guess who wrote:We have just had the most dreadful weekend of our life's. Here is a link telling what has happened to us. http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/n ... k_by_dogs/ The woman has been charged, but the dog which bit my child and ripped my dogs guts out is still with the owner. The police have no power to take it away. I am desperate to do something about this. I have never begged any one for anything in my life. But i am begging any of you who think you may be able to help me in any way. I want to do something about this. How do i go about getting a petition going/ How can i go about getting my PM do get involved in this? That's awful for you all, especially your daughter. If you know who your MP is just Google his / her name and you should get to their "website" and their email address. That's a start, perhaps with your link.I would guess that a proper letter may have more effect though, but would be less immediate. Is the identity of the "owner" of the dogs known and could the local 'paper name and shame them? Ask them to have their dogs put down due to their inability to control them? I don't know the law in this area but I would not just accept what the police say as they probably don't know either. Try to find out and see if there is an avenue to explore. It is not just dog on dog - your daughter was bitten and that could have been alot worse.

guess who wrote:We have just had the most dreadful weekend of our life's. Here is a link telling what has happened to us. http://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/n ... k_by_dogs/ The woman has been charged, but the dog which bit my child and ripped my dogs guts out is still with the owner. The police have no power to take it away. I am desperate to do something about this. I have never begged any one for anything in my life. But i am begging any of you who think you may be able to help me in any way. I want to do something about this. How do i go about getting a petition going/ How can i go about getting my PM do get involved in this? That's awful for you all, especially your daughter. If you know who your MP is just Google his / her name and you should get to their "website" and their email address. That's a start, perhaps with your link.I would guess that a proper letter may have more effect though, but would be less immediate. Is the identity of the "owner" of the dogs known and could the local 'paper name and shame them? Ask them to have their dogs put down due to their inability to control them? I don't know the law in this area but I would not just accept what the police say as they probably don't know either. Try to find out and see if there is an avenue to explore. It is not just dog on dog - your daughter was bitten and that could have been alot worse.

About ten or twelve years ago, I was out walking our little terrier on a Saturday afternoon and he was attacked by an ex-Police dog. Being quite a large area with lots of trees etc, I didn't see the owner and dogs in the distance otherwise would've went for a walk elsewhere. The bloke sometimes used to take this dog and a smaller, more docile one, into the field over the road and it was always clear it should've been on a lead and muzzled due to the wild nature of it. Luckily it seems as if this dog was trained to stun, rather than all-out kill, as he picked ours up, getting nearly all of his middle in his mouth and shaking him about for what felt like an eternity. I was only around 12 and had never been so terrified in my entire life. The owner just stood there and waited for his dog to return, had no intention of giving the thing a kick in the ribs. We got him to the vets and the vet told us straight that he couldn't guarantee he would survive, let alone pull through the operation and other treatments required for his internal injuries. Vet reckons the little fella managed to shift himself round slightly before the German Shepherd plunged his teeth in and shook him, as it was only his ribcage that stopped him suffering fatal damage. All the owner of the dog that attacked said after it had happened was "he's up, he looks fine, don't worry about him", only after my dad gave him some rather strong words and also threatened to involve the police did he offer to cover all vet costs and our expenses, as we had to take him through to the vets about 10 miles away.

Makes my blood boil reading about things like this happening, sorry for the loss OP and for what you and your family had to experience.

Ours is a daft as a brush but still barks and growls at any strange footsteps he hears walking up the stairs to the flat and to be honest, I wouldn't have it any other way. Once he's been introduced to the "stranger" he's fine. So after the new postie has had a fright, thinking that there's some deranged hound at the other side of the door, the next time he calls, the dog just sits there wagging his tail.

He's even better when we're on an all-night fishing trip. Someone once asked if I wasn't scared of leaving £2k worth of fishing rods & reels just outside the tent, so I suggested he tried to take them away while we were asleep. He didn't get within 20' of the tent before the dog was snarling & growling and even though he had seen the dog the previous day, he confessed that there was no way he'd have gone any further.

The fact that the dog bit your daughter as well as destroying your property (your dog). Surely the owners can be held accountable for the dog's action's? It may be worth asking other dog owners in the park whether they have ever had any run in's with this dog. Being able to provide evidence that this isn't an isolated incident must help your cause.

Thankfully in over 20 years of owning dogs I've had very few incidents of note. Owning quite large dogs myself, a German Wire Haired Pointer and Munsterlander, probably spares them from quite a lot. The odd scuffle, but nothing more.

I hope this incident doesn't put you or your daughter off owning a dog again. I can't begin to imagine how traumatizing this experience must have been for your daughter.

Making a civil claim against the owner of a dog is a near impossibility.

As far as I am aware you have to show the dog had 'propensity' to attack other animals or human beings. In the absence of witness statements to that effect, it is virtually impossible to do.

You may be able to claim from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority if a human has suffered injury.

Would have thought that has already been demonstrated beyond any doubt.

No, it's not.


No, but you do have to satisfy the requirements of section 2(2) of the Animals Act 1971, and they have been confusing and defeating judges and lawyers for decades now. Why the fookin thing has never been repealed and re-enacted in at least some Earth language does beat me. I'm probably the only person who understands it, and even then only for about half an hour at a time, and then its gone

But on the limited info we have, I would say there is a decent chance of a claim. The question might be more whether it's worth making it, as (a) how do you find out who owns the dogs an (b) critically, is there any insurance policy that would pay out if a claim is successful?


No chance, because no crime of violence has been committed.

Re no crime of violence being committed. I have known people get compensation for psychological injuries.

Looks as though those involved have suffered some psychological injuries, and the girl suffered injury to her hand. Would this not be enough? (I seem to recall a £1000 threshold that you had to cross and that trivial injuries were not compensated).

I note the woman has been charged, presumably with having a dangerously out of control dog or something to that effect. Thus I guess an argument could be made, however spurious, that the OP did suffer as the result of a criminal act.

Such a sad tale , and I feel genuine pity for the family involved .Unfortunately these breeds of dog are becoming very popular as a status symbol among the chav fraternity , and thus such events are becoming more commonplace . There really is no need for such type of dog to be kept as a family pet . I wouldn't trust one with my kids . In fact I recently disposed of our Lhasa Apso , Tinkerbell ( AKA rat dog), because she bit my 5 yr old daughter . Dogs of any size can be dangerous , but breeds such as bull terriers can be lethally so .What kind of an eejit lets one run loose unmuzzled in a park ?

Me. I have a staffy cross who is more interested in chasing squirells then children. I only have them on extending leads in the Country Park because of rabbits. My staffy cross is not a status symbol and I don't agree with your "no need for such a dog to be a family pet" comment. What does that mean? We go through this every few years, it was once the GSD, then the Rottweiler, now the Staffy. I don't encourage my girl to "rough house", nor do I encourage her to play games where she has to nip/mouth. We have boundaries at home, she is allowed to go on the furniture and the bed, but if I tell her to move, she will do it instantly. She is not allowed to "harass" another dog, a quick sniff and if either dog initiates play then off they go and play. If either or one of the dogs isn't interested, I call her back and we go on our way.

I agree that any dogs can be dangerous, but to suggest bull terriers can be lethally so, so can Rottys, GSD's, Mastiffs etc etc just so happens the staffy is the "dog of the moment".

We need to end BSL (breed specific legislation) then innocent staffy and staffy crosses wouldn't get taken off the streets by a dog warden who was "just passing" (As shown on the One Show a few weeks ago).

And you can't have all bull breeds muzzeled either. That will make the situation worse. When a dog is muzzeled it can't defend itself, nor can they socialise properly so you will have lots of unsocialled dogs running lose which is ok in the park but not when the muzzle comes off at home.

The staffy is not called a nanny dog for nothing. It is the most loyal dog to its owner. IMO its the owners that need the training as well as the dog.