So, earlier, we got the story that some police officers were attacked by a "pit bull" type of dog. I criticized the story because it was incomplete. Now, we get a fuller picture:
1.) The dog had a history of attacking people before. But, apparently not much was done. If dogs are allowed to attack innocent people, there should be a process to determine if the dog should be removed from the owner. I'm not in favor of this most of the time, but if the dog is being allowed to be a menace to the neighborhood, if the owner has a criminal history, and if they won't restrain their dog after reasonable complaints and follow up have been done, then find the dog a new home.
2.) The dog had apparently mauled a bicycle rider in the past. The attack was severe. So, why wasn't anything done?
3.) The police went on a raid to find a suspected violent kidnapper and were mauled by the resident dog. They apparently were there to issue an arrest warrant, and broke down the door to a house in the process. It isn't clear from the article if the dog lived in that place or not. I'm not sure the dog or it's owner had anything to do with the kidnapping case. It looks to me like it was that the police officers were in the wrong place at the wrong time, in a neighborhood where the owner had previously allowed his dog to menace the neighbors. When the police broke down the door of one house, the dog escaped and attacked. That doesn't indicate a vicious dog, however. Any guard dog would be expected to attack a home invader. They aren't humans. They aren't going to distinguish between police officers and home invaders.
4.) The attack was very bad. "One officer had his arm broken between the animal’s jaws, while others had chunks of flesh torn from their legs and arms. Some will require plastic surgery, and one could lose several fingers."
5.) The dog is alternately described as a Staffordshire Bull Terrier, and in another paragraph, a mix of some kind of bull terrier and Doberman. From the blurry pictures, it appears to be some kind of bull terrier or mix. I have written before regarding why dogs like this typically attack. It would be useful to know what kind of life this dog has lived. Who names their dog "Poison"? To me, that says a lot. And now the dog is dead, shot to death by the police, and the 25 year old is under arrest.
6.) The neighbors have complained about this dog, but no one did anything. Apparently this dog was reported 3 years ago. And then there was the previous bike attack. Yet nothing was done. Why is that?
7.) The police say criminals are deliberately breeding "vicious" dogs to be used as weapons. I am guessing that is what they believe happened here. There is no such thing as people breeding "vicious" dogs... they might be breeding a certain type of dog, but such a dog is made vicious by how it is raised and treated. This is media hype, because the article insinuates that maybe Staffordshire Bull Terriers should be also banned in the UK. Note that this apparently wasn't a purebred dog. It was a mix. So, you can ban one dog, and another will take its place.
8.) Since no one followed up on the previous dog complaints, the police were apparently unaware that there was a dog at that home, and were unprepared for such an attack.
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