We have had a few reports about dog attacks over the last couple of days and we have thought long and hard about whether to share these incidents with the page as has been requested by the owners. We have decided that we dont think it is a good idea to share individual incidents between dogs that have happened upon each other on a walk - a dog that is staying in one place that we can identify (without identifying a particular person) like the dog who was outside a caravan at the top of Stanmer Park is different, because we can advise people to avoid a certain area.. But to start identifying individuals we believe would set a precedent that would not necessarily be of benefit to the community. Reasons being: 1. We werent there and we cant be responsible for what was said - the story is only coming from one side and the other person (unless they see our post) has no means of reply. But we ARE responsible for what gets shared with this page and therefore what is shared falls on our heads, so to speak. We cant be responsible for spreading stories and rumours about people. It doesnt seem right. 2. We are not suggesting that the incidents we have heard about have been exaggerated, but fights and attacks do happen between dogs and sometimes they are unexpected. Sometimes they are not and irresponsible owners know exactly what their dog is likely to do. But as said above, who are we to be the judge and jury and to launch a facebook witch hunt for a particular person. We dont feel this is the correct forum for dealing with these types of things. 3. We think that spreading these stories will cause panic amongst our followers and will not be a force for good. What we DO think that we can use this page to do is to collectively put pressure on the powers that be to promote more responsible dog ownership and issue more sensible punishment for people who are not responsible. If your dog is attacked by another dog you must report it to the Police and to the Animal Welfare team. We have heard reports about people being taken to court about their dangerous dogs and these people can sometimes be ordered to keep their dog muzzled and on a lead - of course we have also heard that dogs who have been through this process are seen out and about off-lead and unmuzzled. We think that there is not enough action taken by Police and the authorities to deal with these types of situations, so as a collective we can put pressure on the authorities to do more about it. Its such a contentious issue and our heart goes out to all of the people whose dogs have been attacked so please dont feel we dont care - we most definitely do! But Brighton dogwatch does not seem the forum to expose individual stories like this. We feel the onus should be on the authorities to deal with these things more appropriately and thus make people more responsible. We wonder what you think about this and how you think that as a collective we can make things safer for our dogs?
Posted on: Sun, 27 Oct 2013 17:01:45 +0000
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