Girl loved the family dog who killed her. Lessons to be learned.

This as you might guess is an entirely fictional depiction of a child in a loving relationship with the family dog.

The newspapers today say that a 10 year old girl had a "close, loving relationship" with her family's dog before it killed her. That's according to the police report and it is in some ways shocking to read that because in millions of homes across the UK and other countries there are loved family dogs in good relationships with children who, it seems to me, can unknowingly present a hidden and potentially fatal danger to the family.

Update: From the BBC: "A pet dog which fatally injured a 10-year-old girl was an XL bully, police have confirmed. North Yorkshire Police said the animal had been euthanised after it killed Savannah Bentham at her family home near Malton in North Yorkshire on Friday."

We don't know the exact reasons why this particular dog killed this girl but below I have addressed some possibilities and also addressed the obvious conclusion which is that families need to be educated about dog behaviour to a high standard to minimise the possibility of this kind of tragedy happening.

And these tragedies do happen all too often. My research indicates that in 2023, fatal dog attacks in the UK reached an unusually high level, with a total of 10 fatalities reported across England and Wales. This was a sharp increase from previous years during which dog attacks averaged around three annually. The rise has been put down to an increase in the dog population and behavioural issues linked to insufficient training or socialisation of the dogs.

There is a point there. The dog to be a family dog must be fully and completely socialised i.e. domesticated. The same applies to cats of course. Dogs are predators. They have to totally accept the humans they live with and the humans, I believe, need to be adequate leaders i.e. alpha dogs in the eyes of the family dog.

It seems also to me that sometimes children are not properly educated about dog behaviour and how to handle dogs. They can inadvertently stimulate instinctive, defensive behaviour in dogs. The child can be transformed in the eyes of the dog from a friendly pack member to a hostile intruder and be attacked by the dog as a defensive measure.

In this instance, the girl was bitten at home and died at the scene, North Yorkshire police said. The police were called to Malton by ambulance crews at 4:15 PM on Friday last. The dog will be destroyed after it was seized.

They said: "Officers are conducting detailed enquiries covering all aspects of the incident. One of the lines of the enquiry relates to the behaviour of the dog to help explain, as far as possible, why it attacked the girl. All indications so far suggest it was out of character, with the girl and dog having a close, loving relationship."

After the attack a relative of the girl shut the dog inside a car before the emergency services arrived. The girl is not been identified publicly and a post-mortem examination was due to take place yesterday.

There is a lesson to be learned here. I hope it is learned. Young children particularly in family homes with dogs need to be protected and the parents need to take a very hard look at what they are doing to ensure that their protection is in place.

The tragic and confusing case of a beloved pet dog harming its owner, especially a child who loved it, often results from a complex mix of factors rather than the dog being inherently "bad." Here are a few possible explanations:

1. Unintentional Provocation or Startling

• Startling During Sleep or Rest: Dogs, especially older ones or those with vision or hearing impairments, can be startled more easily. If a child accidentally startled the dog by suddenly hugging, touching, or grabbing it while it was resting, the dog might have reacted instinctively in a way that it normally wouldn't when fully aware.
• Unintentional Rough Handling: Young children often don’t realize their own strength or may not recognize when a dog is uncomfortable. Grabbing fur, pulling on tails, or climbing on the dog—even with love—can be painful or overwhelming, triggering a defensive reaction.

2. Medical Issues or Pain

• Hidden Pain or Illness: Dogs in pain, even if mild, are more likely to react aggressively, especially if the pain is aggravated. Issues like arthritis, dental problems, or internal pain may not be obvious to owners. If a child inadvertently touched a sore area, the dog might have reacted with a "warning bite" that escalated.
• Neurological Conditions: Certain health issues, like brain tumors or neurological disorders, can impact a dog's behavior. These conditions can make the dog more irritable, unpredictable, or even aggressive, sometimes without any clear external provocation.

3. Protective or Territorial Instincts

• Guarding Behavior: Some dogs have a strong guarding instinct and might react aggressively if they feel their space, food, or toys are threatened. This is particularly common if the dog wasn’t well-socialized or trained to handle different situations. Even a loving dog might become defensive over its food or sleeping area.
• Redirected Aggression: Sometimes, if a dog is feeling agitated or frustrated, that energy can be "redirected" at whoever is nearby. For instance, if a dog saw something outside (like another animal) and became aroused or frustrated but couldn’t reach it, it might redirect that frustration onto the nearest person.

4. Resource Guarding

• Dogs may guard food, toys, or other resources instinctively, even from those they love. A child might not recognize signs of resource guarding (growling, stiffening, or lip curling), which could escalate if the dog felt the child was infringing on its possessions.

5. High-Prey Drive or Play Escalation

• Some dogs, especially certain breeds, have high-prey drives, where fast or jerky movements can trigger a chasing or biting response. This doesn’t mean they intend harm, but if play becomes too rough, the dog might unintentionally injure the child.
• Overstimulation: In a playful state, dogs can get overstimulated and bite harder than intended, especially if they haven’t been trained to control their bite force or if they are young and energetic.

6. Stress and Anxiety

• Environmental Stress: Dogs are sensitive to their environment. Loud noises, disruptions in routine, or even underlying tension in the home can increase stress. A dog under stress may react more aggressively than usual.
• Lack of Socialization: Dogs that weren’t well-socialized as puppies may struggle to feel comfortable or safe in situations involving close human interaction. Even a dog that seems friendly most of the time may not have been exposed to enough situations that involve children’s unpredictability.

7. Misinterpreted Signals and Boundaries

• Dogs have subtle ways of communicating discomfort, like turning their heads away, licking their lips, or yawning. These signals are often missed by children, who might not understand that the dog is stressed. If the dog feels it has no escape, it might escalate to biting to enforce its boundaries.

While incidents like this are heartbreaking, understanding the reasons behind such behavior can shed light on how to prevent similar tragedies. Training dogs, teaching children respectful pet interactions, and monitoring pet health closely can help reduce the likelihood of such situations.

Tragic incidents like these serve as powerful reminders of the importance of understanding dog behavior, particularly when children are involved. Many people assume that a dog’s loving nature guarantees it will always be safe around children, but the reality is that dogs are still animals with instincts and boundaries that can be misunderstood or inadvertently crossed. Here are some proactive steps that all dog owners with children should consider:

1. Education on Canine Body Language

• Recognize Subtle Warnings: Many dogs display warning signs like yawning, lip licking, looking away, or tensing up when they’re uncomfortable. Teaching children to recognize these signals can prevent a dog from feeling the need to escalate to a bite.
• Teach “No-Go Zones”: It’s helpful for children to know when and where it’s not safe to interact with a dog—such as when the dog is eating, sleeping, or in its bed or crate.

2. Training for the Dog

• Basic Obedience and Bite Inhibition: Training dogs in basic commands and bite inhibition from a young age is essential. Obedience commands like “leave it” or “stay” can help manage unexpected situations, and bite inhibition training teaches dogs to control their mouth pressure.
• Socialization: Socializing dogs from a young age to various environments, people (including children), and situations helps reduce anxiety and reactivity, making them more tolerant of different behaviors.

3. Supervised Interactions

• Direct Supervision: Interactions between dogs and young children should always be closely supervised. Children may unintentionally hurt or provoke a dog, and even the most tolerant dogs can react if they feel overwhelmed.
• Limit Rough Play: Games like tug-of-war or chase can overstimulate some dogs, especially high-energy breeds, leading to accidental bites. Encouraging calm interactions like petting or fetch can help avoid rough play that might escalate.

4. Teach Children Respectful Behavior

• Boundaries and Respect: Children should be taught to respect a dog’s space and boundaries. They need to understand that dogs, like people, sometimes need alone time and may not want to be hugged or crowded.
• Gentle Touch and Approach: Teaching kids how to pet and approach a dog calmly and gently can help prevent accidental discomfort for the dog. No grabbing, pulling, or startling.

5. Routine Veterinary Care

• Regular Check-Ups: Since dogs in pain are more likely to react defensively, routine veterinary check-ups can help catch health issues before they lead to discomfort or aggression.
• Address Behavioral Changes: If a dog’s behavior changes, especially if it becomes more irritable or withdrawn, this can be a sign of underlying health issues. Consulting a vet or behaviorist can help address the root cause before it escalates.

6. Understanding Individual Dog Temperaments

• Every Dog is Different: Some dogs are naturally more tolerant, while others have lower thresholds for certain behaviors. Understanding the unique personality and tolerances of your pet can guide you in managing interactions and setting appropriate boundaries.

7. Enlisting Professional Help When Needed

• Behaviorists and Trainers: If a dog has a history of resource guarding, reactivity, or anxiety, working with a professional trainer or behaviorist can make a significant difference. These professionals can teach specialized techniques to manage and reduce potential triggers.

8. Empowering Kids with “Safe” Behaviors Around Dogs

• Teach children to “be a tree” if a dog is too excited or seems uncomfortable. Standing still, looking away, and keeping their arms close can help prevent escalation.
• Empower kids to alert an adult if a dog displays concerning behavior or if they’re unsure about how to approach it.

While heart-breaking, cases like this do raise awareness and reinforce the need for educating both children and adults on safe, respectful dog interactions. It’s about respecting the needs and boundaries of both the dog and the child to create a safe, loving environment for everyone involved.

P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins. Also, sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified. And, I rely on scientific studies but they are not 100% reliable. Finally, (!) I often express an OPINION on the news. Please share yours in a comment.

Five dogs attack woman in her kitchen almost killing her. Why?

An unprovoked attack by multiple dogs on a woman could be attributed to several potential factors. We are not told if the woman, Heidi, was the owner or was looking after the dogs for someone. Or if the dogs were seized and put down because they were dangerously out of control. It seems that technically Heidi might have been in charge of the dogs but someone else might have been there. We are not told about that either. She was very gravely injured almost losing her right leg plus many other serious wounds.

Heidi. Image: Channel 4.

Here are some potential reasons for the attack:

1. **Pack Mentality**: In a group, dogs can sometimes exhibit a pack mentality, where they may collectively engage in behaviour that they wouldn't normally display individually. Once one dog initiated aggression, the others might have followed suit.

2. **Dominance Issues**: If the dogs perceived the owner as weak or not in control, they might have challenged her position in the household hierarchy. This could lead to an aggressive assertion of dominance.

3. **Resource Guarding or Competition**: There could have been underlying tension among the dogs over resources like food, space, or attention, which escalated into aggression directed at the owner.

4. **Stress or Fear**: The dogs might have been experiencing stress, anxiety, or fear, which could have triggered an aggressive response. This could be due to environmental factors, lack of proper socialization, or previous negative experiences.

5. **Medical Issues**: One or more dogs might have been suffering from a medical condition that affected their behaviour, such as pain, neurological issues, or hormonal imbalances, leading to unpredictable aggression.

6. **Lack of Training or Leadership**: Without clear boundaries, training, and leadership from the owner, dogs may become confused or insecure, potentially leading to aggression as they try to assert control or deal with their uncertainty.

This tragic incident highlights the importance of understanding canine behavior, providing proper training, and ensuring a stable environment in multi-dog households.

In a home where there are five dogs if the owner is not the alpha dog can the five dogs get it into their mind to attack the owner?

While it's uncommon, in some cases, dogs in a multi-dog household can develop behaviors that may lead to aggression toward their owner, especially if there are issues related to hierarchy, dominance, or a lack of clear leadership. However, the idea that the owner not being the "alpha" automatically leads to an attack is more complex and nuanced.

Here are some factors to consider:

1. **Hierarchy and Leadership**: Dogs are social animals and often look for a leader, especially in a group setting. If the owner is not seen as the leader, or if there is confusion about the hierarchy within the pack, it can lead to instability and insecurity among the dogs. This could manifest in challenging behavior, but not necessarily an attack.

2. **Resource Guarding**: In some cases, dogs may become aggressive if they feel they need to compete for resources like food, toys, or attention. If the owner is perceived as a competitor rather than a provider or leader, this could potentially lead to aggressive behavior.

3. **Pack Mentality**: In a group, dogs can sometimes feed off each other's energy. If one dog becomes aggressive, others may follow suit. This is more likely to happen if the dogs are highly aroused or stressed, and the owner is not able to effectively intervene.

4. **Lack of Socialization or Training**: Dogs that are not properly socialized or trained may be more prone to aggressive behavior. In a group setting, poor behavior in one dog can influence the behavior of others.

5. **Fear or Stress**: Dogs may become aggressive out of fear or stress. If the owner inadvertently causes fear or stress in the dogs (through harsh discipline, for example), it could lead to defensive aggression.

To prevent such situations, it's crucial for the owner to establish themselves as a calm, confident leader through positive reinforcement training, setting clear boundaries, and ensuring each dog feels secure and knows their place within the household structure. Consulting with a professional dog trainer or behaviorist can be beneficial in managing a multi-dog household and preventing aggressive behavior.

P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins. Also: sources for news articles are carefully selected but the news is often not independently verified. Also, I rely on scientific studies but they are not 100% reliable.

Would you dive in and wrestle with a dog attacking a cat?

If you saw a Pitbull-type dog attacking a cat would you dive in and wrestle with the dog, pull the dog off the cat and then dominate the dog while ushering them away from the cat? I am pretty sure that most people would be very reluctant to do this for fear of being badly injured themselves because the dog's blood is up. The animal is enraged and might redirect their attack from the cat to the person.

But this man did it and it looks great. He has got a lot of praise. Here are some screenshots from the video and the vide itself which is on TikTok. Below the image and video I discuss one caveat. It is an important point.

Here is the TikTok video which is embedded here. If it disappears on TikTok it disappears here too! ヾ(≧▽≦*)o

@zakame1 The Guy saves his cat from this dog’s attack #fyp #DogAttacke #kittyCat ##WildLife #AnimalPlanet #ForYouPage🥰✌️ ♬ original sound - 💫TazzMo💫

Caveat

What I mean here is that the video may not be all that it seems. The guy looks brave and he is. And he respects animals as he does not harm the dog. He just grabs him and dominates him to keep him away from the cat.

But the issue is this: does he own both the cat and the dog? Or does he own the cat but not the dog? We are told that he owns the cat but not the dog.

If that is true he is brave and not a lot of people would put themselves so obviously in harms way to save their cat. A lot would but a lot would not. Or they'd find a weapon to beat the dog off and protect themselves. Not dive in an use their arms and hands.

But if he owns both animals he could be criticised for allowing the attack to occur. And it would explain why he is so respectful of the dog. 

You know, if you are driven to save the life of your cat from being killed by a dog you'd do anything to get the dog off. You'd harm the dog if you had to and it would be justified although very unfortunate.

We don't have the full backstory. The area where it occurred does not look typically residential. That's important. 

If it is residential, it may have happened outside the front door to his home which would make me believe that the dog and cat are his.

But if it is a public place and he was a passer by and decides to intervene, bravo to him.

Would you dive in and use your hands and arms to save a cat from a dog attack?

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Animal advocate angry at clickbait articles about dogs killing people

Nathan Winograd is a very high-profile American animal advocate specialising in animal shelters and saving lives. He's written a letter, officially from his No Kill Advocacy Center. In it he criticises an article on USA Today, the title to which is click bait: "Dogs are mauling and killing more people. What to do pits neighbor against neighbor". Note: see the bottom of the page about police officers killing dogs! That's probably the real story.

It's not even written that well to be honest. Anyway that's not relevant.

The gist of Nathan Winograd's letter is that there are no statistics which support the view that dog bites are increasing in the USA and certainly there is no evidence that the rate of dog bites are increasing in the USA.

Clearly, there are more dogs in the USA than there were in the past because there are more American citizens adopting dogs and cats. But the proportion between the number of dogs biting people or killing people compared to the number of citizens in America has probably dropped. This is the rate of dog bites and dog killings.

As an extract from his letter:

Moreover, the salient question is whether dog bite rates have increased. And in cases where numbers are available, the trend appears to be in the opposite direction. For example, the author writes that “Emergency room visits due to dog bites decreased from almost 363,000 in 2012 to 317,000 in 2021,” according to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), despite millions more dogs in the U.S.

Nathan Winograd says that "While it appears the number of fatal dog attacks has increased, they remain under 100." I asked Google Gemini (Google's artificial intelligence computer) for information on the number of people killed by dogs annually in the US. This is its answer:

The number of people in the US killed by dogs annually falls within a range of  30 to 50 according to the National Library of Medicine [US dog bite fatalities statistics]. 

There are no figures on cats killing people because its just so rare. And anyway cats can't kill people directly. It has to be indirectly such as through a rabies bite which are infinitesimally rare despite more click bait on this topic. The news media likes to exaggerate in order to attract attention.

Nathan Winograd interestingly makes a comparison between people killed by forklift trucks and those killed by dogs. It's a similar amount. Perhaps more are killed by forklift trucks because Google Gemini tells us that "Estimates suggest that around 75 to 100 workers in the United States are killed by forklift accidents annually with an average closer to 87 deaths per year".

This is more than people killed by dogs which puts things into perspective because 99% of the American population do not interact with forklifts! Most Americans come into contact regularly with dogs.

Winograd finishes with this quote:

While fatal dog attacks are tragic, the CDC notes that they remain “rare,” involving roughly 0.0001% of the dog population. Moreover, “Experts say the number of annual fatalities from a dog bite is small enough that measuring year-to-year trends becomes difficult.”

The point that he makes is that if news media use click bait to attract readers about dogs killing people they inadvertently threaten the lives of dogs. It can colour the opinion of people against dogs. They can make people fearful of dogs. This can lead to people using force against dogs unnecessarily which can lead to the death of some dogs.

On that last topic by the way I've seen too many stories about American policeman shooting dogs for no good reason. Many of them seem to be fearful of dogs and they are just too keen to shoot them. On one occasion, a Labrador raced up to a policeman for a cuddle and the police officer shot the dog. Can you believe that? Complete idiocy.

RELATED: Protest after police agitate two dogs and then shoot them dead.

How many dogs are shot by police officers in the US annually?

Unfortunately, there isn't a definitive answer to the exact number of dogs shot by police officers in the US annually. Here's what we know:

• Estimates suggest it's around 10,000 dogs per year, based on a Department of Justice official's report [trace.tennessee.edu].
• This number might be even higher, with some suggesting it could reach six figures [scholars.unh.edu].

There are a couple of reasons why there's no precise data:

• Lack of mandatory reporting: There's no federal legislation requiring law enforcement agencies to record or report animal deaths during interventions.
• Inconsistent record-keeping: Even if departments track these incidents, there might not be a standardized method, making it difficult to compile national data.

If you're interested in learning more about this issue, you can search for terms like "police shootings of dogs" or "canine fatalities by police."

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

No obligation for UK police to investigate dog killing cat

This is part of a "great debate". The GB News website has a story about a large dog described as a "copy of XL bully" killing a lady's cat. Her name is Becky and she is campaigning for a change in UK law. I am sorry but she won't succeed but I wish her all the best.

In the UK, the police do nothing about an attack by a dog on another dog or cat unless the dog is an assistance dog or service dog. Image: MikeB under Canva license.

She says that she has no recourse to prosecute the owners of the dog that killed her cat Freya because in the UK, only dog on dog attacks can be pursued by police and only in those instances where the victim is an assistance or service dog or if the dog's owner is injured and/or the attacking dog was dangerously out of control.

RELATED: read more on this tricky aspect of UK law by clicking on the following link: In the UK, if a dog injuries or kills your cat the police might not become involved.

The bottom line is that if a dog attacks a cat, the police won't do anything about it, I understand. That's law in the UK.

"There have been decisions in the past by courts and authorities to suggest that it is the nature of a dog to kill and wound small animals. As such, unfortunately there is no certainty that the police could take action, in the event of your pet being killed or wounded by a dog." - West Yorkshire Police

I had never heard of that before. It places assistance and service dogs above an ordinary dog companion. It's a type of speciesism if you like. And it would certainly be upsetting to a dog owner to have their dog killed by another without recourse in terms of criminal behaviour.

Although a prosecution wouldn't be possible, I would suggest that the owner of the victim dog could, if it was practical, sue the owner of the attacking dog in negligence for failing to take charge of their dog adequately and allowing the animal to attack their dog and kill him or her.

There will be very few people who would commence a civil action like that because the damages would almost certainly be small, perhaps to the value of the dog or cat without valuing the distress caused to the owner. In which case the damages might be as low as £100 or thereabouts.

If the owner of the victim dog employed a lawyer to help them the costs would far outweigh the damages awarded if they won. Therefore they would have to conduct the case themselves which would probably be a big barrier.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Heroic cat charges into large pack of dogs one of which was savaging another cat to save their life

We don't know the relationship between the cat who was grabbed by a dog who was a pack member and the lifesaving cat but this amazing cat charges at the dog with the other cat in its mouth and scatters the pack. The courage was enormous. It is probable that this cat is the mother of the young cat who was attacked and who would surely have died fairly quickly but for the intervention.

The main impression one gets from watching the video is courage and fearlessness. She dives in knowing that there was a strong risk of injury or death. She throws herself at the central dog who led the attack. Her forelegs are in front of her, claws out to smack the dog around the face. The dog releases the young cat. Both cats scram. 

The quality of the picture below (a screenshot) is hopeless but it is on the page to provide a 'featured image' for SEO purposes.

On the internet you will see a lot of videos and still images of mother cats defending their offspring. I can't be sure that's the case in this video but I feel that it is.

Do cats have a natural fear of dogs?

This is a social media question about domestic cats. Note that this is about domestic cats. Clearly a Bengal tiger is not going to be scared of a single medium-sized dog! Point made.

Neighbour's dogs repeatedly escape neighbour's yard and attacks a man's cats. This is neither the cat nor the dog in the story. Pic in public domain as assessed.

Domestic cats have a natural fear of predators of domestic cats. They know when they are about to be a victim of a predatory attack by any animal or human larger than them. This is not therefore limited to dogs.

So that ability is innate and natural. But it is not possible to say that all cats have a natural fear of dogs. It is wrong because if a cat has been socialised to domestic dogs at an early age, they will be friendly towards dogs all their lives. We see many examples of cats and dogs being friendly towards each other.

This is about size too as the domestic cat is a top predator. Small predators such as the domestic cat are vulnerable to larger predators. This holds true with respect to the small wild cats such as the caracal being attacked by the large wild cats such as the leopard. See below:

Leopard a large wild cat species and a top predator kills and eats a small feline predator the caracal. Image in public domain. 

A very small dog or puppy would at least be vulnerable to an attack by a large feral cat although an attack would be unlikely.

I think size matters. As dogs are almost invariably larger than domestic cats the attacker and the attacked will be dog and cat respectively.

But it could be the other way around. A tiger would kill a single wild dog with one swipe. There is no natural fear of dogs in a Bengal tiger unless we are referring to a large pack of wild dogs which can kill a tiger.

Conclusion: Do cats have a natural fear of dogs? No, just a natural fear of predators that they perceive as genuinely dangerous and posing a serious threat.