[BBC News] Banned pitbull seized on island

[Stu Peters]

I'm not a dog lover, although I wouldn't wish one any harm.

 

But I saw Paul Moulton's report on this on Border TV. Now THAT was brave reporting! The way it looked at Molly, I'd have been climbing...slowly...into the car and locking the doors and windows!

[Chinahand]

The owners of the dog are very responsible and the animal has been neutured and microchipped and licensed. Why wasn't the situation brought to light earlier? Surely the vet who carried out the neuturing would have been aware that the dog was an illegal breed?

 

I think ill behaviour in dogs is the same as it is with people - down to nurture not nature!

Sorry but no. Hunting instinct, agression, impetuousnous are bred into these animals. The nurture can surpress these instincts to some extent, but they are always there. You can't nurture the hunting instinct out of a leopard no matter how much you attempt to train it. Its basically the same with fighting dogs: for hundreds of years people have deliberately selected violence into them and countless times its been shown that this instinct will out no matter how well kept they are.

 

Sadly its often children engaging in play which mimics a prey which sets it off - in my mind there is no place in open society for these animals. Cage them like wolves maybe, but I don't believe we should be setting aside compounds at the wildlife park for this animal - an injection is the easiest solution.

[Pontius]

I'm sorry that the person is losing her pet and that an innocent dog will die but what has actually brought that situation about?

 

It's not the Manx dog registration scheme, nor the vet who neutered and chipped the dog, nor the peoplwho bred the dog, nor any of the others who some seem to want to transfer all or some of the blame on to.

 

No - I'm afraid it is down to the person who imported this dog into the Isle of Man.

 

I'm going to stretch an analogy here a bit, but here goes:

 

Not so long ago, following the fatal mauling of a child by a dog of a "classified dangerous" breed, the ownership of such a dog was described as like owning a gun - it is designed to harm or kill and will always have the potential to do so.

 

I think that the ownership of such an animal requires an approach just as careful and thoughtful as the purchase of a gun.

[cully1980]

Above just shows how narrowminded you lot can be.

 

Not everything about a dog goes on Breed, if you went back over the last few centuries you would probably find a lot of the dogs that are "brilliant family pets nowadays" have attacked someone or something , its down to how the pets are brought up and looked after ie the owners influence.

 

Re the dog in question, the owner has stated that she used to be a dog walker with up to 6 dogs on one walk, guess what her aggressive dog went with her with not a single problem. God i meet dogs when i am walking my dog all the time what show there teeth, growl and basically try and get to either you or the dog. now should they be put down!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Let the lady have her devoted dog back and as a compromise say it has to wear a mussel in public at least she gets to keep the dog

[jimbms]

Kenneth Garrison, with his son, Jadyn, 1, who was attacked by the family's pit bull and hospitalized. Garrison, too, was hurt.

The dog rarely barked. He never growled, and his teeth - until a vicious attack Saturday night - had been reserved for chewing food, his owners say.

 

Chocolate - a caramel-colored pit bull a little more than a year old - was one of the most tranquil dogs Kenneth and Melissa Garrison had until, unprovoked, he snapped and nearly bit the nose off the couple's 1-year-old son.

 

Two days after the attack, sitting in the living room where their child's blood stained the carpet, the Garrisons were at a loss to explain Chocolate's actions, which left their son hospitalized for a night. Half of Jadyn Garrison's face was covered in a red scab yesterday, but doctors predict he will make a full recovery and not need surgery, the family said.

 

"Had we seen any signs that the dog was violent, he would have never came here," Melissa Garrison said.

 

 

Nice family pet nothing more needs to be said.

[Ean]

Let the lady have her devoted dog back and as a compromise say it has to wear a musle in public at least she gets to keep the dog

 

Why should the government compromise? It is illegal to own that breed on the Isle of Man. As far as I can see they've bent over backwards to not put down the animal, offering the owner an extra 2 weeks to get it re-homed. If she wants to make it a public issue then fine but she is the one in the wrong, I'm surprised she hasn't been fined for illegal importation of a dangerous animal.

 

Would you be saying the same for someone who had imported drugs and managed to keep them on the island for a few years? Well they've managed to get it through the system so why not compromise?

[Mutley]

Is Ireland becoming the dumping ground for the UKs unwanted? First it was Gary Glitter...

[Jimcalagon]

Is Ireland becoming the dumping ground for the UKs unwanted? First it was Gary Glitter...

 

Maybe Gary Glitter could take the dog in?

 

And then someone could tie a steak to Glitter's throat.

[Knoxville]

Let the lady have her devoted dog back and as a compromise say it has to wear a musle in public at least she gets to keep the dog

 

Why should the government compromise? It is illegal to own that breed on the Isle of Man. As far as I can see they've bent over backwards to not put down the animal, offering the owner an extra 2 weeks to get it re-homed. If she wants to make it a public issue then fine but she is the one in the wrong, I'm surprised she hasn't been fined for illegal importation of a dangerous animal.

 

Would you be saying the same for someone who had imported drugs and managed to keep them on the island for a few years? Well they've managed to get it through the system so why not compromise?

 

Yeah lets compare someone who smuggles drugs in to someone who has registered a dog......COCK!

[William_Hartnell]

A friend had the misfortune of being badly bitten (pre-legislation) by a pit bull and carries a nasty set of scars as a reminder to this day.

 

I have to agree with Ean. The breed is illegal full stop. There are no caveats tucked away for “responsible owners” and the authorities have been more than fair by not prosecuting and giving the owner the opportunity to re-home the animal.

 

There are plenty of good similar sized breeds out there like the Staffy that have bred out a lot of the characteristic bull baiting and pit fighting traits so the argument for pit bull ownership is flawed and while you can argue the merits of responsible ownership the breed is typically an idiot magnet and is better off slowly eliminated.

[Jimcalagon]

Above just shows how narrowminded you lot can be.

 

Not everything about a dog goes on Breed, if you went back over the last few centuries you would probably find alot of the dogs that are "brilliant family pets nowadays" have attacked someone or something , its down to how the pets are brought up and looked after ie the owners influence.

 

Re the dog in question, the owner has stated that she used to be a dog walker with up to 6 dogs on one walk, guess what her agressive dog went with her with not a single problem. God i meet dogs when i am walking my dog all the time what show there teeth, growl and basically try and get to either you or the dog. now should they be put down!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Let the lady have her devoted dog back and as a compromise say it has to wear a musle in public at least she gets to keep the dog

 

Interesting if you compare the spelling on the above post with Sara Kneen's spelling on the facebook group linked above.

 

 

Looking at the facebook site, the main argument seems to he 'ahhh, he looks lovely'. By the same argument, people should also be allowed to have tigers, polar bears, lions etc as pets. they look lovely and cuddly so they can't possibly want to eat your face, can they?

[comeover]

Can anyone explain why the man who imported Champ into the island isn't speaking up in his defence??

[cully1980]

Above just shows how narrowminded you lot can be.

 

Not everything about a dog goes on Breed, if you went back over the last few centuries you would probably find alot of the dogs that are "brilliant family pets nowadays" have attacked someone or something , its down to how the pets are brought up and looked after ie the owners influence.

 

Re the dog in question, the owner has stated that she used to be a dog walker with up to 6 dogs on one walk, guess what her agressive dog went with her with not a single problem. God i meet dogs when i am walking my dog all the time what show there teeth, growl and basically try and get to either you or the dog. now should they be put down!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Let the lady have her devoted dog back and as a compromise say it has to wear a musle in public at least she gets to keep the dog

 

Interesting if you compare the spelling on the above post with Sara Kneen's spelling on the facebook group linked above.

 

My bad, quick typing and not having the time to look over it, but if you are sad enough to waste your time nit picking crack on

 

 

Looking at the facebook site, the main argument seems to he 'ahhh, he looks lovely'. By the same argument, people should also be allowed to have tigers, polar bears, lions etc as pets. they look lovely and cuddly so they can't possibly want to eat your face, can they?

[immortalpuppet]

Because he imported an illegal animal maybe?

[WTF]

Let the lady have her devoted dog back and as a compromise say it has to wear a musle in public at least she gets to keep the dog

 

Why should the government compromise? It is illegal to own that breed on the Isle of Man. As far as I can see they've bent over backwards to not put down the animal, offering the owner an extra 2 weeks to get it re-homed. If she wants to make it a public issue then fine but she is the one in the wrong, I'm surprised she hasn't been fined for illegal importation of a dangerous animal.

 

Would you be saying the same for someone who had imported drugs and managed to keep them on the island for a few years? Well they've managed to get it through the system so why not compromise?

 

Yeah lets compare someone who smuggles drugs in to someone who has registered a dog......COCK!

 

just cos the dog slipped through the net and got registered doesn't mean it should have been and that it should be ignored now it has come to light. it apparently came to light because it was advertised on manxnet as a pit bull terrier by what you must assume is the real owner which wasn't the female who is claiming the dog has been hers for years. if it was her dog?? why would someone else be advertising it?? and if she wants it, why is it advertised at all?? i think her version of the facts are glossed up to suit her current situation in relation to the dog and getting it to be hers really?? who's name were the dog licences in?? and was it licenced every year?? it would appear that what you would expect the rellevant departments to be did not really know what was and what was not allowed. you would expect a banned breed of dog to be mentioned in the dogs act, but it isn't. it is the wildlife act that has the banned animals listed which is where this breed of dog is listed, presumably because it is DAFF and not DOLGE that are responsible for our borders with relation to animal imports. we all probably realise that the government is renowned for the left hand not knowing what the right is doing and this would seem to be a case in point. i would guess the post office got it's dog information from the dogs act when it was drafting forms for licences which would explain the lack of info on licence forms relating to banned breeds. the vets may have been in a better possition to spot the 'mistake' because they obviously deal with the so called wild animals at the wild life park and may have had some idea of the wildlife act. but the chances of the desk dolly knowing the act when someone registers an animal is probably very slim to nil, that assumes it was registered at a vets ( it was neutered according to a previous post ) as a pit bull terrier in the first place and not a staffy cross or similar. another point worth a mention is that if it came in to the island as an 8 week old pup, it could pass as almost anything from a labrador to a staffy so even if the port authorities saw the animal and asked the question a BS answer on the breed would get through.