PB Attacks Toddler

Mojozen...that sucks..no offense but I really hate people like that..I'd throw a fit if someone laughed it off or thought it was cute...I hate to say it but I'm really not a "kids" person...I'd rather have a dog than a baby..but that's a whole other story...

At least you let him know...hopefully he won't be getting any pets if he doesn't even know how to teach his kids to properly interact with them...a sad outcome that would be..for the animal anyways.. *sigh*

They already have a cat who is obese, and who has been terrorized by the two boys. The eldest boy would sit on him, or lay on him when Moe was a kitten, and he was a little kid. My brother and sister-in-law never seemed to really care about how this was affecting Moe, they never stepped in to stop it. Or if they did, they only did it when I was already discouraging my nephew.

The middle boy has also done more or less the same, and has also kicked and punched the cat. Again, not much has been done unless someone else - like myself - is trying to defend the cat.

For themselves my brother and sisterinlaw don't really pay any attention to the cat - the mother had gotten it to replace her own cat that she had lost when she was carrying the eldest son. She has admitted to me that she despises Moe because he's not enough like her old cat - Moe is very needy and starving for attention. So she ignores him. She figures she does enough by feeding, watering, sheltering and vetting the cat... which I guess she is by law... but I don't consider it enough.

I've tried to talk to them about rehoming the cat, but now the youngest - my niece - has taken to Moe (the cat) and the cat actually seems to tolerate and even love her. Maybe because she's the only one (at 3 years old) who pays positive attention to him. Unlike Moe's reaction to her brothers which is to run the other way, Moe will run to my niece when she calls for him. Then she spends time petting him and talking to him...

What I figured was the BIGGEST mistake my sister-in-law made regarding Moe was to have him declawed when she adopted him 7 years ago. She did it because she didn't want him clawing her kids. I told her it'd be better for the cat to be able to defend himself and teach the kids that there are consequences when you treat animals badly. She didn't agree.... Moe's only defence has been to run away and hide.

The boys have been asking for a dog, which I have been doing my best to nix. I don't consider my sister-in-law and brother to be good pet owners after watching how Moe has been more or less defenseless and disliked. Whenever my sister in law brings it up I mention how much hard work Mojo is (he's really not too bad) and how much attention a dog REALLY Needs.

"Dogs aren't animals that can just be ignored when you don't want to deal with them."

So, far, my sister-in-law has been listening. I am not sure what will happen when my niece starts asking for a dog... *sigh*

If i weren't so freaking allergic to cats... i'd of catnapped Moe years ago. But I am and I can't so I haven't. When I enter into the home I do my best to give him some attention... but I don't go over often because the kids aren't well behaved, not to mention my cat allergy.

I can only be called "Stupid head" and "PoopyHead" for so many years before it gets old. I'd like to be called "aunt," you see.

Wow, that is horrible. I have 3 kids and they know better then to ever harm an animal in anyway. Yes, sometimes they do things that they don't think are harmful (like sitting on Leo) but once I tell them that that can hurt him, they don't do it again. We have lots of animals around our neighborhood and they love them all. Your niece sounds like a natural animal lover, I hope her family doesn't "ruin" her!

We took Ruby and Chester to King's Park the other day when we went for a picnic. They were tethered on a semi-long tether, and had bones, chew toys, a rug to lie on etc, and were right next to us where we were sitting. By law, dogs in King's Park need to be leashed because it is a native endangered park.

They were quite happily lying there chewing away, I was making some salads and not watching them, when some idiot woman barged up to them to say hello. They are puppies. They are big. They jump up when excited. Ruby tried to jump on this woman, and she stood there shouting at her and waving her arms around `SIT! SIT! Be a good boy SIT!!'. Ruby was sitting when told, but the woman was so loud and rowdy that it just revved them both up. I was furious, I marched up to her and said, `Ruby is a GIRL, and you are exciting her. Don't you know you should never approach a dog - especially one that you don't know - without the owner there? She could have bitten you out of fear, jumped and hurt you, even scratched you. I do not let them be around strange people until I have introduced them properly. You have revved them up, and please leave them alone now'. She looked at me as though I was an alien. IDIOT!! Ruby would never hurt a flea, but she didn't know that, and Ruby's only nine months old - I don't know what she might have done. Of course, I'm 95% confident that she wouldn't hurt anyone, but the point is, she's a dog, there is always an element of unpredictability, especially when they are babies.

So I react like that when adults approach Ruby or Chester. I would never let a child be with them alone. I don't let children near them. IMO unless they are part of the same family children and dogs do not mix, no matter what. Of course our babies are allowed to come into contact with children, but ONLY supervised and ONLY for a short time.

Who knows if this child was with it's mother or not? That doesn't seem clear. But obviously she was a three year old child, and should not have been allowed near that dog. And the dog, who has clearly not been trained, socialised or looked after, should not have been allowed near her. Idiotic, idiot people.