www.halifaxcourier.co.uk/...ning.6121467.jp

Hope you can find this.

How utterly ridiculous, regardless of whether the dog was a deerhound or any other breed.

How could the man be prosecuted when he had his dogs on leads? The complainant's dog (off lead) allegedly instigated an attack and the deerhound appears to have just been defending itself. And surely we all know that if you stick your hand in to try and seperate dogs fighting, there's a pretty good chance of getting bitten yourself. It certainly doesn't mean the dog has attacked you; you just got in the way.

That's made me really angry. Sounds very much like Joe Public's general opinion - that big, mean, hairy, scary dog gratuitously murders poor, cute little terrier.

Sue

can't say as i understand what happened there but i find it hard to belive it was a deerhound
as i've not met a nasty or bad tempered one yet . or have i just been lucky?

No paul you haven't been just lucky! D/H's are not aggressive - this story as Sue has said makes out that because they are big dogs that the terrier is the victim. The man had his dogs on a lead and the terrier attacked them. Any dog regardless of breed is going to defend itself!

BTW welcome Paul to the site

For those who don't know the Patterdale it has a ferocious reputation amongst working terrier men and will never give up. That's why they are the first choice for many.(sorry, pre-hunting act I mean)
Never met a savage Deerie though.....

Yes I agree with Spring, the Deerhound was on a lead and just defending itself and yes if you try to separate dogs fighting there's a pretty good chance you are going to get bitten.

Pam

I once had a similar expeience with a labrador, off lead, attacking my DH who was on a lead. DH just pinned the Lab done by the scruff of the neck and howled at it. Owner thought it would get slaughtered (not so) and hit DH in face with fist and dragged his dog away causing minor cut on its neck and bruising to my dog's eye. DH did not bite man despite being badly hit by him.

Other dogs owner called police and reported my dog as a dangerous dog. The man had a witness who would confirm (perjure themselves), in court, that my dog was off lead. Police officer said if I paid vet bill he could get the man to drop the charge. Upon seeing the man's vet bill stating "Attending small puncture wound on neck" the police officer seemed very embarrased however I had not wanted the matter to go further with no witneses of my own so I had paid the bill.

I still feel angry today when I think about the incident. You have to be very carefull with a large dog as they will always get the blame just because of their size. Small terriers can cause mayhem and get away with it.

Big dog is always going to get the blame.

I once owned a Patterdale Terrier, 'Spud', lovely little dog, but a bit of a demon, when he went, he just went. He fought with my Lurcher (DH X) once for what seemed like ages, Lurcher did not fight back, but held him at bay, not a mark on terrier, but Lurcher was badly shaken after that. We had to find him a new home as this was a regular occurance, red mist used to come over him and bang, he would lunge at the poor Lurcher.

If the DH or Rottie were on leads it shouldn't have made the court in the first place. Even if it were a Pit Bull, if the Patterdale started first, any dog will defend itself.

So angry and annoyed that I don't know what to say

It all looks a bit odd to me.I see at the end of the report that the Deerhound owner has been remanded in custody,which seems a bit strange unless he has some kind of "previous" of a similar nature.Under the report are now some comments on the case via e-mail,including one supposedly from the man attacked-if you can understand it.Still don't understand the "vicious Deerhound" bit though-i've never seen such a thing.

Could be wrong but I think there's more to this case than meets the eye..

Chon Dubh wrote:


He was remanded on bail, not "In Custody". That's normal for any one convicted and awaiting sentence for a relative minor offence.

I suspect that it's a case of the Deerhound defended itself, they can appear very frightening when provoked but usually its just showing of teeth and much roaring. I guess though that if the attacking dog kept coming and hurt the DH it would escalate the affray. DH do have very powerful jaws. In the eyes of Joe Public a provoked DH would look very frightening and if the other dog was seriously injured that would just confirm that it was dangerous in the eyes of the witness and court.

Knowing that DH's get attacked by other dogs quite frequently and will defend themselves and that many inexperienced people are now having them who don't have facilities to exercise them properly in a safe area I'm surprised that there have not been more incidents. They are large dogs and will always tend to be blamed even when they don't start first. It's not fair I know but then life's often not fair.

Anyone who has seen the news today(09/02/10) will know where this topic is going.Dog Insurance? Muzzles? Nanny State? Thoughts please..

As ever, the law abiding citizens will feel obliged to comply with any new legislation (at a cost to themselves) and those bad owners that don't care for their dog or use their animal as a weapon to intimidate or hurt others won't comply. Therefore, regardless of any good intentions the law may be trying to introduce, the actual effectiveness of these measures will be negligible.

However, as I'm a cynic, I believe the powers that be are perfectly aware that these proposals are ultimately failed, and intend using these measures as a money making exercise. A tax on responsible dog owners.

I shall start a revolution (when I've finished my homework)!

Sue

and who will police this? The only people I can see benefting is the insurance companies..what about getting some parents to take out insurance for their badly behaved children?

I too think there's more to this than meets the eye. For one thing, who knows whether or not it was a 'real' deerhound. Could have been a cross of some kind. If I had a quid for every time someone describes their dog as a 'labrador' when it's clearly a black mongrel, I would be rich. I used to have a Pharaoh hound which even vets described as a 'lab cross' !!!!

Anyway, without us being privy to all the evidence we have no idea what went on.


BTW, for those of you who have never met a bad tempered/nasty/'sharp' deerhound - you have indeed been lucky because they are out there.