Monday 12 April 2010

Dangerous Dogs..?

Oh, that's so last month, darlings...
A woman and her puppy were attacked by a rottweiler and a suspected pitbull in Vange.

Lynn Wood, 62, has already had to fork out £5,000 in vet fees after her dog, Jack, was left with a crushed leg – scuppering his chances of being a show pooch.

The dog breeder, who has been unable to sleep since the attack, also hit out at police, who failed to send officers to the scene despite several witnesses dialling 999.
Oh, surely not? Did they learn nothing from the savaging they got from the public for ignoring the incident in Chingford?

Apparently not:
Lynn said she was disgusted by police who, despite receiving several 999 calls from terrified onlookers, failed to arrive at the scene.
So, what have they got to say for themselves?

Not a lot:
Police were unable to explain why officers did not attend the scene of the incident.
Oh, dear. Is it a bit of a mystery, then? Perhaps you need to consult a detective!
Nishan Wijeratne, spokesman for Essex Police, said: “In agreement with the 62-year-old woman, officers took a statement from her on Sunday, March 28. Officers are still trying to ascertain the identities of the owners.”
Perhaps if you'd turned up to seize the dogs, you might have found a clue, Nishan..?

But it's not just in Essex that the police suddenly don't have their eye on the ball with regards to last month's craze:
A furious mum has described how she had to call 999 FIVE times for a police response after her three-year-old son was attacked by a dog outside their home.
That's in Liverpool. Where you'd think they'd be a little more cautious about these sort of reports.

Still, at least they got an apology:
Chief Supt Ian Pilling, Area Commander for Sefton, said: “When Ms Shimka called back at around 2.40pm with details of the dog's owner, she should have received a better service from Merseyside Police.

“Officers should have contacted Ms Shimka to let her know when a patrol would be sent, without her having to re-contact us and for this delay I would like to apologise.

“Merseyside Police is committed to taking acting when there is a report of a dog acting dangerously out of control and we rely heavily on information from the public.

“It is not good enough that we were unable to divert a patrol to attend her house sooner on this occasion.

“This must have been a very frightening experience and I apologise to Ms Shimka that she did not receive a better service from us.The handling of this call is being reviewed and any training needs for staff will be addressed.”
Oh, well. Training'll fix that, I'm sure...

5 comments:

Jiks said...

Police attend the scene? What, are you mad? There was a dangerous dog there ...

English Viking said...

Lessons will be learnt, etc, etc.

JuliaM said...

"Police attend the scene? What, are you mad? There was a dangerous dog there ..."

Heh!

selsey.steve said...

I grew up in a country where a much more relaxed attitude towards life and death was taken. I was walking my dog, on a lead, when a roaming hound took a dislike to my dog and raced in to attack. I put three 9mm rounds into the attacking mutt and my dog and I walked around its bleeding corpse.
No problem there.

JuliaM said...

"I grew up in a country where a much more relaxed attitude towards life and death was taken."

Now, we've ceded our rights to do that to the police.

No-one ever thought the day would come when they wouldn't come though...