http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20091119/tuk-gu...te-45dbed5.html

guide dog attacked by out of control terrier type dog Cricklewood station, in north-west London. anyone with assistance dogs in this area please be aware, come to that anyone with any dog in this area,
this is shocking and must have been even more scary for the blind owner being unable to see what was happening
but i bet the police brush this attack aside , that dog was her carer and the attack should be treated as such but i bet its not, i once had a druggie try to steal my assistance dog whilst out shopping in a busy shoping centre but all the police did was to remove him from the area they didnt even bother to take a statement!! heres hoping they find this dog and its owner and take apropriate action before it happens again!!

This was horrible. Poor woman. I hope the police do find the owner and take some action against him but to a great extent they are limited as to what they can do.

My involvement with the law was a long time ago and things may have changed since then, but dogs were not considered to be "property" and therefore could not be "stolen" under the laws dealing with theft etc. Ridiculous as it sounds, anyone caught stealing a dog, can only be charged with stealing the collar the dog was wearing. Unlike the dog, the collar does fit the definition of "property".

This may explain why the police reacted the way they did in your case. There is rarely any correlation between the "law" and "justice".

Okay GB,
On which side of the bars did your involvement of the law reside?-haha

I believe that a dog IS property these days - whereas a cat is not. And so for example if your dog causes an accident you can be deemed responsible.

The guy deserves a severe kicking - or even putting in a locked room with some other idiots out of control dog - and the dog should be humanely destroyed. And he should never be allowed another dog.

Rough justice served harshly.

That is absolutely horrible

thought i'd update this posting as just found out they caught the dog owner that was responsible for the attack see attatched http://uk.news.yahoo.com/21/20100224/tuk-m...ck-6323e80.html

thanks for the link. Always good to get a follow up.

OMG!!!

MY Mother uses a black lab/golden retriever cross from a guide dog school a train ride away. My mom is not completely blind but she has had trouble with pet dogs coming after her dogs......to the point she still carries her cane with her so that should another dog start attacking HER dog she can try & fend off the other dog. The police & animal control officers are generally of little to no help. They wont do anything until her dog is wounded.

I'm glad that the dog owner was "punished" but I'm guessing that unless he is checked in on a regular basis & at unexpected times by the authorities.......sadly he will have more dogs & they too will act as this other dog did. It's NOT the dog it's the OWNER that dictates a dog's behavior. I have seen pit-bull terriers which have a nasty reputation but were the sweetest most lovable family dogs you'd ever meet. Even seen them lick kittens.......as in to clean them not to eat them. ;) Hence why I say it is not so much what kind of dog it is but how it was treated & how it was socialized.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00qy...Do_You_Hate_Me/

See this for a grim account of police indifference to disability hate crime in South Wales..

One hopes that the resolve to do better in future is genuine.

Apologies! I have just seen the original thread on this...

I can't agree with that, I'm afraid. Statistics show that certain breeds are far more likely to be involved in aggressive and dangerous behavior. Anyone who owns such animals must be aware of this,, and take adequate precautions,,, no matter how many kittens it licks. The part I do agree with is it's not the dogs fault but the owners. Particularly those who keep telling everyone how "gentle" their dog is,,, even after it's bitten someones face off.

The licensing shouldn't be of the dogs,, but of the owners.

KEEP'EM ON A LEASH.

( Might be a good idea for some of the children I've seen lately)
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