Friend or Fiend?

Aggression of dogs towards children is a concern for all

Is a dog man's best friend or worst fiend? 

Most of us love dogs, but regretfully dog attacks do occur and when the attacks are directed towards children, it is particularly tragic. For parents, when their pet dog is aggressive towards their children, the emotions and conflict the parents experience are extreme, especially as most parents regard their dog with the same emotional attachment that they have for their children. It's is worse still if the dog was the parent's child substitute before the child was born.

Thankfully, there are ways of reducing the risk of aggression towards children.

What are the risks of dog bites for families?

Certainly dogs injure and even kill people.

The Flinders University Research Centre for Injury Studies has reported on dog bite injuries over an eight period year from1986 - 1994 where over 700,000 injuries treated at a variety of hospital emergency departments were analysed. Dog bites represented 7591 (1%) of the injuries presented.

In Australia from 1976 - 1996, there were eleven fatalities caused by dog bites, of which 36% were in young children under four years and 36% were in elderly folk over 75 years.

To put this into perspective, these fatalities should be compared with those caused by other animals. For instance, in much the same period, there were 52 snake bite fatalities and 10 crocodile fatalities in Australia.

As we don't live every day with snakes and crocodiles in our lounge rooms, this shows that dogs are surprisingly friendly animals. Why is this so? Mainly because through deliberate domestication of dog, we humans have orchestrated an alteration of their gene pool to create animals that, mostly, have stable temperaments. Nevertheless, dog bites do occur and they can be dangerous and even fatal.

When it comes to kids and pets, research at the Royal Children's Hospital in Brisbane and the Flinders University in Adelaide confirms that children under 10 years represent 43 % of emergency treatments at hospital where dog attacks are involved.

The head, neck and trunk represent 48% of these injuries and where the face is bitten, the lips and nose are more often affected.  The life-long disfigurement caused by dog attacks is a sad consequence of pet ownership gone wrong.

Children are extremely vulnerable to dog attacks because:

• they are often of similar size, height and weight as the dog  
• children do not know how to handle themselves around dogs
• children spend more time in the dog's environment (in the garden, playing on the floor and so on) than the parents
• children are active, noisy and unpredictable in their actions
• considering the immense ability of dogs to detect smells, children often proffer the challenge of different odours and scents to adults.

The sad statistics also confirm that:

• three quarters of dog attacks occur in boys
• sixty percent of injuries occur in the home or garden
• more bites occur on the weekends
• one in seventeen cases requires admission to a hospital.

What Breeds Bite Most?

Defining the breeds that cause attacks is always a treacherous sea. Where statistics are available, the breed description is either that given by the victim or that given by the dog owner. Breed descriptions relating to dog attacks should be regarded as general description of appearance only.

Nevertheless, statistics from the Brisbane City Council are useful. Here, the dog's breed is defined by the owner of the dog and show that German Shepherd type dogs usually cause more bites than any other breed. Followed by, and sometimes superseded by, the Australian Cattle Dog, and very close on its heels are dogs described as Bull Terrier types.

However, German Shepherds are the most commonly owned breed of dog in Brisbane at almost 11% of the dog population.  When the ownership levels are taken into account, dogs of the Bull Terrier type usually rank as the most dangerous dog on a per capita basis.  

Bull Terriers are represented by almost 3% of the Brisbane dog population. The breed that ranks in second place for attacks is the Australian Cattle Dog (the second most common dog owned at 10% of the population) and third place is taken by the German Shepherd.

From my business as a veterinary behaviourist, I see Staffordshire Bull Terrier and Bull Terrier type dogs as the types presented most commonly with aggression. They represent 23 % of my aggressive-dog case load. Following are German Shepherd types at 17%, Cattle Dogs at 16%, Border Collies at 14%, Rottweilers at 13% and, in the small dog category, Maltese Terriers are the most common at 6.4% of all cases. Note that aggression in these cases does not refer only to children.

What are the Benefits of Pet Ownership for Children?

So, we have examined the danger that an aggressive pet dog poses to the children in the family. Now, let's look at the flip side and show that children reap great benefits from pet ownership. When it comes to determining the benefit children get from pets, American child psychologist Boris Levinson lead the way.  He was one of the first to notice how pets improve a child's behaviour.

Levinson worked with a boy who had many problems associated with social contact. On one occasion Levinson happened to have his dog in his office when the boy arrived earlier than expected for an appointment. The boy began to interact with the dog and to Levinson's surprise spoke to the dog. 

This was remarkable because Levinson had not been able to provoke speech during the previous month. This was the beginning of his research which has inspired many others to investigate why pets are important to children.

Children with Psychological Challenges

We now know that pets provide clear benefits for children (and adults) afflicted with a range of psychological disorders.

The benefits are particularly significant with autistic children. It is fascinating that Autistic children show behaviours towards their pets that they rarely, if ever, show towards their human companions. In particular, autistic children seek out pets for companionship and comfort and confide in pets in ways that these children never show to family members.

Autistic children show greater sensitivity towards the needs and feelings of the animal than they show to people, together with a lack of anger and aggression. Autistic children often dislike being touched or hugged by people, but studies have shown that autistic children showed clear enjoyment in the tactile comfort given by pets. 

These results suggest that children with autism may be able to demonstrate behaviours towards pets that they do not display to people, even family members, and that these behaviours are akin to those associated with close relationships.

Children and Family Pets

Researchers tell us that owning pets makes children more empathic, a trait seen even in pet-owning children of three to six years of age.

Pets also provide emotional support for children. When asked, children often nominate that they would turn to pets in place of people when faced with a problem or when needing comfort. Whereas parents and siblings sometimes judge and criticize, pets don't and pets can therefore make children feel unconditionally accepted. Further, social support given by other humans can be threatening but this is not so with pets.

A wonderful benefit of pets is their enduring affection. This is a significant source of the benefit and pleasure that pets can bring to children because kids sense that pets will love and accept them unconditionally. 

If a child gets angry or performs poorly at school, if this child has problems with his or her relationships with other friends or experiences bullying, the pet will provide a source of non-judgemental affection that is a wonderful solace.

Of course, dogs are teachers of biology as children learn about the pet's health care needs and share the pet's maintenance.

Reducing the risk of pets to kids

Clearly, pets are good for kids, so the last task is to reduce the risks of pet ownership and that's not difficult. You need to start at the beginning and select a pet that is suitable for your lifestyle. Dogs are not suitable for all, and families with busy lifestyles may be better choosing a cat, some fish or perhaps a bird.

If you choose a dog, you need to carefully consider the breed and next, to choose a pup with a stable temperament. In the home, you need to carefully handle interactions between your dog and your children. By their very nature, children and dogs are an excitable combination so it's the parent's role to oversee the interactions.

Be cautious with visiting children and unless you know that your dog is bomb proof, confine it away from the children. For your own kids, teach them how to approach dogs and how to behave around them. Lastly, coach your children on what to do if they are confronted by an aggressive dog.

So, while dogs can be dangerous to children, simple precautions make dog ownership the joy is should be - for kids, parents and the pooch!

http://www.pethealth.com.au/Page/friend-or-fiend-aggressive-dog-assessment-dog-attacks

AMERICAN ANIMAL FOUNDATION ARE FATAL DOGS ATTACKS ACCURATE WHEN WE READ ABOUT THEM IN THE MEDIA ?

 

The Center for Disease released a study on fatal dog attacks from 1979 - 1998.

The CDC study assistance from the HSUS an organization supporting the end to domestic 

pet ownership. The CDC study was bias and serves no scientific purpose. The study was 

done intentionally to support breed specific legislation by making claim that Rottweilers and 

Pit Bulls were responsible for the majority of fatal dog attacks during 1979 - 1998. The CDC 

study failed to include the populations of breeds responsible for fatal attacks and without 

populations of breeds to make a statement that specific breeds are responsible for the 

majority of fatal attacks is intentional.

 

The CDC has been used by organizations lobbying to pass breed specific legislation in an attempt to target Rottweilers and Pit Bulls.Data shows us apx. 22 people die each year from using hiar dryers while standing in bath tubs filled with water. For the last 40 years 

between 12 -25 people each year have died from dog attacks and the numbers have not changed even though the populations of canines has increased.  

 

The main cause of fatal dog attacks is irresponsible dog owners who do not properly train 

and socalize their dogs which leads to aggressive behavior and irresponsible parents who 

leave young children unattended around dogs.

Breed is not a contributing factor to fatal dog attacks and spay and neutering does not reduce canine aggression.

 

DR POLLEY DVM

 

Addressing The Testosterone Issue

 

"Testosterone plays a role in modulating certain behaviors such as roaming, urine marking in-doors, sexual mounting and aggression toward other dogs (versus playful activity or dominance).   Neutersol reduces the male hormone, testosterone, by 41-52% while surgical castration reduces testosterone by 95%. These behaviors may persist after either neutering method.

 

While testosterone plays a role in affecting certain sexually dimorphic behaviors, it is not the only factor. In fact, the veterinary behavioral textbooks point out that there are multiple contributing factors with regard to these behaviors. Surgical castration does not completely eliminate these behaviors. The controlled scientific studies that have assessed the effects of surgical castration with regard to behavior have shown that most dogs continue exhibiting these behaviors. Aggression toward humans shows little 

significant effect after surgical castration. Surgery can have an effect in some of these, but is far from absolute. The FDA has reviewed the data for both surgery and Neutersol and included wording in the prescribing information of Neutersol addressing this fact, "As with surgical castration, secondary male characteristics (roaming, marking, aggression and mounting) may persist."

 

There is no scientific process available to identify the American Pit Bull Terrier and over 30 breeds that look like the Pit Bull. We find the media only reports what they call Pit Bull attacks labeling dogs that are not even related to the American Pit Bull Terrier. Of the fatal dog attacks in the last 40 years very few dogs labeled as Pit Bulls were actually purebred American Pit Bull Terriers registered 

with dog registries with pedigrees.

Dog bite From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dog bite
Military working dog training to attack by biting
Classification and external resources
ICD-10	W54
ICD-9-CM	E906.0

Dog bites or dog attacks are attacks on humans by feral or domestic dogs. With the close association of dogs and humans in daily life (largely as pets), dog bites – with injuries from very minor to significant – are extremely common.

There is considerable debate on whether or not certain breeds of dogs are inherently more prone to commit attacks causing serious injury (i.e., so driven by instinct and breeding that, under certain circumstances, they are exceedingly likely to attempt or commit dangerous attacks). Regardless of the breed of the dog, it is recognized that the risk of dangerous dog attacks can be greatly increased by human actions (such as neglect or fight training) or inactions (as carelessness in confinement and control).

Significant dog bites affect tens of millions of people globally each year.^[1] It is estimated that two percent of the US population, from 4.5–4.7 million people, are bitten by dogs each year.^[2] Most bites occur in children.^[3] In the 1980s and 1990s the US averaged 17 fatalities per year, while in the 2000s this has increased to 26.^[4] 77% of dog bites are from the pet of family or friends, and 50% of attacks occur on the dog owner's property.^[4]Animal bites, most of which are from dogs, are the reason for 1% of visits to an emergency department in the United States.^[3]

Attacks on the serious end of the spectrum have become the focus of increasing media and public attention in the late 20th and early 21st centuries.^[5]

Contents

  [hide] 

• 1Health effects
• 2Causes
  • 2.1Human behavior
  • 2.2Dog behavior
  • 2.3Training and aggression
  • 2.4Unsupervised children
  • 2.5Breeds
• 3Human-dog interaction
• 4Legal issues
  • 4.1United States
• 5See also
• 6References
• 7External links

Health effects[edit]

A person bitten by an animal potentially carrying parvovirus or rabies virus should seek medical care. An animal bite may also cause serious bacterial infections of soft tissues or bone (osteomyelitis) which can become life-threatening if untreated.

Rabies results in the death of approximately 55,000 people a year, with most of the causes due to dog bites.^[1]

Capnocytophaga canimorsus transmission (a gram-negative bacterium) following a dog bite can cause overwhelming sepsis in asplenic patients, the elderly, and the immunocompromised. Empiric treatment for this bacteria following a dog bite, consisting of a third-generation cephalosporins early in the infection, should be instituted in these patient populations, or following deep bites or dog bites to the hand.

Causes[edit]

Human behavior[edit]

The human–dog relationship is based on unconditional trust; however if this trust is lost it will be difficult to reinstate. As a last resort, humans will use a slap but a dog will use a bite. A dog's thick fur protects it from the bite of another dog but humans are furless and are not so protected.^[6]

Many human behaviors (especially by people unfamiliar with dogs) may factor into bite situations. The majority of dogs will not respond to all or even any of these behaviors with aggression; however, some will. These behaviors include:

• Challenging for food or water. For example, removing food from a dog, or appearing to intervene between a dog and its food. Even when inadvertent, this may trigger aggressive behavior in some animals.
• Attacking (or perceived attacking) a dog or its companions, or encroaching on its territory. Dogs are pack hunters; they often have an instinct to defend themselves and those they consider their "pack" (which could be other dogs, humans, cats, or even other animals), and to defend their territory, which may include areas they consider "theirs" or belonging to their family. Any dog is unpredictable in the presence of an intruder, especially but not always a burglar.
• Sickness or injury. A sick or injured dog, or an older animal, like people, may become "cranky" or over-reactive, and may develop a tendency to become "snappish".
• Failure to recognize insecurity or fear. Like humans, dogs that feel insecure may ultimately turn and defend themselves against perceived threat. It is common for people to not recognize signs of fear or insecurity, and to approach, triggering a defensive reaction.
• Intervention when dogs fight. When dogs fight, a human stepping in between, or seeking to restrain one of them without due care, may be badly bitten as well.
• Threatening body language. Especially including direct staring (an act of aggression/perceived as threatening by dogs) or a person not known to the dog moving their face very close to the animal's own snout (may be perceived as a challenge, threatening, or imposing). Staring is more dangerous when on the same visual level as the dog (such as small children), or when the human is unfamiliar.
• Prey behaviors. Dogs retain many of the predatory instincts of wolves, including the chasing of prey. Running away from a dog or behaving in a manner suggesting weakness may trigger predatory behaviors such as chasing or excited attack. For example, the instinct to jerk one's hands upwards away from an inquisitive dog may elicit a strong impulse to grab and hold.
• Ignoring warning signs. Trained attack dogs may act against an intruder without warning.

Note that attacks may be triggered by behaviors that are perceived as an attack, for example, a sudden unexpected approach or touch by a stranger, or inadvertently stepping on any portion of the dog's anatomy, such as a paw or tail, or startling a sleeping dog unexpectedly. In particular, the territory that a dog recognizes as its own may not coincide with the property lines that its owner and the legal authorities recognize, such as a portion of a neighbor's backyard.

Dog behavior[edit]

Many adoption agencies test for aggressive behavior in dogs, and euthanize an animal that shows certain types of aggression. Alternatively, aggression can often be addressed with appropriate corrective training. Sources of aggression include:

• Fear and self-defense. Like humans, dogs react when fearful, and may feel driven to attack out of self-defense, even when not in fact being "attacked". Speed of movement, noises, objects or specific gestures such as raising an arm or standing up may elicit a reaction. Many rescued dogs have been abused, and in some dogs, specific fears of men, women, skin coloring, and other features that recall past abusers, are not uncommon. A dog that feels cornered or without recourse may attack the human who is threatening or attacking it. A dog may also perceive a hand reached out toward its head as an attempt to gain control of the dog's neck via the collar, which if done to a wary dog by a stranger can easily provoke a bite.
• Territoriality and possessions. See above. Aggressive possessiveness is considered a very important type of aggression to test for, since it is most associated with bites, especially bites to children.
• Predatory instincts. In isolation, predatory behaviors are rarely the cause of an attack on a human. Predatory aggression is more commonly involved as a contributing factor for example in attacks by multiple dogs; a "pack kill instinct" may arise if multiple dogs are involved in an attack.^[7]
• Pain or sickness. See above. As with fear, pain can incite a dog to attack. The canonical example of sickness-induced attack is the virulent behavior caused byrabies.
• Redirected aggression. A dog that is already excited/aroused by an aggressive instinct from one source, may use an available target to release its aggression, if the "target" does something to evoke this response from the dog (e.g. shouting & staring at the dog for barking at the mailman).

Training and aggression[edit]

In a domestic situation, canine aggression is normally suppressed^{[citation needed]}. Exceptions are if the dog is trained to attack, feels threatened, or is provoked. It is important to remember that dogs are predators by nature, instinct is something that never completely disappears, and that predatory behavior against other animals (such as chasing other animals) may train a dog or a pack of dogs to attack humans. It is possible to acclimate a dog to common human situations in order to avoid adverse reactions by a pet. Dog experts^[who?] advocate removal of a dog's food, startling a dog, and performing sudden movements in a controlled setting to teach the dog who its leader is, to defuse aggressive impulses in common situations. This also allows better animal care since owners may now remove an article directly from a dog's mouth or transport a wounded pet to seek medical attention^{[citation needed]}.

Small children are especially prone to being misunderstood by dogs, in part because their size and movements can be similar to prey.^[8] Also, young children may unintentionally provoke a dog (pulling on ears or tails is common, as is surprising a sleeping dog) because of their inexperience^{[citation needed]}. To avoid potential conflicts, even reliably well-behaved children and dogs should never be allowed to interact in the absence of an adult who knows and understands the dog's personality and trained cues.

Dogs with strong chase instincts, (e.g. collies, shepherds), may fail to recognize a person as a being not to be herded^{[citation needed]}. They may fixate on a specific aspect of the person, such as a fast-moving, brightly colored shoe, as a prey object^{[citation needed]}. This is probably the cause for the majority of non-aggressive dogs chasing cyclists and runners. In these cases, if the individual stops, the dog often loses interest since the movement has stopped. This is not always the case, and aggressive or territorial dogs might take the opportunity to attack.

Additionally, most dogs that bark at strangers, particularly when not on "their" territory, will flee if the stranger challenges it, though this is not recommended behaviour as challenging the dog is just as likely to evoke a bite^{[citation needed]}. Mailmen, being the classic example, provoke a strong territorial response because they come back day after day to the dog's territory. In the dog's mind they are constantly intruding on their territory and that sets up a learned behavior.

Unsupervised children[edit]

Children die more often because due to their small size they are less able to withstand an attack until help arrives. Many adults survive dog attacks simply due to being able to sustain and fend the dogs off to some degree until assistance arrives, although the elderly and disabled are more vulnerable.

Children may engage in behavior that will trigger a dog attack. For example, approaching a chained dog, trying to hug or kiss an unfamiliar animal, trying to pull its tail or engaging in other behavior that the dog may feel is threatening. Behavior such as this on the part of children may invoke either an aggressive territorial response from the dog or an aggressive defensive behavior from the dog.

The age group with the second-highest amount of fatalities due to a dog attack are 2-year-old children. Over 88% of these fatalities occurred when the 2-year-old was left unsupervised with a dog(s) or the child walked into the location of a dog and was attacked.^{[citation needed]}

Breeds[edit]

Pit bull, muzzled

With respect to bites, no one breed causes most of them.^[3]A 2015 literature review concluded that "breed is a poor sole predictor of dog bites".^[9] In the United States pit bull-type are the most frequently identified breeds in cases of severe bites with Rottweiler dogs also being common.^[3][9] This is partly attributed to their size and the fact that they are more frequently owned by people involved in crime.^[9]

When dogs are near humans with whom they are familiar, they normally become less aggressive. However, it should not be assumed that because a dog has been with humans, it will not attack anybody – even a family member. Caution needs to be taken when approaching new dogs for the first time.^[10]

A study based on recent data from 2000–2009, published in 2013, compared media accounts with reports available from animal control officials, determined that, of their sample of 256 dog bite related fatalities, breed could only be validly determined in 45 cases, and the attacks in these 45 cases were dispersed among 20 different breeds and 2 known mixes. For a further set of 401 dogs in media accounts of dog bite related fatality, reported breed differed between different media accounts of the same attack 31% of the time, factoring in animal control accounts produced disagreement on breed for 40% of attacks.^[11]

A 2000 study by the US by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports of 327 people killed by dogs "pit bull terrier" or mixes thereof were reportedly involved in 76 cases. The breed with the next-highest number of attributed fatalities was the Rottweiler and mixes thereof, with 44 fatalities.^[2]

Human-dog interaction[edit]

See also: Anthrozoology

Despite domestication, dogs, like their ancestors wolves, remain cunning, swift, agile, strong, territorial and voracious—even small ones have large, sharp teeth and claws and powerful muscles in their jaws and legs and can inflict serious injuries. The lacerations even from inadvertent dog scratches, let alone deliberate or reckless bites, are easilyinfected (most commonly by Capnocytophaga ochracea or Pasteurella multocida). Medium-to-large dogs can knock people down with the usual effects of falls from other causes.

Should affection or mutual respect not exist (as with feral dogs), should a dog be deliberately starved (dogs are usually as resourceful as any large predators in getting food), should a dog be conditioned to become an attacker, or should someone intrude upon a dog's territory and pose a threat, then the natural tendencies of a predator manifest themselves in a dog attack in which the dog uses its predatory abilities to defend itself. Extrication from such an attack is difficult because of the dog's power and agility. Flight from a dog attack by running is usually impossible.

Education for adults and children, animal training, selective breeding for temperament, and society's intolerance for dangerous animals combine to reduce the incidence of attacks and accidents involving humans and dogs. However, improperly managed confrontations can lead to severe injury from even the most well-tempered dog.

Stiffened front legs and a raised ridge of hair along the spine can be signs of an imminent attack (as well as of interest, or anxiety and the start of the dog's "fight or flight" mechanism). A wagging tail is often an attempt to communicate excitement, though a tail held high over the back can signal the dog becoming aroused – either for what humans see as for positive or negative reasons. Dogs also have far superior hearing and olfactory senses than humans, as well as having the advantage of reading the body language of other humans and animals.

Legal issues[edit]

The examples and perspective in this article may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Pleaseimprove this article and discuss the issue on the talk page.(February 2010)

United States[edit]

Although research suggests that breed-specific legislation is not completely effective in preventing dog attacks, with each new attack, pressure mounts to enact such legislation.^[1]

Due to the pit bull-type breeds' perceived aggression, owning such an animal is not allowed in Australia and many European countries, and in several US and Canadian localities (see breed-specific legislation for details).

Although using a firearm against an attacking dog may seem acceptable, laws in the United States which prohibit discharging a firearm in a city, and reckless endangermentmay limit the extent to which a person is legally able to defend themselves in this way.^{[citation needed]} Taking such actions where the dog/dogs involved were not acting aggressively towards humans may result in legal charges against the person who shot the animal. No person in the United States has ever been convicted of a crime for firing a gun or using any other weapon to stop or kill a dog that was currently attacking him/her.^[12]

About whether an attacking dog could itself be criminally liable, the California Court of Appeal for the Third District explained:

“

We recognize the common tendency to anthropomorphize animals, especially beloved pet dogs. Though we might give a dog a name and ascribe a certain personality to the animal, the law does not recognize dogs as having the mental state that can incur criminal liability. [Citations.] Despite the physical ability to commit vicious and violent acts, dogs do not possess the legal ability to commit crimes.[13]

”

Some state laws hold dog owners liable for the harm or damage that their animal causes to people or other dogs. For example, in recent years, Florida dog bite laws have been changed so that prior vicious tendencies may no longer be needed to prove owner liability.^[2] In Texas, dog attack victims are given two possible ways to prove owner negligence when bringing a personal injury or wrongful death claim. The first option is that of strict liability, whereby a victim and their attorney must prove that either the dog has attacked someone else previously (known as the "one bite law") or else that the owner should otherwise have known their dog was vicious and/or dangerous. The second option is that of owner negligence, which could be argued in cases as various as dogs being allowed to roam freely around neighborhoods, or parents allowing their children to play with pet dogs while unsupervised. Also in Texas, as of September 1, 2007, `Lillian's Law' has taken effect, whereby the owner of a dog that causes death or serious bodily injury may be charged with a second or third degree felony when the attack takes place outside the dog's normal place of confinement (Texas Health & Safety Code Chapter 882).

In California, owners are subject to massive civil liability for attacks by their dogs. The state allows a victim to sue on two strict liability causes of action arising out of a single attack—one created by statute and one arising from common law.^[14] In 1989, theCalifornia State Legislature enacted a special administrative hearing procedure just for regulating "menacing dogs," based on the finding that "dangerous and vicious dogs have become a serious and widespread threat to the safety and welfare of citizens of this state."^[15] To help implement it, the Judicial Council of California promulgated a package of four forms in 1990.^[16] The notice of hearing bears the warning: "DO NOT BRING THE DOG TO THE HEARING."^[17]

An unprovoked attack on a jogger by two Cane Corsos was reported in Lapeer, Michigan. The jogger died. The two owners of the dogs were charged with Second degree murder, which carries a potential sentence of Life in Prison. "The dogs involved in the attack have a history of escaping from their kennel and have bitten at least twice before."^[18]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_bite

Dangerous dogs and dog bite prevention

Periodically the community is faced with horrific dog bite incidents, and sadly the victims are often children. These incidents tend to attract extensive media attention, accompanied by simplistic ‘solutions’ to the problem of dog aggression. These events are devastating for the families and naturally draw emotional responses from the community, putting politicians and governments under pressure to address the issue in a public way.

Policy responses to dog bites have increasingly turned to banning or controlling particular breeds of dogs (breed-specific legislation or BSL). Under pressure from the media, governments have established regulatory responses that give the community a false sense of security, allowing them to believe that they are safer from aggressive dogs. However,because these measures do not actually solve the underlying problems, similar dog bite incidents continue. 

Most dog bites take place in homes with familiar family pets, and most people bitten by dogs are children under 10 years of age. No bite prevention strategy can be successful without taking steps to reduce these incidents, numerically far greater than bites taking place in public places and caused by unknown dogs.

The Australian Veterinary Association (AVA) has released a comprehensive report, Dangerous dogs – a sensible solution which sets out the scientific evidence about dog bite incidents, and explores the factors that influence a dog’s tendency to bite. It demonstrates the ineffectiveness of breed-specific legislation in addressing aggressive behaviour in dogs, explaining that this approach does not increase public safety and is unworkable. 

The report highlights a scientific evidence-based policy alternative that combines recognition and control of ‘potentially dangerous dogs’ along with ‘dangerous dogs’. But regulation alone cannot reduce dog bite incidents. It must be combined with a strong system encouraging socially-responsible pet ownership, enforcing compliance with pet identification, registration and restraint rules, while educating the whole community including children about safety around dogs. The report also emphasises the importance of a national register of dog bite incidents and mandatory reporting of incidents to provide a solid evidence base for future policy decisions.

Dangerous dogs – a sensible solution - policy and model legislative framework August 2012

Policy briefing paper on dangerous dogs - 6 August 2012

http://www.ava.com.au/dangerous-dogs