Lurcher Beaten To Death

[ILoveKettleChips]

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I have seen this news report today.
Western Daily Press 2.4.05

BEATEN DOG STORY WAS UNBALANCED

10:32 - 02 April 2005

Sir - I've just read the article about the dog apparently beaten to death on a travellers site in Over Lane. I found your article to be very unbalanced and bordering on racism. There is no doubt that the dog was brutally killed, but the circumstances behind the incident are that the dog was pulled off a baby boy who it was savaging.

The boy was rushed to Southmead Hospital who transferred him to the BRI by emergency ambulance. The mother of the child was interviewed by the police at the hospital. Doctors stated that the baby escaped death by a whisker. The baby has now been discharged from hospital with 42 stitches in his neck.

The problem was that word had got back that the baby boy had died, so some of the younger traveller males decided to deal out rough justice. Most of the site residents disagreed with that action, saying that the RSPCA should take the dog away. But as you know they have a mistrust of authority.

Can I ask why you did not include the full balanced story?

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If that's true then it goes a way to explaining the circumstances, but doesn't justify in the slightest the abuse inflicted on the hound.

 

[Joanna]

A very immotive subject.....The vet could have humanely put this dog to sleep though

 

[BeeJay]

Possible solutions are being talked about. Just because you aren't privy to that ILKC doesn't mean that they aren't happening. People aren't just standing around ranting as you seem to think that people are. Neither are they sitting at their pc waffling liberal views.

One move is to ban the keeping of animals or at least limit the keeping of animals on council owned traveller sites. Due to the terrible condition of the animals. The Traveller Liason Unit are being obstructive to the RSPCA Inspector who is trying to

help those animals.

The report that I have read and it's not from a letter in a newspaper is that a young girl was bitten and was in hospital.

It seems to me that the whole thing is a tragedy particularly for the child who was bitten.

 

[Sharon T]

I'm quite shocked at some (fortunately a minority) of the views that have been expressed on this subject, in support and/or defense of the culture of 'travellers' and how this culture translates into their 'relationships' with their dogs and other domesticated animals that they keep. Some people here have chosen to find reasons for this behaviour, and whether they will admit to this or not, condone it. There are NO reasons that could ever possibly justify destruction or beating of animals, regardless of whether they behave in the way that their owners wish or not. Whether animals are kept for companions or as working animals, they deserve the same compassion and respect. And as far as I'm concerned the debt we have towards animals that work us is even greater. What gives us the right to beat or destroy them because they fail at this life of servitude that we place upon them? In my experience people that show so little compassion towards other living things will show the same lack of compassion and cruelty towards other people, and I have yet to find an exception to this. It is inhumane - end of story.

And on a less PC note, as far as my own pets are concerned, I can only say how pleased I am that living in London means it is highly unlikely I'm ever going to have to be subjected to the 'culture' of travellers. I just feel very sad for the devastating effect that this culture clearly often has on other people and animals in the UK that aren't so fortunate.

 

[Scott Frodsham]

I feel sorry for the child bitten, however that was no way to kill an animal! :rant:

It may have done wrong but deserved to be killed humanely! :angry:

I appreciate that some people believe that if an animal is not fit for purpose then it may as well be dead, but this usually involves a 12 bore!

 

[Sharon T]

You also have to ask yourself WHY this dog was so out of control?! You keep a dog, take no time to train it or properly occupy it, handle it roughly and inhumanely, then shoot it when it bites back!

 

[*Caz*]

I also feel sorry for the child that was bitten BUT that was no way to end that poor dogs life in that way :rant:

Who on earth do they think they are :rant: :rant: + also its not always the dogs fault when it attacks

 

[gucci04]

How anyone can condone in anyway this sort of thing I cannot understand. :rant: :rant: I also am sorry a child was bitten, but would they treat a man in the same way for beating his wife or child.

These people should'nt be made to get passports for their animals, they should have a complete ban from having any animal what so ever on any site, as its not only a one off incident and nobody gets caught because they don't admit to ownership of the animals.Don't give them the opportunity to do it again.

Gina

 

[Joanna]

Just as a by the by, I would never trust ANY dog 100%. A baby should not have been left in a vulnerable position where a dog could attack it. These lurchers are trained to hunt and kill :unsure: responsible parenting could have prevented the whole ugly scenario :rant:

 

[Rae]

We all seem to agree that this was certainly no way to deal with the dog no matter what it had done and that policing and enforcement / RSPCA intervention are issues so is there anything that we can do to try and get things changed? Especially with an election coming up?

I'm not sure if a dog instinctively knows a baby is a small human. They smell different and making noises like prey.

Regardless - I hope the 'younger traveller males' are dealth with properly.

BTW - my gypsy friends are just as horrified as I am about what happened.

 

[dawn]

I also feel sorry for the child that was bitten   BUT that was no way to end that poor dogs life in that way :rant: Who on earth do they think they are  :rant:   :rant:   + also its not always the dogs fault when it attacks    

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How do we know what the child was doing to the dog??

A neighbour of mine had her dog PTS because it had bitten her daughter. Knowing the child I asked her what had happened and she told be the child was pulling the dogs ears whilst bouncing on the bed and the dog went for her. The childs face was just grazed, no stitches, if the dog had meant to hurt her it would have made a real mess of her face. I told my neighbour in no uncertain terms what I thought of her decision. Why couldn't she jsut have re homed it., it had never done anything like this before even though the child was always tormenting it. The child had never been taught any repect for the dog and he had just snapped out to warn her but unfortunatley caught the childs face.

Most dogs only bite for a reason!

 

[Juley]

I totally agree with you Dawn. My boys were never allowed to maul the dogs or the cats we had before. Whatever happened there is NO EXCUSE for what happened to this poor dog.

 

[ILoveKettleChips]

A good point Dawn - the only time I've ever been bitten badly was entirely my own fault and looking back I'm amazed it wasn't worse! Trying to stuff a large GSDx I didn't know into a cage in a strange place after it had been in a fight was kind of asking for trouble!

Nine times out of ten humans are bitten as a result of their own direct actions - if you abide by the golden rule of never trusting any dog (well, if you can't read their minds ...!) you'll be safe from this sort of thing. Trust any dog with a small child? I wouldn't :- "

 

[Debra]

How do we know what the child was doing to the dog??

Most dogs only bite for a reason!

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I agree with you Dawn, my first thoughts where when reading the letter was what was the child doing? I have a whippet here that i would definitely not trust with children, he's not that keen on his kids either. I always keep an eye on him. He is a great dog.

Debra

 

[Lynn-Alexandria]

As I said in my previous post. When it comes to dogs biting I live by three points

1) It was the victims fault for doing something to the dog

2) The owner has trained the dog to so or has abused the dog

3) There is something wrong with the dog medically

 

[Innis77]

Just to give this whole topic a bit of fresh material for heated discussions;

here is what I read in a report about the Innuit (Eskimos, in unfashionable term)

and their way of dealing with "bad" dogs - i.e. a dog that turns against his master,

or the family of his master:

"A dog that seriously bites or sometimes even so much as snarls and growls at the master or those close to him, is tied up, hung upside down and slowly beaten to death; this beating can last for days and the creature is in terrible pain and torture. The howls and screams can be heard all over the village. This serves

the sole purpose of letting all other dog packs know exactly the sin and the punishment for the sin of biting a human being. Apparently the other dogs understand well what is happening and why...and once again have ingrained into them the certainty of humans being the masters with all power to nurture or destroy. - The dead dog is eventually skinned and fed to the living ones."

I neither condone nor condemn this. That I personally don't agree with such treatment and would never do something like it is a completely different matter.

What about certain Asian cultures battering and torturing dogs to make their meat softer and sweeter before killing them?

I find this horrible as a fact, yes; and I wouldn't eat dog - but they do, have done so forever and probably will do so for a long time coming.

And by the way - as long as there is mass slaughtering of cows, pigs and sheep in all European countries in such a terrible and inhumane way I don't see the point of getting totally strung up about dogs being battered to death - as much as I love dogs; I love all other creatures too... ever watched the footage on transport and unloading of young bulls destined for the slaughterhouse?? And the way they are treated before they eventually get killed? What's this arguing all about, in the light of day-to-day cruelty whereever we go?

 

[Sharon T]

as long as there is mass slaughtering of cows, pigs and sheep in all European countries in such a terrible and inhumane way I don't see the point of getting totally strung up about dogs being battered to death

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Oh I see, because animals are being exposed to cruelty all over the world, we might as well just turn a blind eye. The fact that there are any laws in place that protect animals from cruelty have come about through people 'getting strung up' about it, and taking it upon themselves to change things. The same applies to human rights, and all the atrocities that humans have suffered over the centuries too - the holocaust, slavery, etc. If everyone had just decided to not get bothered about such things then I'd hate to imagine the world we'd be living in today.

The argument that because in other cultures dogs are hung upside and beaten to death we should just give up and not bother trying to protect any animals from abuse is the most ridiculous argument I've heard to date I'm afraid.

 

[*Lesley*]

Just to give this whole topic a bit of fresh material for heated discussions;

And by the way - as long as there is mass slaughtering of cows, pigs and sheep in all European countries in such a terrible and inhumane way I don't see the point of getting totally strung up about dogs being battered to death -

The only person who we are having a heated discussion with is you Innis because you are talking the biggest load of crap I've ever heard on this board, we are concerned about what happened to this poor animal, the fact that this goes on in other cultures is irrelevent because we cannot do anything about it even if we wanted to, this is not a subject for debate as you may have noticed there is only you who has any thing positive to say about this incident the rest of us are appauled both by what has happened and your attitude towards it. so if you want an argument go somewhere else.

 

[Joanna]

WE CAN AND DO TRY TO CHANGE THE INHUMANE PRACTICES OF OTHER CULTURES..........

As a member of the IFAW...International Fund For Animal Welfare, I am part of a lobbying body who campaign and often succeed in changing practice through law.

Innis, you talk the biggest load of total b*llocks I have ever heard. Get real, and stop running with the hare and hunting with the hounds.

YOU EITHER CONDONE CRUELTY OR CONDEMN IT......[SIZE=21pt]Stop sitting on your fence and quoting crap about Eskimos and make your mind up![/SIZE]

Apologies Nigel and Judy, but I am cross now..............

 

[*Lesley*]

WE CAN AND DO TRY TO CHANGE THE INHUMANE PRACTICES OF OTHER CULTURES..........

I was just trying to point out that the fact that it goes on elsewhere has nothing to do with the poor dog in question, Innis is just trying cause an argument when there isn't one :angry: I for one will not give him the satisfaction