Mirror launches campaign to crackdown on the menace of out-of-control dogs




One minute she was playing happily in a pub beer garden, the next little Kira Neal was being ripped apart by a ferocious dog.
The
raging Staffordshire bull terrier struck out of the blue and tore the
22-month-old's face to shreds as her mum Sam Hollows looked on
helplessly.
Kira needed 60 stitches to horrific wounds on her
nose, lips and cheeks. She was in hospital for two weeks and took pain
killers for months after the attack, in which she nearly lost an eye.
The
youngster is just one of many savaged or killed by danger dogs. Last
year hospitals treated more than 100 victims of maulings EVERY WEEK.
Today, the Mirror launches a campaign to crackdown on the menace of out-of-control dogs.
And
we can reveal that the amount of owners prosecuted for allowing their
dog to attack someone has soared by 40% in just five years. Police took
471 to court during 2007, according to the latest figures. That is up
from just 335 in 2003.
Thugs who see their vicious beasts as status symbols are fuelling a thriving black market.
Demand
is also being driven by a boom in dog fighting - which was outlawed 174
years ago - and a pit bull can be bought for as little as £250 as
so many are being bred.
The most alarming and tragic
statistic, though, is that five children have been killed in the past
three years - John-Paul Massey, four, Jaden Joseph Mack, three months,
Cadey-Lee Deacon, five months, Archie-Lee Hirst, 13 months and
five-yearold Ellie Lawrenson.
Or Tame The Danger Dogs campaign aims to ensure no more families have to suffer this way.
We
want the Government to rip up the Dangerous Dogs Act which covers only
four breeds - pitbulls, the Japanese Tosa, the Dogo Argentino and the
Fila Brasileiro - and bring in laws to cover all dogs that attack
humans.
And we believe every animal should be microchipped so
owners can be traced. To get around existing laws, owners are
cross-breeding different types. The Mirror wants these animals
outlawed. And the police and courts should make more use of powers to
confiscate savage dogs and ban guilty owners from having more.
The
RSPCA's Andy Robbins agrees the Act should be torn up. He said: "It is
wrong to pinpoint these four breeds. It is as if they are awful and
every other dog is fine.
"They were breeds traditionally used
for dog fighting. We would like to see breed specific legislation
scrapped and the emphasis put on owner responsibility. Anyone can train
a dog to be aggressive."
The Kennel Club's Laura Vallance
added: "The DDA has done very little to protect people. It places the
emphasis at the wrong end of the lead. It really needs to go back
towards focusing on thethe owner."And Labour MP Angela Smith said yobs with violent dogs should be
forced to muzzle them and have proper training in how to handle them.
Anyone refusing to comply should have the animal confiscated and be
banned from owning any more.
Thugs see the beasts as a way of
getting around tough laws on knives and guns. The maximum sentence for
owning a banned dog is six months, compared with four years for a blade
and five years for a firearm.
Urgent action is needed to
prevent any more tragedies. Kira's attack, more than two years ago,
shocked the nation. After she was savaged at the pub in Bournemouth,
her dad Philip Neal said she "looked like something out of a horror
movie".
Mum Sam, 28, suffered post-traumatic stress and was on
pills for six months. She said her daughter had been stroking the dog
earlier without any problems, but it suddenly turned into a snarling
beast and savaged her.
Sam added: "It happened so quickly and
I was in a state of shock and just froze. Kira needed 60 stitches on
the outside of her face and required many more inside. They lost count
in the end."
The youngster still bears the scars of the
attack. Just last week, she had another operation to help the wounds
heal. But Sam said: "Luckily Kira wasn't affected by what happened and
is not fearful of dogs.
"Hopefully in a year's time when she
starts school the scarring will have gone." The Staffordshire terrier
was put down. But Kira added: "It is the owners who should be
responsible for the dogs."
While little Kira's ordeal was
horrific, Sam acknowledges it could have been worse and ended in
tragedy like it did for John Paul, Jaden, Cadey-Lee, Archie-Lee and
Ellie.
The latest death, John-Paul's - by a pitbull in his
gran's house in Liverpool - had a depressingly familiar ring to it.
Ellie was also mauled to death in a prolonged attack while staying with
her grandmother at her home in nearby St Helens almost three years ago.

WHAT WE DEMAND
1 Overhaul the Dangerous Dogs Act to give police and the courts much more extensive powers to deal with all breeds
2 Microchip every dog so that the owner can be traced and brought to justice especially after any attack causing injury
3 Outlaw all vicious cross-breeds currently being used to get around the Act, which specifies particular breeds
4 Get police and courts to confiscate out-of-control dogs and ban guilty owners from having more in future
5,221 victims needed hospital treatment last year for attacks by danger dogs

it was so contradictive i lost meself lol....

"We
want the Government to rip up the Dangerous Dogs Act which covers only
four breeds - pitbulls, the Japanese Tosa, the Dogo Argentino and the
Fila Brasileiro - and bring in laws to cover all dogs that attack
humans."

This makes it sound as though the paper are pinpointing breeds they think will attack people. Maybe they think we should ban all dogs???