DOG ATTACKED MY CHILD IN ST AIDEN'S ROAD

[mandyw]

My original posting seems to have sparked several arguments, some of which are frankly far from the point of my thread which does seem to have been somewhat hijacked. A tad insensitive I'd say. But hey, it's a forum so people will inevitably, and have the right, to 'speak their brains' even if they have no personal experience of a dog attack themselves. I have no desire to incite hatred towards dogs/makes of dog, owners, or indeed the bloody 'make' of the owner themselves, should such a thing exist. As a family we are animal-lovers, my daughter particularly so, and she had desperately wanted a dog of her own this summer, so the whole incident seems particularly cruel. She won't leave the house in case it happens again and has lost a lot of her former confidence, as well as any joy she had in dogs, and who can blame her? But I digress, the point is that even though she has suffered a serious attack which could have killed her, the INDIVIDUAL that owns this PARTICULAR animal has yet to face any charges, has so far shown no remorse or concern, (that I am aware of), and did nothing to help me as my child and I lay screaming for help outside their front door. Even worse, they have apparently tried to get the dog back. The animal is currently being assessed and could well be returned to its owners if the relevant authority deems it safe to do so. This is the law in our country. So apart from wanting very much to thank those that did help us, I wanted to warn others, (especially those living in St Aiden's Road), that it ain't cut and dry when a dog attacks someone. In my opinion, there is no doubt that any dog can be dangerous if it has an idiot for an owner, and yes I will be speaking to the press, and yes I will prosecute the owner if the Police don't.

[ChavWivaLawDegree]

Hi,

Did the police ask any of the witnesses to give statements? If not maybe you should push them to do it so they take it as seriously as they should. Also can you give a description of the dog please, just incase it does end up back with the owners.

[citizenED]

Dear Mandy,

thank you so much for posting again and bringing us up to date with the situation. I trust that things turn out to your satisfaction whether form a police prosecution or your own.

kind regards to your family, Citizen

[trinity]

Thank you for posting to warn us Mandy. I live near this street and will be avoiding it when with my children.

I do hope your little girl recovers both physically and emotionally. In addition I hope you get justice and that the dog is destroyed before it can do more harm and the owner is prosecuted fully.

[mandyw]

Hi CWLD

The Police have the names of several witnesses willing to give statements, but whether they've taken any yet is anyone's guess as I have been unable to speak to the PC dealing with it. As to the dog, the Police believe it's a SBT, (or a SOAB..), with a bit of something else mixed in - not huge, brown and white patchy coat, short muscular legs and chest, possibly a bit of boxer in there. Got a horrible feeling they're going to get it back.

[louisiana]

You may want to enquire in your immediate area whether anyone else has experienced an incident involving this dog. It may be only a series of incidents that pushes the authorities into taking action, and it's only after you are attacked that you often become aware of other attacks that have occurred with same dog (people start coming out of the woodwork, talk to people they don't normally talk to). So speak to everyone including traffic wardens, shop-keepers etc.

*Often* people go to the hospital to get treatment but don't go to the police to report the attack, and I don't think the health services ever tell the police, which means the police have an incomplete record of the dog's 'record'. And the police don't generally have any interest in pursuing things that don't come to them (as with your point about witness statements), so it's left to members of the public to make sure the police have the whole picture. It's just another case of 'if you want it done properly, do it yourself', I'm afraid.

You say the dog's owner has not demonstrated any concern or remorse. I'm afraid that was my experience too: in one case, it was the owner that was egging the dog on. There are some not nice people out there; they may even be mentally unbalanced. But it's never good finding out you have them in your immediate vicinity.

For your child, time will heal, and children do forget quite major things fairly quickly (though it can be the strong negative ones that tend to remain in memories).

[ChavWivaLawDegree]

Another angle is to complain to their landlord, if they are tenants. If they are council tenants then the council are very strict about tenants keeping their dogs under control and threaten eviction of people who breach their tenancy agreement by not keeping their dogs under control or act in an anti-social way.

[KalamityKel]

I'm not sure how responsive Southwark Council are in these matters but when my brother had a similar issue (a threatening dog and even oweners) it took Lewisham ages to do anything about it. When I first contacted them they weren't very helpful and said if the dog hadn't actually come in to contact with anyone then there wasn't anything they could do - my brother has 5 young children and lives next to a very aggressive cross breed dog that, at the time, was left out in the garden all day either trying to dig it's way under the fence or head butting the fence trying to break through. Quite clearly this wasn't the response we had hoped for as they wouldn't even send anyone to assess the environment.

I ended up mass mailing all Lewisham Councillors stressing the point of why should anyone have to wait until someone is violently attacked by this animal before anyone takes any notice, to which I did finally get a response and my brothers partner was invited to meet with one nominated to handle the case along with the RSPCA and dangerous dog control people.

To cut a long and boring story short when everything was looked in to the neighbours conveniently denied the dog actually lived with them and only visted from time to time. The council couldn't prove otherwise as the majority of residents near by didn't want to get involved and so could not really do anything about the dog. Everything, however is noted and my brother and partner have regular contact with the council on this matter.

Be persistent with the authorities and gather as much support from those around (who will really do something rather than talk about it). (tu)

[LizzygotDizzy]

The dog should be put down immediately, have you thought of contacting your local press to give them your story, it might make the relevant local authority act a bit quicker if they get pressure from the press, it also might push the Police into some action and actually might make them hurry up and prosecute the owners. Make sure you take photos of the injuries caused. You are right, your thread did get highjacked by lots of people with loads of irrelevant posts, it was extremely insensitive and I apologise for my part in it. I hope your little one recovers quickly both emotionally and physically, what an awful thing to have happened, and its a shame that idiots out there rob people of the wonders of ever experiencing the delights of having a dog as a faithful and loving companion, (hopefully in time and with help she will learn to trust again),I hope if they ever get it back, (which I hope god willing they won't) it turns on them and they will experience a tiny amount of what you and your little girl have suffered and have had to go through.