The first part of ITV's two-part documentary on dangerous dogs made for pretty depressing viewing. Sadly I am exposed to so much cruelty and suffering working for OneKind that I have to force myself to almost feel immune to it, but watching the neglect, mistreatment and downright ignorance which exists in society really hit a nerve.
The programme rightly pointed out that it is the environment dogs are exposed to and the way they are treated that shape their behaviour rather than dogs simply being born dangerous. The hour long exposé highlighted just a handful of cases, which are of course at the more extreme end of the spectrum, but it clearly showed that in the UK we have a terrible problem which is creating a culture of extremely dangerous dogs.
In the period of filming the documentary three people were killed in their homes as a result of dog attacks, including the tragic death of four year old Lexi Branson. Lexi was killed by a dog the family had re-homed just two months earlier which raises questions over how easily these dogs can be rehabilitated and live normal lives after severe neglect and ill treatment.
In recent months we have seen two more deaths of very young children both of whom were also killed in their homes by dogs.
The programme also touched on the issue of over breeding where dogs are used like machines to churn puppies out. One distressing example showed a tiny flat, full of urine where a dog had ten pups. The owner was clueless as to the pups’ needs, wasn't ensuring they were properly fed, oblivious to the fact there was a tiny runt in need of extra care. By the second visit from the dog warden, he had sold six of the pups at just four weeks old.
In another example a woman had allowed her bitch to breed with her own son resulting in a litter of inbred puppies which would more than likely suffer serious health problems in the future.
Puppies like these, bred by ignorant owners who just want to make a bit of extra cash from their dogs, unfortunately feed the cycle of creating more dangerous dogs. Dogs, which through no fault of their own at best become unsociable and scared and at worst become vicious and dangerous, through neglect and cruelty.
As a country which prides itself on being a nation of dog lovers this is not only an embarrassing problem but one which is extremely shocking and worrying. The distress and suffering which lead to dogs being labelled dangerous are heart breaking. All too often when we hear the tragic stories of deaths caused by dangerous dogs the public is quick to turn on the dog but perhaps if we focused more on the owners the problem wouldn't be so extreme. Putting a dangerous dog to sleep is a quick fix - ensuring the owner doesn't do the same again with a different dog is a harder problem to tackle.
Well done to ITV for highlighting the complex issue of dangerous dogs. I almost can't bear to watch part two but if it starts to make people question why dogs behave in a certain way then this can only be a good thing.