attack

very sad :(

That is awfull!

Thats horrific

Horrible. I thought the sherriffs sweeping gneralisations about all pitbulls being unpredictable was terrible as well although having seen that I expect he was shocked and angry hence the comment. Hope the little girl will be OK.

I am not defending pitbulls, but you will note from the article that the dog was chained and staked to a doghouse.   A small clue to the type of living conditions for this dog.  Any breed of dog that is habitually chained is likely to become overly defensive and aggressive.

Stacey

Well said Stacey.  And the other thing why was the kid left alone with a dog?  We all know how young children can torment dogs.  I probably do the same if I were chained and staked up.

Some people

I watch alot of American animal rescue programmes such as Animal cops Detroit and it seems it is the norm for a lot of americans to keep their dogs chained up outside.

Claire (waiting for loads of Americans to come on the board to prove me wrong ;) )

Hi Claire,

I'm an American, but have been resident in the U.K. for 8 years.  

Speaking for all Americans :-), I can assure you that chaining dogs up outside is *not* the norm.   I watch the Animal Cops programmes too (Detroit, NYC and Miami) and what they show should most definitely not be taken as standard practice.   What is the norm are the people that you see on these same programmes who go to the shelter to adopt one of the unfortunate dogs featured. 

A programme about normal pet owners with normal pets having a normal day is not "exciting" enough for TV. 

I would hate to think what visiting Americans think about Brits from watching programmes like Life of Grime, or, How Clean is My House!   Yesterday I read an article in the newspaper about the upsurge of dog fighting in the UK .. so unfortunately, there is more than a little bit of the "Detroit element"  in the U.K. too. :-(

Stacey

That's so awful - the poor child.

I can't stand these idiots who get bull breeds as guard dogs (why else was it chained in the yard?) because they look tough, provide them with no socialisation or training, and then wonder why the dog flips out.  What do people expect? And as for the Sherrif's comment: "these dogs are unpredictable." What a load of rubbish. Human aggression in pit bulls is totally abnormal, and ALL dogs can be unpredictable, especially when they're mistreated.

Those "American" shows like Animal Cops are filmed in large, crime-ridden cities.  Of course people who can't even afford to take care of themselves aren't going to take good care of their animals.  Most of the country is suburbs with normal residential homes and fenced backyards.  I live in Seattle, Washington, which is pretty nice relative to many large metropolitan cities, and I have never seen anything as bad as what these TV shows show.

HI ravens " large crime ridden cities" - maybe thats why people think they need a guard dog. Im a housing offficer in Scotland working in some poor and high crime areas  (nothing like the challenges of US areas by the way) where people have dogs for all the reasons all dog lovers do, plus security so they can go to the shops without being burgled in areas which are not well policed. Before baby walkers came in, dogs were also bought for babies as soon as they took first steps. I can see why they do it, but nothing excuses irresponsibility.

The ridiculous thing is that pit bulls and most bull breeds are generally rubbish at being guard dogs - it's not what they're bred for and doesn't suit their temperament. A lot of drug dealers, criminals, etc. get them to look 'hard,' and then hand them into pounds/kill them/get rid of them when they realise that they're no good at it.