Sensible Article On Dangerous Dogs

[Alyosha]

Full article:

http://m.smh.com.au/environment/animals/owners-bark-behind-their-dogs-bite-20130809-2rmvs.html

The mauling death this week of a two-year-old boy has raised concerns about dog breeds. But the dogs aren't the problem, writes Natasha Wallace.

Never mind the dogs. In 32 years as a ranger with Bathurst Council, Margaret Gaal has been abused, attacked, spat on and even had a loaded rifle shoved in her face.

When the Herald called Gaal this week, she described how hours earlier a man had stood menacingly in front of her vehicle, daring her to run him down while his mate made haste with his two American pit bulls, a restricted breed subject to stringent rules.

Gaal called the police.

''He had a thick moustache, he had dried saliva over his mouth, he was in a tracksuit, he was very dishevelled. He was a scary looking person and very aggressive,'' Gaal says. ''In a lot of cases the dogs take on the behaviour of the owner. The dog puffs its chest out, its tail goes up, the hackles down the centre of the back of the dog come up and when you look at the owner, they are the same.''

Research in the US has shown a clear correlation between those who own vicious dogs and their tendency towards domestic violence and criminal behaviour.

Kersti Seksel, a renowned registered veterinary specialist in behaviour medicine, says the potential link needs to be examined in Australia and more done on finding out who is breeding restricted dogs.

''Somebody has to be brave enough to stand up and say that, because [the studies show] there is a big link between domestic violence and animal abuse, and we also know there's a link between kids who get bitten by dogs who often come from a home where there's domestic violence,'' Seksel says.

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[Santo66]

What these dog owners source aggressive dogs because they are generally involved in criminal activity and use dogs for added protection. There are actually circles of grubs who purposely breed aggressive dogs which are mostly Bull breed based who supply these type of people..........I have had many approach me over the years looking for GSD's who will take someone down without training, some live in fear of their lives especially in drug deals gone wrong........also women living in fear of scumbag X's often want an aggressive dog in their yard to keep the X away, some are quite sad conditions these people live under but as irresponsible people with aggressive dogs is the cocktail that leads to problems unfortunately.

[Andisa]

Don't think for one minute that pricks are not out there as described in that article. I have only bred 2 litters of Rottweilers and in that time I have dealt with some friggen nutters - the last bastard has still affected me 4 1/2 yrs later. I will not be breeding another litter of Rottweilers again due to the scum that are out there.

[Steph M]

I would believe it. Nice to see someone with experience sharing some of that rather than bureaucratic rabble from half-wits.

[Zhou Xuanyao]

Are you kidding Alyosha? Do you even know what her role is? Perhaps there's a pretty good reason people hate her guts, perhaps she goes around trying to take people's dogs away on the basis of their breed; you bet people are going to give her hell and more power to them.

Do we know just what she means by dangerous or over aggressive dogs? I get the impression this is defined by the breed, like the guy she elaborately described who was trying to defend his Pitbulls.

Owners of such dogs are uneducated? Yeah, right.