I have not written anything about this case ever since I heard about it on the morning of 8th May when it happened because I did not know enough information to pass any comment.
There were also too many uncertainties in this case as there were no eye-witnesses to relate what happened before the dog attacked the jogger.
Even when Wani asked me for a comment yesterday for her article in The Star, I felt I did not know enough to give any constructive or useful statement. Firstly, AnimalCare does not deal with pedigrees and I know nothing much about the behaviour of pedigree animals. I also do not have much experience with pedigree dogs (Bobby is not a pedigree). Secondly, I certainly do not want to say something for the sake of saying it.
I also have not read any of the news articles on this case as it pains my heart deeply that a human life is lost, but more than that, it pains my heart even more as I now fear for the life of the poor dog. As animal-lovers, I think all of us agree that it is not the dog’s fault.
Rather, this is a case of irresponsible pet ownership (again) and negligence on the part of the owner for not having secured the dog properly within her own house compound. I would also question why and how a banned breed is available for sale and ownership in our country. I would further question how its breeding (or import) had escaped the notice of the authorities.
Since 8th May, I have been asking dog handlers and experienced dog owners about dog behaviours, and now, permit me to share whatever little bit I’ve learnt.
Many years back, the authorities had banned certain breeds of dogs from entering the country, but we still see many of these breeds around now, some imported in, some bred locally, some bred by backyard breeders.
http://www.jpvpk.gov.my/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=270&Itemid=190&lang=en
When legislation and control is lax, untoward incidents happen and the public cries foul. More often than not, as we now all fear, the animal pays with its life.
Humans’ mistake, humans’ negligence, the animal pays.
Why is it so unfair?
According to a certain dog handler, this dog is not a Pit Bull but an English Bull Terrier, but apparently, the DVS has identified it to be a Pit Bull, so perhaps it is. Both breeds are gladiator dogs, which means, they were “produced” by humans for the purpose of fighting in the arena. Why humans want to do such things with the poor animals, I don’t know. For entertainment? For gambling?
On this note, we truly wish humans would stop breeding animals for such selfish purpose. It is so unfair to make these animals fight to the death in the arena.
The Bull Terrier, I am told, has an in-built mechanism where once they bite, they will not let go until the victim is motionless.
However, having said that, a dog handler told me that Bull Terriers (and Pit Bulls) are very friendly to humans. They just do not like other dogs. Hence, they are used for fighting dogs, not fighting humans.
So, we need to understand this – Bull Terriers are friendly to humans.
In general, the dog handler also told me that dogs do not attack unless they are provoked. Let’s wind back the clock to the case of the Rottweiler who attacked and killed an old lady some years back. Apparently, I was told, this old lady used to threaten the dog with her umbrella or stick each day when walking her small dog, and the Rottweiler would pounce on the gate. One day, the gate was not properly secured, the Rottweiler pounced on the gate, the gate opened, and he attacked the old lady. It was fatal. However, the Rottweiler did not attack the small dog. The court spared the Rottweiler and he was then impounded to be trained as an FRU dog. However, sad to say, the Rottweiler could not “complete” the training as he was discovered to hate women.
Question: Why did he hate women?
Possible answer: Because of his bad experience?
Finally, after a year of training, the poor dog was euthanised.
The above account may not be accurate as I only heard the story. Kindly leave a comment if you know more details.
So, back to this poor Bull Terrier now…
If indeed the dog is ferocious as some people accused it to be, why did the dog not attack the two humans who hit it with their umbrella and a stick? Why did it run away?
Those are questions that need to be answered, if any answer can be found. Perhaps dog handlers would be able to shed some light on this.
The poor dog cannot speak; we need experienced dog handlers to speak for him now.
I read in an article today that someone has offered to take over the dog, if the DVS is willing to release the dog after a period of monitoring. We pray and hope that the DVS will not give the order to have the dog euthanised (as with the Penang case).
It is truly not the dog’s fault. It is a case of negligence on the part of the humans, be it the owner, the breeder, or the authorities. The dog should not have to pay the price for the faults of all these humans. That would be utterly and completely unfair.
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/5/10/nation/20120510145853&sec=nation
We offer our deepest sympathies to the Yip family on their tragic loss. We hope they will find strength to cope with this most unfortunate accident and may healing take place in their hearts. I read an email written by the son of the deceased and I admire his tenacity in coping with his father’s demise; he thanked everyone who had helped his father and I’m comforted that in his email, he did not blame the dog at all for his father’s demise.
I think as rational humans, we all know and understand, that this is a case of human negligence.
That being the case, let no animal suffer because of our ignorance and our faults.
Comments
8 responses to “The case of the Bull Terrier and the unfortunate death of an elderly jogger”
I *think* the dog is a Bull Terrier mix. I read in the Chinese newspaper. The Star was, well, being ‘bombarded’ on Facebook for stating the wrong breed. I briefly read their report, and I really didn’t like the way it was written.
Nowadays I don’t read The Star newspaper. Whatever news it is, they will make it so sensational so people will pick up their paper. Must they write ‘killer dog’? Why can’t just write Bull Terrier?
Bull Terrier although it’s body is built like a tank, but actually they are friendly and easy to handle. However, these type of breed easily get annoyed when they are being provoke. They are more suitable to be a guard dog but never a house pet. Even so, i personally feels that the owner is at fault for letting the dog loosely outside their house compound. That is a big NO NO for a dog owner.
I hope the bull terrier will not be penalised with its life.
My thoughts are with the dog at the moment, the life that is still here….I sympathize with the family for the lost of their loved one, a life that has passed and reborn-ed. Let not another life be lost….
Thought I’ll share my experiences with dogs here. When I was young in pre-school age I was chased by a stray dog and I fell and got injured. After that I was afraid of dogs, especially strays. And I have an aunt that likes to keep big dogs – Rotweillers and Dobermanns – and as a kid I was bullied by them a few times. As a small kid, these big dogs were extremely scary. When I reached secondary school, I had to sometimes walk to the bus station because the public bus just cannot be relied on and along the way I’ll inevitably meet dogs. This used terrify me. But from my experiences as a young kid, I knew that if I show them fear, or start to run, then they’ll might bully me. And so I’ll take deep breaths and psycho myself that I’m not afraid and calmly and normally walk through. This really helped me to build confidence with dogs and I learnt not to be afraid of them. Besides, dogs can be very cute and I want to be friends with them and not scared of them! When I was in Form Six I went to a school where a dog kept entering into the school grounds via a gap in the fence. The kids in school were terrified of the dog because the dog enjoyed chasing them. My classroom was on the upper floor with a clear view of the school grounds and I can see that the dog only chased the kids that ran. I passed by this dog in the school grounds and was never chased because I never ran and instead greeted him and this dog is actually very friendly. He was chasing because people ran and it’s just great fun and games for him. I tried telling people to stop running, but people don’t learn so well when scared. I kept making the effort to learn more about dogs – read their body language and barks and found a few important lesson – always approach a dog with respect, friendliness and courtesy and they will respond in kind. If you act aggressively, they would aggressive too. If you show fear, then they might take the opportunity to bully you. But my first lesson is still the most basic important lesson – never never ever run away when you see a dog because that’s only an invitation to the dog to chase. The harder you run, the more exciting it becomes for the dog. The moment you run, the dog will instinctively sense you as prey and the hunting instincts kicks in.
Yes, I absolutely agree. Bobby bullies people who are afraid of him too. He kind of enjoys it.
I also hope they will spare the dog and also look further into this case to discover what cause him to attack the person.
Then the things i’m afraid of now is that the authority might conduct doghunt on the stray, the petshop, pet owner for illegal dog breed. I hope it will not come to that.
I received an email written by the son of the deceased, forwarded from a friend. Well and good that he did not blamed the dog, and is aware of that the owner is at fault. However, he misidentified the said bull terrier as a pitbull, and this “ignorance” is another regrettable injustice itself.
While I deeply sympathise with this family’s loss, I am against scare-mongering and misinformation. I grew up with a black Alsatian and later handled pitbulls and larger dog breeds before when my late uncle owned a security services firm in the late 80s/early 90s. I used to exercise them and myself by having them chase me (it’s great fun when I was 12 to 15 because the dogs were all below 2 years old). They absolutely loved it, but of course they knew it was all part of play to develop their socialisation with humans. I found pitbulls easier to train compared to rottweilers, because they have a keener determination to please their owners/handlers.
But of course, I can not emphasise it enough to be aware of a pitbull’s family history. Because my uncle bought his pitbulls from breeders overseas, their family lines are usually well-documented. From what I know, there are two distinctive variants of pitbulls – the ones descended from normal working lines and the ones descended from fighting lines. I was fortunate that the pits I handled and trained came from normal working lines and were raised with care by their breeders. Never had any trouble with them, and of course, I wouldnt advice anyone to get fighting line pits unless they absolutely are aware of what they are doing with an animal that has higher drive and energy than average. Not to mention a pre-disposition to aggression. I wouldnt handle fighting line pits myself, so to speak.
Last year, I was in a pet store in Sek 14 PJ, where there was a beautiful blue-eyed gray and white 2-month old Staffordshire pitbull pup for sale at RM1500. More recently I ran a search on mudah.my. You’ll be surprised that there are now some backyard breeders and kennels in Msia who are breeding pitbulls and even fila brasilero dogs for sale. As much as I love pitbulls, what I have found makes me uneasy with the lack of enforcement by the authorities. Knowing how ignorant Malaysians can be, it is unsettling to know how these dogs may not be raised with proper care before they are sold to unsuspecting pet owners.
I might have missed any development of this case cos until todate, I have no idea what had happened to that poor dog. I pray hard that they would spare his life cos it is not the dog’s fault. It is the owner that should be responsible for it. I always hate to see that at the end of the day, the human conveniently put all the blame to the dog and euthanise it with the reason that the dog is a murderer. This is so not right thing to do and I feel hopeless when I cannot do anything to change this mindset or ‘law’ made by human.