you did well. They all spit their dummies out and downplay the judge of 23 yrs experience, he didnt have a clue, hasnt the foggiest what he is supposed to be looking for. IMHO picked good dogs. They are breeding dogs, too big, too heavy, too wrinkly, too tight nostrils. A lot of these dogs are fat in the ring, no longer able to do what dogs do and bomb around a field. The breed secretary bred his dog to a bitch with hips of 93 not once but for 2 litters!!! And They are the ones to ask advice on as to where to get a pup/set examples for the rest of us you must be joking me! I wanted to get into the showring, but now no way. If i do it shall be with a different breed and ill keep my well tempered, fit specimens as my pets.

Breed is getting higher and higher on the popularity scale and they will be tarred just the same as other large breeds. Its a shame but inevitable.

Why do humans have to spoil the good things

Hi Louise,

I know where you are are coming from as we have similar problems in my breed. All I would say is that the only way to change this is to have an incredibly thick skin and not let these people get away with it. If we walk away they will continue, somebody has to "do the right thing" and shame  these fools. I am always polite to everybody (well I try) but if people in my breed do things that are simply not acceptable to right thinking people then I tell them-politely to their face- regardless of who they are. Of course this does not make one popular but I work on the fact that I have enough friends already and if those who are acting in a detrimental way to the breed don't like it-so what-their opinion is not important to me.
Get back in the ring!! :-)))

Jeff.

ETA: gone a bit off topic here, apologies slapped wrist

HuskyGal has hit the nail on the head, I don't really believe that a dog suddely for no reason turns nasty, I believe that there are lots of underlying issues irrespective of the breed and to be honest its all academic at the moment as non of us really know how and why it happened.

But my heart goes out to the poor family and child

It seems a bit odd that, if the reporting is correct, the father ran out after the dog and stabbed it - even if you are distraught, surely you would stay with your daughter and comfort her and enable she was safe, ring the ambulance, and not run after the dog if it was in the garden and stab it? I don't know - is it me?!

If that was the father's first reaction, I wonder what sort of person he was in general. I know we shouldn't make such judgements but honestly I am so fed up of these things in the news - and often we hear afterwards the dog was subjected to all sorts by the owners.

Lindsay
x

How very sad for all concerned. I would say 100% with no reservations that my children are the MOST important thing in my life and my dogs will always be secondary to that so my deepest sympathy will always be with the child, however I do also have some sympathy for the dog *if* it was provoked. In terms of the parent killing the dog I prefer not to make any judgements as having not been in that situation personally I don't know how I would react.

> I don't really believe that a dog suddely for no reason turns nasty

We dont know the whole situation. It could have been the most lovely family pet that just had enough -maybe he ill, maybe he wasnt properly cared for, maybe he was left unsupervised with the child that was antagonising it.A dog of that size is going to cause serious damage even without really going for it in a frenzied attack. Without the facts (and sadly The Sun newspaper isnt going to provide us with them!) we will have to wait and see.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1260070/Girl-2-jaw-ripped-family-dog.html

Read the comment of 'Stu' from Ely at the bottom of the page :(

It seems a bit odd that, if the reporting is correct, the father ran out after the dog and stabbed it - even if you are distraught, surely you would stay with your daughter and comfort her and enable she was safe, ring the ambulance, and not run after the dog if it was in the garden and stab it? I don't know is it me!,

I think that this piece below will explain things better Lindsay the other report missed out a lot of detail. :-)

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23818309-father-tells-how-he-fought-to-save-girl-being-savaged-by-dog-at-home.do

To me, after reading the above report, the dog was a much loved pet for years then changed in behaviour, they did the right thing in taking the dog to the vet, the vet IMO should have listened to the owner who lives with the dog, not have a vet after a 10 minute check give a behavioural opinion, who knows the dog best - the owner! The vet IMO should have done his job in having the dog medically checked from top to toe, bloods etc or listened to the owners wish to put the dog to sleep, where children are concerned quite rightly you do not live with a dog you can not trust. The vet should not recommend a behaviourist, that vet has a lot to answer. This wasn't a rescue dog where the character was unknown but a family dog of years, which had changed in behaviour that would scream medical, not behaviourist, what was that vet doing?

In bringing that dog back home, it would be seperated from my family via a dog gate or in a different part of the house altoghether, they knew it was unstable.

Errors on all parts.

I don't know why the other two dogs were taken, they should be returned.

If you read another article the grandmother of the poor child has gone on record as saying '' they were looking after another French Bullmastiff'' an in season b**ch!! No wonder his behaviour changed.

I dont know, powerful dogs, in season b**ch, children, not experienced. Not for me thank you.

The problem is there are so many versions of what has happened and only those close to the family will actually know the truth of what has happened. Yes the police should investigate what happened but alot of people have jumped on the bandwagon of saying it is irresponsible to have dogs with children :-(

all sounds very iffy.
I feel very sorry for the children and the dogs. :(

not so much sympathy for the parents.  too much doesn't add up from whats in that paper. 

> It seems a bit odd that, if the reporting is correct, the father ran out after the dog and stabbed it - even if you are distraught, surely you would stay with your daughter and comfort her and enable she was safe, ring the ambulance, and not run after the dog if it was in the garden and stab it? I don't know - is it me?!

No, it's not just you! I was shocked to read that too. I can't understand how any parent can leave a mauled child to go and stab thier dog to death, unless the man carried a knife around with thim he had to actaully think of the idea, go find a knife, then carry out the attack.

I have not been in that sort of situation, the closest I've been was as a teenager my sister was hit by a car. I did not even think of speaking to the driver my main concern was to help my sister untill proffesional help (ie ambulance) had arrived, despite there being plenty of other people that could have helped her while I talked to the driver. I felt it my duty to be with her, just as I would if my children were hurt.

The actions of the father seem very agressive......

I also can not understand how anybody, who deemed thier dog dangerous enough to be PTS, would leave it alone with a child even for 1 second?????????

Poor little girl, even if she was 'antagonising' the dog in any way, she is far too young to know any better, it was her parents job to keep her safe. I can't begin to imagine how frightened she must have been :( I hope she makes a full & speedy recovery, both physically & mentally.

I dont think its irresponsible to have dogs with children, far from it. I have an entire male Bullmastiff, an entire male Whippet, a 9 year old daughter and 1 on the way. It just seems if theres any truth in the part about the dog attacking before and asking the vet to have it PTS, then bringing an in season bitch into the household was such an irresponsible thing for the young girls parents to do.
I agree its such a tragic thing to happen to a young child and really dont know how I would act in that situation. I really do sympathise with the family of the young girl but I also wonder what could have gone wrong with this dog to make it act the way it did.

> No, it's not just you! I was shocked to read that too. I can't understand how any parent can leave a mauled child to go and stab thier dog to death, unless the man carried a knife around with thim he had to actaully think of the idea, go find a knife, then carry out the attack.

According to another newspaper report I read, he carried the injured girl to a neighbour's house, called an ambulance, then went back and got a kitchen knife and stabbed the dog.

The same report says the dog, owner & little girl were all in the same room and the man turned his back for 1 second, only to hear a growl and look back to see the little girl's face in its mouth. Apparently she didn't scream or make any sound herself.... On the other hand I think I read than on a link to a report from The Sun, so who knows!

What I am wondering though - allegedly the dog bit someone's hand 2 weeks ago. Was the in-season bitch around then? If not, then it sadly does suggest the dog wasn't as stable as might be wished for.

>allegedly the dog bit someone's hand 2 weeks ago.

The number of times I was bitten on the hand when I was encouraging a dog to jump up at something I was holding ...

Not saying that's what happened in this case, but it's just a thought.

The dog attacked previously and left a boy with 8 staples in his head. The dog was kept muzzled at all time apart from during this incedent and when it ate. Apparantly they went to several places to get the dog pts but is either cost to much or they refused??? Dog was bred by grandad and a ddb x bullmastiff. South London estate, teen mum, 2 year old with ears pierced the boot fits in this stereotype. Facebook friends of mine were on London tonight discussing the breed video clip etc take a look

**Mr Sim, the little girl's father said he now wanted to campaign for all dangerous dogs to be made illegal. "This was a dangerous dog. These types of animal should not be anywhere near children. I have told the police to put down my alsatian Rex as well. When my daughter comes back home, I don't want her near any dog. I had Trigger since he was a puppy. Until recently he was as good as gold." **

So, once again it's the dogs fault it has attacked, if it had previously been as good as gold, did they not think that looking after someone else's bitch in season might affect the dog in some way? Why would he want to have his GSD put to sleep, he didn't attack the girl? Why not just re-home his other dog so the house is dog-free for his daughter to go back home.
Dog lover or what?

In the newspapers it states the little girl was playing with her toys in her bedroom, and the father turned away for a second, so what was this dog doing in her bedroom? Thick or what?

I am amazed if they went to vets to have their dog pts and were turned away if it had attacked previously however I tend not to rely on what I read in a newspaper. I think it is unfair to label the family because they fit a certain stereotype, whatever they have/haven't done their daughter was seriously injured which must have been awful for them. I agree that the other dog should not be pts if it is not aggressive though.

I think that this piece below will explain things better Lindsay the other report missed out a lot of detail.

This report still says that he took his daughter to a neighbour and left her with the neighbour while she was badly injured and in shock to go back and stab the dog??

If they felt strongly enough that the dog was enough of a dnager to be put to sleep then the dog should never have been in the childs bedroom in the first place let alone with the the father 'turning his back for a couple of seconds' and while unmuzzled.

Yet another child and dog suffer because of ignorance and stupidity. I feel so bad for the parents as this is something they will never forget but this is of their won doing, we aren't taling about an out of the blue atack we are talking about a dog who they felt had temprement issues and they had it in the childs bedroom - the parents sadly are responsible for what happned to that little girl nobody else and then went on to butcher the dog for doing something preventable, just really sad all round :-(

Oh how quick we are to stereotype and condemm without the full details.
This man had turned to his vet for help, asked for the dog to be PTS as it had bitten and was refused. He tried rescue who told him they could not rehome as temperament was suspect, He hed muzzled the dog most of the time and the one moment he turned away disaster struck. We all make mistakes, we all have said "I wish I had been more carefull" The dog had been a much loved family pet by the sound of things.
I can quite understand the horror and feeling of helplessness that drove this man to kill his own dog, the vet wouldn't, the rescue wouldn,t and then his daughter was bitten. I imagine he was desperate to stop it happening again and without the vet to do the job for him he did it himself with what he had to hand. Harsh? yes, cruel? yes, but what do you do if no one will help?
The newspapers will print all kinds of dribble, truth/half truth/whatever sells the paper! Only the family will know the truth. Maybe they were the wrong family for this dog, I do not know. I can see why in the heat of the moment he also asked for his other dog to be PTS, his pain is with his daughter now and colouring his vision at this time.
Whatever the circumstances of this sorry tale, I hope the liitle girl recovers well and has no lasting horrors over this, alas I feel she will  never trust a dog again. So very sad
Aileen

No doubt Aileen that we will not know the truth of what happened - and I can also sympathise with having the other dog PTS given the situation the parents are in. However, I would be very surprised to hear that any vet had truly refused an owner of such a dog who told them it had bitten and needed to be euthanased.

M.

From what I could gather the dog was attacking and the dad stabbed it to get it off :-(
They had 1 x male and 2 x female of this breed, but I have never heard of a dog attackling someone because a bitch is in season?

I still stand by the fact no dog attacks unprovoked, I heard of a dog who attacked a person, not a 'bad' attack but the dog was pts, as they were so shocked it had attacked they had an autopsy to see if there was any underlying medical condition and guess what they found? A crayon lodged in the dogs ear canal!!
This must have cause extreme pain to the poor dog and maybe the child annoying it was too much and it snapped who knows, but it goes to show children should not be left alone with dogs as they see them as toys to stuff things in and pull on etc not something to be respected and treated with a firm hand etc which is why a adult should always be present.

Still seems these recent dog attacks are only coming from one sort of family :-(

Still seems these recent dog attacks are only coming from one sort of family

I work in an A&E department and believe me dogs bite far more often than seen in the news, it's just the dramatic ones that get the headlines. Dogs bite for many reasons and unprovoked at times. So many reasons like pain, sickness, fear, also from being teased and tormented. Do not brand them all together and do not stereotype the owners..they are many and varied!
Aileen

Whatever actually happened, which I doubt if anyone will ever truthfully know, (certainly not from newspaper reports) I hope the little girl recovers as quickly as possible, although her terrible experience will probably make her frightened of dogs for the rest of her life.

If the dog HAD bitten someone before, and they HAD told a Vet about their concerns, I cannot see any Vet refusing to put it to sleep, and to just tell them it needed re-training, especially when there were 2 children in the house, it would be more than the Vets job was worth.

But why were the people looking after someone else's female dog in-season, with an un-castrated dog of the same breed and an un-castrated German Shepherd dog in the same house? Were they perhaps hoping for a mating with the female, to make a shilling or two?

At the end of all this, lies a very sick child in a hospital bed, who will no doubt have to face many operations. God Bless her.

> Oh how quick we are to stereotype and condemm without the full details

Merlot I 100% agree with your posts, it is easy to comment and judge from the outside but whatever the truth (and we will never get that from a newspaper) a little girl has been seriously hurt :-(

I'd also be surprised that a vet would refuse to pts a dog that aggressive. Perhaps there is more too it, maybe for example he had gone and asked but couldn't afford it and the vets refused to do it for free? (unsurprisingly!)

more too it

Often seems to be the case in many of these incidents unfortunately.

I shall be curious to see what happens with regard to responsibility of ownership and so on.
Similar to the John Paul Massey case, I shall also be interested to hear what happens in regard to the Uncle (owner of dog) Christian Foulkes as I believe he should be going to court some time this month.

I can quite understand the horror and feeling of helplessness that drove this man to kill his own dog, the vet wouldn't, the rescue wouldn,t and then his daughter was bitten. I imagine he was desperate to stop it happening again and without the vet to do the job for him he did it himself with what he had to hand. Harsh? yes, cruel? yes, but what do you do if no one will help?

But to actually stab the dog? I cannot imagine in a hundred years ever doing that to anybody or anything, even in a blind rage. To plan to get the knife, to get the dog, to plunge the knife in several times - blood no doubt everywhere, the dog yelping or screaming ... maybe trying to get away ... that's not normal  unless you are a fairly violent person, or are used to knives in fights, surely? Besides i think after that, someone would have pts if asked.

Lindsay
x

> But to actually stab the dog? I cannot imagine in a hundred years ever doing that to anybody or anything, even in a blind rage. To plan to get the knife, to get the dog, to plunge the knife in several times - blood no doubt everywhere, the dog yelping or screaming ... maybe trying to get away ... that's not normal&nbsp; unless you are a fairly violent person, or are used to knives in fights, surely?

I agree.

> Besides i think after that, someone would have pts if asked.

Yes, it seems as if the man himself thought that too - or he would not have requested his innocent dogs be taken & destroyed.

See this is what I don't understand. There was no problem in getting the innocent dogs taken away, but the dog that attacked could not be euthanised after it bit somebody (prior to attacking the little girl).

The little girl was "allegedly" safe in a neighbour's house, the dog was "allegedly" in the garden when he stabbed it to death, and this was witnessed by another neighbour, how gruesome. Yet another innocent party involved.

The Police would HAVE to be notified of an attack such as this, and it should have been left up to them to put the dog to sleep humanely.

I think the poor animal died an unnecessary & horrific death.....there is no justification for this guys actions...the dog should have been pts humanely. 

Perhaps this is why the Police acted so quickly in taking away the other 2 dogs from the house.
It may have been for their own safety.

True.

I have to say I do think the owner should be prosecuted. He doesn't have a leg to stand on and acted violently.

Lindsay
x

I think the poor animal died an unnecessary & horrific death.....there is no justification for this guys actions...the dog should have been pts humanely. 

I agree, it was a horrible way for that dog to die, what the father did was wrong. If I had witnessed the man doing that as the poor neighbour had to, I would feel the man a complete violent thug. It was probably one bite, one hold of the poor little girl that caused that damage, not a frenzied attack, what the man did was a frenzied attack. If he had done it in trying to get the dog off his daughter that is understandable, but to go back, get a knife and murder the dog is quite another.............

But, then I got to thinking that as a female I probably wouldn't do it, but men if we strip them down are protectors of their family, he'd just carried his bloodied daughter to a neighbour, he probably felt guilty and that he had not protected her, he'd tried to have the dog pts no one would help without it costing him. I doubt he was thinking rationally at all that the dog would now be pts. Often we don't like to blame ourselves perhaps his wife would blame him too as she didn't want the dog, so I guess he put his emotions into blaming the dog, he needed to do something, men need to do something! I can only imagine the emotions that were going through him, he probably wanted to stand in the street and scream in pain and rage. Women tend to comfort the injured, and concentrate on the victim, I guess the neighbour was doing that he probably felt helpless so.........

He did something! It helped him give justice. Right or wrong, I can understand why he did it.  You have to remember he had his daughters face in his head. In time no doubt he will regret what he did. The dog did not deserve that.

There's no excuses, what this thug did was over the top, not called for and down right cruel. His daughter was 'safe' at a neighbours, yet he still went back to his house intent on making the poor animal suffer an extremely painful and violent death, i personally hope he gets prosecuted and jailed.

Tbh with a dog this aggressive?!?? And of the breeds it's stemmed from you think it would be diificult for him to stab it to death without him being mauled or fought off due to size and strength. Did he muzzle the dog and set to it, so he couldn't defend himself?

In season bitch at the property of course they were going to breed. Doesn't take much to figure that out. We shall never know the truth and the facts of this case. Probably was turned away because the vets wouldn't do it for free. I believe that dogs with unstable temperaments will attack unprovoked. Similar to a shizophrenic pardon my analgy. If he was also mentally tormented with lack of exercise training etc he could have been a bomb waiting to explode. Innocents in this are the young and the canines in the house of savages

According to the little girl's Grandmother the dog only became aggressive 2 weeks ago, up until then it had been "golden", they took it to the Vets to be put to sleep because they were worried about it, and apparently for whatever reason they were refused, but on the day of the attack they let it into the girl's bedroom whilst she was playing with her toys???? (they must have been very worried) The father turned his head away for a second, heard the dog growl (isn't that a warning sign, leave me alone?), and the next thing the dog has seriously bitten the girls face.

So much neglect by the parents, the poor dog was probably dying to get at the in season bitch, all those hormonal scents.
Trouble is when these sort of attacks happen, non dog lovers always start calling for a ban on ALL dogs, and that they MUST be always muzzled 24/7. I just cannot think what it must have been like for their neighbour (who stated that the dogs were always barking) to see such a large dog being knifed to death, it doesn't bear thinking about. Poor child, and poor dog.

I know of two very responsible dog owners who had dogs put to sleep due to attacking a child, and the vets had no qualms over having them put to sleep. 

Different vets. 

Both owners were very dog savvy and careful, and in both cases quick enough to prevent injury, and had been dealing with increasingly unreliable behaviour through good management.

The fact is this dog had bitten a week previously and regardless of the vet not wishing to put it to sleep etc... the fact still remains that the father ALLOWED it into the child's bedroom and then turned their back on that dog, I would say 'one second' being a bit of a dramatisation. For a dog of that size/build to growl and grab that little girl in just 'one second' it would have had to have been laying right next to that child... rediculous thought for a dog that was taken just one week before to be PTS right? The dog bit... it wouldn't have taken much for a dog of that size and power to do that kind of damage to such a small child. So emotion will now dictate this as a 'frenzied' dog attack by a dangerous animal when in reality it probably would have been stitches had it been an adult and it happened purely at the negligence of the owner.
From what I read, this man took his child to the neighbour's house, leaving her to return back to the house where he kicked and punched the dog into the garden (as far as the report stated that I read, it read like the dog was still in the home until that point), where the neighbours watched as he then preceeded to stab the dog multiple times with a knife he had taken from the kitchen. This 'dangerous dog' obviously did not fight back during the attack, otherwise he'd have been injured himself just via punching and kicking the dog.

This is NOT the actions of a responsible or reasonable person, although having said that, at such a time emotion will be high, I couldn't fathom leaving my child unless there where other people at risk because the dog had not been secured until help arrived from the police. It's all too easy to allow emotion to take over, but the fact is, this was so PREVENTABLE even with the animal's past bite and the refusal for it to be PTS by the vet.

I feel so very sorry for this little girl and also for the dog that had it's life taken in such a way and can't imagine what the neighbours are also going through, but I do not feel sorry for the father in the slightest if the account he gave was true, he had the knowledge to prevent this and I feel it was his own anger and guilt at himself that led him to go back and take it out on the dog over staying with his daughter. I hope after what he has done to that dog he is prosecuted to the full extent of the law and not allowed to get away with it because of sympathy. That little girl did not deserve to be left for even 'one alledged second' with a dog who would obviously have been under stress from a visiting in season bit, the dog did not deserve to be put in such a position and then to be killed in such a disturbing, sickening and distressing way. Completely irresponsible.

After that incident, I doubt it would be hard to find anyone to put that animal to sleep without the need to stab it to death. Also from the report, it stated the police took the other two dogs from the home at the request of the owner and that he had asked them to put his GSD to sleep, not that they were seized. Either way if there is anything 'off' about the story, he's hardly going to make himself look even worse to the press by reporting ALL of the facts, he's already scarred his daughter physically and probably emotionally for life. For all anyone knows, that 'in season' bitch could have been there for mating or they may have just been helping out a friend by taking care of her, but either way it just shows the pure ignorance and lack of responsibility of the parents to allow this bitch into their home with two entire males, all under one probably noisy and cramped roof. An accident waiting to happen in itself, if not with humans, it would have been the dogs.

So, at the end of the day, it all happened because of lack of money (and ignorance), surely a child's life is worth more than £180? if they were that concerned.

"Gareth even phoned Battersea Dogs' Home but they told him he would have to pay £180 to get it taken away. They couldn't afford that. We are devastated about what happened. Taylor is a bubbly, wonderful young girl. We are all so sad.

So very tragic for the little girl xx