I am devastated that another child has been killed by a dog, what are your thoughts?

I try to see both sides of any issue and not jump in until there are more than sketchy and often contradictory reports to comment on.

In general in these *RARE* and tragic events where a child is killed by a dog I question any owner who contends that the dog woke up one morning having undergone a change of character and attacked out of the blue.

There would have been signs that all was not right with the dog in its behaviour, but some owners are too ignorant to know what the dog is “telling” them, so miss the opportunity to address the problem before something happens.

Some large and powerful rescue dogs are sold to inexperienced handlers who have no business owning a powerful dog as they are not equipped to meet its needs and may not appreciate the level of work they will need to put in to the dog or that strong minded dogs need someone they can see as “worthy” of respecting. Breed rescues know the breed and better placed to match dogs to owners.

To keep a sense of proportion on the scale of the “problem” of dangerous dogs in *England*, there are approximately 51,000,000 people and from April 2010 to April 2011, 6,097 hospital admissions for dog bites and being *struck* by a dog which in my opinion distorts the figure because a dog may knock a child down accidentally but still be counted as a hospital admission.

The figure per head of population in England is less than 1% yet dog bite incidents receive a disproportionate amount of media coverage, with entire breeds labelled as born predisposed to mature into adults that will harm humans which disregards the perhaps inconvenient truth that genetics set the core temperament of every dog and not breed specific.

“On average, *every week in England and Wales* one child is killed at the hands of another person” 52 in total, yet less is made of this figure than high profile dog bite stories reported by the media with 7 children killed between 2007 and 2013. Humans are a greater threat to the safety of children than dogs.

I'm very upset by this incident, to be honest.

This dog was supposedly a Bulldog (American Bulldog, Mastiff cross - I've heard). It wasn't an illegal breed & the courts have ruled out that they are NOT going to ban Mastiffs or Bulldogs because of this incident.

The fact that this dog was from a rescue shelter is what upset me the most. It is the rescue organizations place to make sure that the dog is suitable to be homed with children & is not nervous, jumpy, etc.

I have a 7 month old Doberman cross Labrador - there have been fireworks going off all around and he doesn't bat an eyelid. He doesn't jump, nor does he act as if he's been startled. He just acts as if there's no noise at all - and no, he isn't deaf!

I think it's POSSIBLE that the dog was startled by the fireworks - but I still don't understand how that would cause him to attack this child. Unless the child was terrorizing him, scaring him, cornering him whilst he was already afraid/nervous - that could have done it. I don't blame the mother, although she should have been a little more careful, considering the dog was new into the home.

I do not allow my dog to freely run around with my young niece. She's 2 years old. My dog is not aggressive at all - and I can predict how he's going to behave/react in almost every situation, HOWEVER, I still do not leave him alone with my niece and he has boundaries.

A child should NOT be allowed to pull a dog around, or jump on a dog. No matter how friendly the dog is - if a child was to cause a dog pain, the dogs primary reaction is to turn around and attack. OR, if a child was to approach a dog from behind without warning, this could startle the dog.

I don't know, really...

I'm just really upset by this. I'm a dog lover, and I endorse responsible dog ownership & responsible parenting. Here, I'd maybe blame the rescue organization for not properly arranging this adoption, and not properly testing the dog.

It's very sad. A dog has died, and very sadly - a child has died. It's upsetting, and it happens all too often.

I am waiting to see what details come out about this dog.

What assessments were made on a dog going to a home with a 4 yr old in it... a tiny home it would seem as well. What experience did the mother have to home a large bull breed, and how much did she supervise her child with the dog who had only been there four weeks. Where was she when the attack happened because it appears that the child was alone with the dog but not sure.

The press want stringing up if this dog turns out not to be a DDB when one has been plastered over every newspaper today.

Did the mother want a 'GUARD' dog and a dog to 'PROTECT' her like so many IDIOTS on this site do. Did she have any concept at all of a dogs mind.

I would like to know the rescue that put this dog out.

Dorothy I live in the UK and we are all sad at the death of little Lexi she was only 4 years of age, the dog in the photo was not the dog that killed her that is a boxer type dog white and brown. It's true the dog lived in the flat but was walked every day and was outside where good neighbours said it was a lovely dog, we are saddened that this happened and we need to find out more about the dog we know it was found in a park and handed into the shelter.

The girl's mother stabbed at the dog and killed it so you can imagine the horror how will she get over this? Lexi was born 3 months early and fought to live so this is such a tragedy.

I agree with you in a way that unless people learn that children and dogs are not meant to be alone or a new dog trusted is the right way to go.

I have had GSD's all my life also many children ( I am a woman ignore the ID ) if I was going out the dogs were locked out not one child was left alone with them, I also had two JR's they also were put outside in a large pen until we returned.

I feel sure Fireworks play a large part in spooking dogs, in the UK we own 9 million dogs and only a few kill or attack, the owner who dumped this poor dog has blood on his hands tonight.

I think you posted a good question as our thoughts are similar, with the child and the mother, plus the dog who was startled enough to kill.

I cannot possibly comprehend how this seems to be such a COMMON occurrence.

You never can tell 100% what is going on in a dogs head. What you *do* know is that they have a nice set of sharp carnivorous teeth and act on instinct, because, surprise surprise they are animals not people.

Ergo don't leave a dog and child unsupervised together. EVER.

Hell I'm never more than an arms length away if my dogs are near children, and typically I'm closer.

As much as I'd love to blame the rescue more than the mother, it is still the mother's fault. We live in an era that information on everything is a click of a button away. If you fail to do even the simplest search on "Kids and dogs living together" you are easily at fault too. It's not the rescues job to inform someone on how to raise a dog, even with a home visit it may not have changed anything.

Such a tragic situation.

Add:

Because again, we live in an age of easily accessed information. Ignorance is NOT an excuse. You want a dog? You look into how to care for a dog BEFORE you get a dog.

I'm surprised they didn't use a fake picture and label the dog a Pit Bull type dog, that's what most media stations do, that's how they get views and push the whole "Hate Pit Bull Terriers" propaganda.

Children are killed because parents fail to supervise and maintain both their child and their dogs and some people, or parents, rightfully choose to own "aggressive" dogs with a false sense of confidence.

Until parents SUPERVISE their children around dogs, OR keep their dogs properly confined and away from the child where the dog cannot be pestered or the child cannot be attacked or where the dog can't attempt to bother the child, sh*t like this will CONTINUE to happen.

Some animal lovers get this false sense of confidence and consider their dogs "family members" and fail to realize that dogs are in their own ways, unpredictable animals.

Supervise children around dogs. PERIOD. NEVER trust a dog, no matter the breed.

You can't just blame a rescue but the mother. She should have do enough research to understand the breeds needs . These breeds are prowerful in both body and mind and need owners who understand them. They are bred to have a strong bite and grip so can do alot of harm and a i am affriad death. I hate seeing more stories of dogs attacks as it does give dogs a bad name. For the millions of dogs keep as family pets attacks are very rare you are more likely to be attatcked by another human that a dog. The problems is usually the wrong people get the wrong breeds of dogs they go for these strong looking breeds without understanding what the breed needs and how dangerous that can be if you don't know what you are doing. We make our odgs what they are.

The dog was an American Bulldog, not a Mastiff or Bulldog Mastiff Cross.

It would seem it had been a stray before the rescue centre took it in. Sadly, there was no history that came with the dog.

I wish people would stop pointing the finger at Mum, child or dog. It is a tragic thing that has happened.

Let the facts be known before casting aspersions......

Here's an article that has photos of the dog involved (police have confirmed the brown mastiff was *not* the dog that attacked): http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2487849/Le...

And I blame the owner, assuming that the following excerpt is true: "Residents said the ground-floor flat where Lexi died is owned by a housing association, which prohibits tenants from keeping dogs."

She should never had gotten any dog.

What a sweet child. Heartbreaking.

Did she leave the child alone with the dog? If so poor parenting….. NEVER leave a child alone with a dog. The fireworks could have been frightening to the dog. And he lashed out. Where I lived before we had fireworks almost every weekend. I HATED them, had to put the dog in the bathroom, crated and covered. She was old so don't know how much she heard.