The latest sad fatality caused by dogs is again in Merseyside, this time in Vauxhall. I am a dog behaviourist and an expert witness, assessing dogs for court in bite incidents. The number of fatal dog attacks in the last 2 years is terrifying. Uncounted are the many very serious attacks. Why is this happening?
There have been 9 fatal dog incidents in 2022 so far (as of October) . Whilst the focus seems to be on Bull breeds in the media, many other breeds have been involved including a Husky and a Chow Chow.
WIkipedia list of fatal dog attacks in UK
If there is a trend at all it may lie in keeping several dogs together that are not castrated or spayed and are being bred from. The behaviour of bitches with pups, of males and females when one is in season can be more defensive and more challenging. This year alone I have dealt with 2 very serious bite incidents, both caused by bitches with young pups. A third is being investigated currently.
The death of child Jack Lis November 2021 involved an XL Bulldog type dog sold on facebook to a 19 year old despite the owner selling it because he struggled to control it. Described as “Beast” the 19 year old could not keep it at his home and his female friend kept it at her home. There is CCTV of them both out in public with the dog and shows it lunging at people. They were both jailed for the attack.
An attack this year involved just one dog as well, biting the leg of a man who bled to death. These incidents are many and varied. Another was a husky that grabbed and killed the family baby as they got into their car after a day out.
Dogs are bought, sold and bred too easily and the good breeders, the responsible owners are lost in the high profile tragic incidents. This has to change.
We do not know much about the latest death other than it appears that they bred Bullies of some kind. It involved the death of a female in her 60’s and social media states her son lived there and they both owned the dogs. The latest report says that 5 American Bulldogs were removed from the home and destroyed.
I have tried for years to get Police and government to deal with fatal attacks by getting dogs fully assessed alive, by getting an independent investigation into the history and reasons why this happens. Were there signs? Were there missed opportunities to have avoided this? We will never know as there will not be a full investigation. You will never know if your dog could be the next incident as there is no way of identifying the previous triggers or signs that could save everyone.
If you have any concerns about your dog, ask for advice. Never leave children unsupervised with dogs, always ask for help, there are no stupid questions. I have asked for a committee to be created again with housing, police, experts and MP’s to address breeding, ownership, education and a forward plan.
