So, Who Should We Look To Blame For The Latest Dog Attack?

The father, for keeping a powerful animal along with a breeding bitch in the same small council house as a two-year-old?

The mother, for allowing her two-year-old to be put at risk by said father’s evident inability to control or understand such an animal and its behaviour?

Hmm, surely someone else must be to blame?

Her grandmother Alison Leadbeater said her daughter had asked vets to put the dog down two weeks ago after it bit her brother Gary’s hand, but they had refused.

Oh, right….

Mrs Leadbeater said vets had offered to ‘retrain’ the dog after her daughter had asked for it to be put down because of its recent aggressive behaviour.

She claimed vets told the family that the breed was not illegal and not normally aggressive.

Both correct, as long as it was properly handled by someone who knew what they were doing.

‘The dog was a family pet and had been fine for years’, she added.

‘He only started getting aggressive recently when he bit my son’s hand.

Charlene was worried about his behaviour and spoke to the vets as she was concerned about the children.

‘But they said they could retrain the animal and they could not put it down.

Perhaps they could barely conceal their contempt at the sort of person who wants to dispose of a living creature without putting in any effort to resolve the problems arising from the way it’s being kept?

'The dog was lovely but turned into a killing machine because of how aggressive it was getting.'

Yes, and the vets aren’t to blame for that. Are they? It was already a potential killing machine if not handled correctly.

Once again, the blame-seekers seem to be focussed on the wrong end of the leash...