Dogs have feelings too

DryCreek

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#1
LINKY

If you go to the link you can see a pic of the boy, the dog and the mother.

Dogs have feelings too: mauled boy's mum

By Clementine Cuneo

January 31, 2008 12:00pm

THE mother who vowed to keep the family dog which attacked her toddler says she is not a bad mum, and people should realise dogs have feelings too.

Alicia Cottier continues to blame her two-year-old son for the attack which happened after the toddler tugged on the animal's ears at their home in NSW's Hunter Valley.

"The dog was trying to protect herself, she's got feelings too, just like Noah does," Ms Cottier said.

Noah Newbold was bitten on the face by the family's 30kg mastiff-staffordshire cross, leaving puncture wounds in his cheeks and chin.

After wide reaction to the story about the attack in The Daily Telegraph yesterday, Ms Cottier pleaded with the public to believe she is not a negligent mum.

Her public plea came as she was inundated with calls from TV networks for interviews, and she was forced to call police when a crew from Seven’s Today Tonight refused to leave.

As another young boy recovered from a separate dog attack in hospital on the NSW North Coast yesterday, Ms Cottier told how her son was attacked as she text messaged on her mobile phone.

Warned

Ms Cottier said she noticed her son pulling at the dog's ears.

"I told him to stop or she'd bite him, then I kept texting . . . next thing I knew she had snapped," Ms Cottier said.

She said the five-year-old dog named Cassey was not vicious.

"It's not as bad as it looks. The dog just snapped at him and bit him," she said.

Ms Cottier said she would speak with her former partner, and he may consider taking the dog to his place. Otherwise, she said she would ensure the dog and the child were kept apart.

The incident sparked outrage and prompted hundreds of comments on The Daily Telegraph's website.

As of late yesterday, 70 per cent of the 4000 readers who voted in our online poll thought the dog should be removed.

Separate attack

Ms Cottier's defence of her decision to keep the dog came as another boy was recovering from a dog attack which left him in need of emergency surgery.

Rodney Beveridge, from Urbenville on the North Coast is still in shock after the dog ripped his arm open in a savage attack on Australia Day.

He had been playing at a friend's house when he went to go inside but was met at the door by a mastiff-rottweiler cross.

The dog rushed Rodney, biting his upper right arm, sinking its teeth to the bone and shaking him from side to side.

The dog will be put down.
 

Lilavati

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That looks like a snap that connected, not an attack, to me. But then, its not a good photo . . . and oh . . . yes . . . I know that dogs can bite and NOT do much harm.

She should have separated them though.
 

bubbatd

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Had any of my Goldens snapped and bitten any of my 3 , I know my kids caused it !! I would not fault the dogs .
 
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Good for that lady. :) I'm sick of people on the news saying their getting their dogs destroyed for snapping after little kids push their buttons.

BTW, Lilavati, your siggy made me laugh. >.< I love A Fish called Wanda.
 

Lilavati

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Had any of my Goldens snapped and bitten any of my 3 , I know my kids caused it !! I would not fault the dogs .
Not at all the fault of the dog. On the other hand, when she saw the kid pulling on the dog's ears, she should have separated them.

But definatley not the dogs fault . . . and it doesn't look like a serious bite to me, except for the location.
 

RD

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#7
I dunno if a 2 year old fully understands what a dog bite is. If it was a 6-7-8+ child I'd feel differently.

I can't blame the dog in the first incident in the slightest. A dog shouldn't be expected to tolerate that kind of crap from people, and that mother should have stood up for the dog and taken the kid away from her as soon as she noticed the ears being pulled.

The dog in the second incident, I'm afraid I'd have euthanized too. Unless you're extremely responsible about crating a dog when visitors are around, you can't have a dog that will savagely bite an "intruder" if you have kids with lots of little playmates running around. You just can't.
 

Sweet72947

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#8
That article reminds me of a thread I read on another forum. Somebody owned a malamute who was a service/therapy dog who would lie there and let 16 kids pet him at once. The owners also had a kid with issues and developmental disabilities, and didn't understand things the same way a normal kid might. This kid picked up the malamute by his fur and threw him around, and the malamute bit the kid in the face. The kid needed stitches. The owners chose to keep the dog and not put it down because they thoroughly blamed themselves for the incident. This incident never made the news, probably because it wasn't a bully breed. :rolleyes:
 

puppydog

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#9
Kid deserved what he got. I bet he won't pull the dogs ears again.
 

Lilavati

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#11
i agree the kid really deserved that for pulling the dog's ears.
Well, yes, no. That was a really little kid. The dog had every right to bite. But did the kid deserve it? From the dog's point of view, yes. But from a human point of view, no. Because the mother should have intervened. Kids that little DON'T know any better and they get hurt in all sorts of ways because of it. A child that age should expect (if they expect anything) his mother to keep him out of trouble . . . and not just by saying no, but by keeping him out of the situation altogether and separating the child from the dog. It was the mother's fault, I believe, not the child. If the kid had been older, then yes, he would have deserved it.
 

puppydog

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I think the kid deserved it. When I was that age I never hurt an animal, I was more aware then that. My sisters kids have never either. My opinion is that he deserved it.
 

mrose_s

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#13
whether he deserved it or not, the mother should have intervened. Not said "don't or he'll bite you" and gone back to her phone. Now she's having to defend her dog. Dogs in most states here only have to bite another animal (that includes chickens and rats etc) and they are declared dangerous. My cousin lost his rotti to that system.
 

Miakoda

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A 2-year-old kid doesn't "deserve" anything. A 2-year-old is an innocent yet inquisitve creature hell-bent on exploring the world around him and learning all about it. It is the parents' responsibility to make his explorations safe! And does a 2-year-old know what the word "no" means? Maybe. But is he capable of understanding the rationale behind the use of the word? No. Again, that is why it is the parents' job to make sure he stays out of dangerous situations....exactly what this own child was in at the time.

Yes pulling a dog's ears constantly can warrant a nip or bite. But a 2-year-old doesn't deserve that bite.....the mother or father who sat back and allowed it to happen does. It's like saying that a 2-year-old deserved to fall head-first into the deep end of the pool and end up in the hospital because the mother/father told him "No! Get away from the pool!"

Now if this were an 8-year-old kid we're talking about, then it would be different. But even then, an 8-year-old should STILL be under a parent's supervision especially when around animals.
 

milos_mommy

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It's just something that happened. I don't think she's BLAMING her kid, she's just saying it was the kid's fault and the dog wasn't totally psycho. I'd do the same thing in her situation. The dog didn't "attack", it snapped and connected. It didn't repeatedly bite, rip, shake, or in any other way intent to cause serious harm. It probably didn't even MEAN to bite, it probably just meant to snap.

She needs to watch them more closely, definately, and watch the dog for odd behavior. But otherwise, i think she's right to keep the dog, as it sounds like an accident that happened in a normal household with a decently behaved dog and a toddler.
 

milos_mommy

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#17
A 2-year-old kid doesn't "deserve" anything. A 2-year-old is an innocent yet inquisitve creature hell-bent on exploring the world around him and learning all about it. It is the parents' responsibility to make his explorations safe! And does a 2-year-old know what the word "no" means? Maybe. But is he capable of understanding the rationale behind the use of the word? No. Again, that is why it is the parents' job to make sure he stays out of dangerous situations....exactly what this own child was in at the time.

Yes pulling a dog's ears constantly can warrant a nip or bite. But a 2-year-old doesn't deserve that bite.....the mother or father who sat back and allowed it to happen does. It's like saying that a 2-year-old deserved to fall head-first into the deep end of the pool and end up in the hospital because the mother/father told him "No! Get away from the pool!"

Now if this were an 8-year-old kid we're talking about, then it would be different. But even then, an 8-year-old should STILL be under a parent's supervision especially when around animals.
Great post :hail: Unfortunately, i know people who do "blame" their one and two year olds when they get hurt. The kid runs in the street and they just scream "JAYDAAAAAA GET OUT OF THE F***ING STREET. YOU'RE SO STUPID, GET OUT OF THE STREET YOU STUPID F***ING KID." (and then they're scream at their 8 and 9 year old daughters "YOU F***ING C*** GET THE BABY OUT OF THE STREET!" :mad:)
 

sparks19

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#18
it was definitely the mothers fault... she was too busy with her own life to protect her child. The child should not have been allowed to pull on the dogs ears. But what if the child had been walking and fell and accidently hurt the dog and the dog snapped? what then?

HOWEVER, with that said....

if any of my dogs EVER EVER EVER bites Hannah... they are gone. I don't care what anyone thinks about it. I will do my best to make sure she doesn't pull on their ears or their tails or whatever else. But like I said up top what if it was a total unpreventable accident? she's learning to walk and falls on the dogs paw or something? dog gets hurt and lashes out.... acceptable? NO WAY.

My dogs can count on me to take action.... they do NOT take action themselves. So if they EVER lay a tooth on her in any threatening manner...t hey are out and I don't care whose fault it is. I will NOT EVER jeopardize my kids safety because "dogs have feelings too" Sure they do... but biting is unacceptable... PERIOD.

and I don't care what anyone thinks about that.
 

HoundedByHounds

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#19
If the child has a fear of the dog, the child should not be forced to live with the dog...deserved or not. That is a phobia in the making. I'd never force my child to live with an animal that they were terrified of.

If the child is over it...no big...but if the child is afraid...IMO allowing the dog to stay is detrimental to the child's mental health and sense of security with it's parent.
 

elegy

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#20
I think the mother in this situation was awfully lucky that her dog showed as much restraint as she did. A big dog biting a 2 year old child in the face and only leaving that amount of damage? That dog didn't intend harm.
 

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