Pages

Tuesday 2 January 2007

Responsible dog owners?

This is truly awful:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/merseyside/6225205.stm

But it raises questions:
What was that little girl doing out of her bed in the middle of the night?
Why on earth had she been left alone with a dog?? *
What was her uncle doing with a dog that is illegal to own in the UK?

* I own a dog. I like to think she is reasonably well behaved. She is not a terrier, she is not a guard dog, or a "fighting" dog. But I would never, ever ever ever leave her alone with a child. That is like leaving two children alone together, and giving one of them a set of very sharp knives. No one would do that. So why do people leave their children alone with a dog? Even the most gentle and patient family pet can maul a child. It doesn't take much: maybe the child will take the dog's toy, or poke it in the eye, or pull its tail. Or maybe the dog is just in a bad mood.

I truly hope that dog owners and parents will learn from this upsetting incident. But they won't. People will continue to leave small children unattended with dogs, and this will happen again. And remember, your friendly Labrador is no more trustworthy with a five-year old than some mean looking Staffie. You have been warned.

No comments: