Stop Dog Attacks

The Liverpool Echo is running a campaign to coincide with the controversial dog amnesty to encourage people to contact the authorities if they suspect a neighbour to be keeping an illegal dog.

The campaign, which has been slammed by nearly all animal welfare groups as being a catch all, knee jerk reaction which lets dogs take the punishment for the actions of criminals who import banned breeds, has been put in place as a reaction to dog bite incidents in the Merseyside area, compounded by the death of Ellie Lawrenson on New Year’s day in St. Helens.

A 31 year old woman rang K9 Magazine earlier today to ask for our help, as she believed her neighbours were starting a whispering campaign about her and her Staffordshire Bull Terrier.

The woman, from Maghull on Merseyside, asked not to be named in order to not draw attention to herself, told us.

“I bought the dog from a breeder, it is registered with the Intercontinental Kennel Club, has all the vaccinations and is only 11 weeks old. I’ve only just started taking her out for walks, but now I daren’t as I worry that she may be taken from me and destroyed.

I am an experienced dog owner, I have a Golden Retriever as well as my Staffy and have them both well trained. I don’t know what to do, whether to muzzle her to send out a message of being responsible, but I am worried that this will draw attention to her. I’m going to get her microchipped tomorrow, but am worried about being out in public with her.

I bought this dog specifically for my son, who loves the breed. She is gentle, very submissive to my other dog and my family, but because her father was quite a big example of his breed, I’m scared that she will be too and could mistakenly come under the Pit Bull Terrier type umbrella”.

Many fear that the dog amnesty may bring death to more family pets than illegal dogs, whilst dog professionals in the area are concerned that rumours of the amnesty applying to any large or ‘fierce’ looking dog during the week it is in force, may be true.

A distraught dog owner has explained why she took the heart breaking decision to have her dog put down. It was reported on a website that reunites missing dogs with their owners, a site that had reunited this particular dog with it’s owner in the past, that a seizure was scheduled for the dog and the owner took the pre-emptive decision to have the dog put down by their vet.

The story has caused outrage amongst dog owners, especially those using the site where the news was broken. It is understood that the owner of dog, which was called Cassie, had been advised that a seizure was scheduled to removed the dog and have it put down as part of the current dog amnesty which is happening in Merseyside.

Rather than have the dog removed, kennelled and then put down after a stressful ordeal, the owner of the dog opted to take the dog herself and have their vet perform the procedure.

The news has caused widespread concern for the safety of all dogs that could be interpreted as being of “pit bull type”. A dog that is of no direct relation to a Pit Bull Terrier could still be judged as being of “pit bull type”, as the method used to make the decision is purely subjective. There is no way to prove or disprove whether a dog is of “pit bull type”

The Liverpool ‘dangerous’ dogs amnesty and other similar schemes are a disgrace. An excuse to terminate the lives of dogs guilty of nothing more than looking a certain way in a horribly vulgar, misguided attempt to manipulate the appearance of being proactive on dangerous dogs.

K9 Magazine believes viable alternatives to this scheme have been offered and ignored and would therefore urge anyone considering handing their dog over to the authorities to seriously reconsider.

We urge owners who believe their dog’s physical characteristics to be similar to that of the Pit Bull Terrier to first ensure they understand and are fully compliant with the Dangerous Dogs Act (see link below) and secondly to focus on the key issue of whether they believe their dog is a genuine threat to people’s safety and if professional behavioural advice should be sought prior to a possible death sentence. We wish to be very clear, we urge no dog owner to participate in this ugly, politically motivated dangerous dogs amnesty.