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Man’s best friend is his dog, and friendship demands that man defend his best friend

This is the case despite the fact that man’s best friend occasionally turns on humans and mauls, maims and even kills.

I’m specifically talking about the potentially vicious animals described as ‘dangerous dogs’. Many of these dogs are bred into existence purely to fight and kill.

Owners of these killer dogs can’t all be ignorant of this fact. They are usually able to conjure up some kind of plausible justification for having them around.

I am sure many of these owners are not at all surprised when these dogs finally ‘flip’ and go on to fulfill their gruesome destiny. This is a sad measure of the level of dog love in Britain. Emotion over-riding common sense.

The UK seems to be bursting at the seams with dog lovers, many of whom, treat their animals as humans. The British bulldog is a Union Jack-clad muscular dog, often used to portray a very friendly ‘special relationship’ between man and dog.

However, on a real level, there are far too many individuals who have absolutely no clue of how to keep their animals.

Thanks to this second category of owner, I quickly developed a deep-seated dislike for dogs when I was a child. I particularly disliked those seemingly wild and ferocious mutts that drag their handlers down the street slobbering and drooling profusely, while barking uncontrollably.

What really bothered me was that those handlers seemed to have such flimsy control over what to me was a savage beast, bent on terrifying anyone small enough.

When you are a child, some of the larger dogs are nearly the same size as you. It can be really daunting suddenly coming face-to-face with one of these snarling excuses for a pet.

Consider the sheer terrifying ordeal that five-year-old Ellie Lawrenson was made to endure, before being mauled to death by the family pitbull on New Year’s morning.

These pitbull-type dogs seem to be the vogue, at least in south London. However, what is really the worry is that the owners of these dangerous dogs are getting younger and younger. I’m talking ages of around nine and 12.

How can a nine-year--old even hope to have the necessary skill and influence to control an angry mutt if it suddenly flips on them?

Some of these youngsters’ think that exercising the dog involves swinging them from trees. I’ve witnessed groups of hooded youths bait these dogs into a snarling frenzy.

A rope is secured from a tree and the dogs are made to jump up and bite into a tyre. The dog is then left dangling by their powerful jaws four feet off the ground, and then swung like a child on a swing by its doting parents.

There is obviously a level of excitement, even machismo, in being able to command and control a potentially savage dog.

Conversations about whose dog can ‘do’ whose, and ‘so-and-so's dog wouldn't stand a chance in a fight…’ has sadly become the order of the day among a disenfranchised youth.

In reality though, it is the children who don't stand a chance when these dogs revert to savage canine behavior. Now when the big dogs come out to play, all the mums at the park know that it is time to take their babies home.

Even the more mature dog handlers nowadays tend to remain unmoved when their dogs bark at the children and foul on the grass.

If these dogs are to be allowed to share our space, then somebody is going to have to re-train them. How effective can any training for the dog be without training for the owners? This could be implemented through a revised and revamped version of the dog license, which was abolished in 1986.

A system could be adopted along the lines of the current driving license that requires training and testing in order to achieve a level of competence.

Separate categories of license could then be introduced in the same way that we have PSV and HGV. People requiring dogs for personal security purposes could then be vetted and trained accordingly.

Published: 10 January 2007
Issue: 1251

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