Dog attacks on kids, why's it always a Staffy?

[mattleonard]

I don't think it's entirely down to the dog breed, more to do with irresponsible owners. Unfortunately the Staffy has become the dog of choice for young idiots that want a status dog and a hard man image who give no regard to properly training their dog to be good well behaved family pets.

 

I've got sympathy for both sides of the debate. Ultimately, it is the owners who are the problem, but for that very reason we have tight restrictions on handgun ownership.

[John X]

who give no regard to properly training their dog to be good well behaved family pets.

 

In fact the opposite round here.

 

They train them to be aggressive and fight each others dogs.

 

John X

[Closet Guy.]

Me too!

 

Nope, the story goes that during either the 1st or second world war (no sure which) as we were fightinhg the germans, people werent happy with a dog galled a german shepherd so the name was changed to a region in a france, Alsas (sp).

Or so i was told

[Closet Guy.]

Acording to Wiki

 

The breed was named Deutscher Schäferhund by Von Stephanitz, literally translating to "German Shepherd Dog". The breed was so named due to its original purpose of assisting shepherds in herding and protecting sheep. At the time, all other herding dogs in Germany were referred to by this name; they thus became known as Altdeutsche Schäferhunde or Old German Shepherd Dogs. Shepherds were first exported to Britain in 1908, and the UK Kennel Club began to recognise the breed in 1919.

 

The direct translation of the name was adopted for use in the official breed registry; however, at the conclusion of World War I, it was believed that the inclusion of the word "German" would harm the breed's popularity,[12] due to the anti-German sentiment of the era.[13] The breed was officially renamed by the UK Kennel Club to "Alsatian Wolf Dog"[12] which was also adopted by many other international kennel clubs. Eventually, the appendage "wolf dog" was dropped.[12] The name Alsatian remained for five decades,[12] until 1977, when successful campaigns by dog enthusiasts pressured the British kennel clubs to allow the breed to be registered again as German Shepherd Dogs.[2] The word "Alsatian" still appeared in parentheses as part of the formal breed name and was only removed in 2010.[14]

[Plain Talker]

Nope, the story goes that during either the 1st or second world war (no sure which) as we were fightinhg the germans, people werent happy with a dog galled a german shepherd so the name was changed to a region in a france, Alsas (sp).

Or so i was told

 

That's correct. The only problem with them adopting that name for them, was that the ownership of Alsace kept flip-flopping between France and Germany. lol

[upinwath]

It's not always a staffy.

 

But they kill more than their fair share of children.

I really don't understand the idiots that keep such dangerous animals.

[0742Sheff]

But they kill more than their fair share of children.

I really don't understand the idiots that keep such dangerous animals.

 

Can you give me a link to a Stafford (confirmed pedigree Stafford), killing a child? Please don't come back with a link to a 'Staffy type' as that is a mongrel.

There are far more powerful and dangerous pets out there than a Stafford.

 

I really don't understand idiots that post in ignorance

[upinwath]

Can you give me a link to a Stafford (confirmed pedigree Stafford), killing a child? Please don't come back with a link to a 'Staffy type' as that is a mongrel.

There are far more powerful and dangerous pets out there than a Stafford.

 

I really don't understand idiots that post in ignorance

 

 

It took me a few seconds to find the first (non fatal) attack.

 

http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/s/1313905_girl_7_savaged_by_staffordshire_bull_terrier

 

and a moment longer

 

http://blog.dogsbite.org/2010/05/germany-four-staffordshire-bull.html

 

This 'nanny dog' had help to kill the child

 

http://news.scotsman.com/news/Baby-killed-in-horrific-attack.4959159.jp

[plekhanov]

It's amazing that there are people who actually try to deny that certain breeds of dog, breeds which were specifically bred to fight, tend to be unusually prone to attack people and because they're powerful dogs distressingly good at attacking them.

 

Staffordshire Bull Terriers are clearly within the above category, the breed was developed to be aggressive & powerful and consequently still has those characteristics beyond most other varieties of dog.

 

Obviously this doesn't mean that every staffy, pit bull... regularly savages people, it simply means they have an clear tendency to do so.

 

As such it's fallacious in the extreme for people to cite examples of Staffys, pitbulls etc that they own who haven't attacked anyone (yet?) and who seem lovely. Because the argument isn't that every individual member of fighting breeds is a killer (any more than every smoker gets lung cancer). The argument is that fighting breeds are dangerously prone to attack people & because they're large dogs bred to have very powerful jaws such attacks tend to be serious.

[plekhanov]

Can you give me a link to a Stafford (confirmed pedigree Stafford), killing a child? Please don't come back with a link to a 'Staffy type' as that is a mongrel.

There are far more powerful and dangerous pets out there than a Stafford.

 

I really don't understand idiots that post in ignorance

Whisky is a far more powerful intoxicant than lager, that doesn't mean lager won't get you drunk.

 

Just because Staffys aren't the absolute worst type of dog in terms of their tendency to attack and the severity of those attacks it doesn't mean that they aren't very much at the 'powerful & dangerous' end of the spectrum.