Loose Pit Bull Terrier on Pytchley Road (SE21)

[lily'smama]

My daughter and I were walking along Pytchley Road (SE21) to Sainsbury's this morning when a black Pit Bull Terrier came charging out of one of the estates. He chased after my daughter who was running ahead of me and thankfully my yelling made the dog stop and run off and nothing happened. A car stopped to block the dogs way so we could walk off but there appeared to be no owner around at all and to be honest I am still pretty shell shocked about what happened. I have informed the police and they will have a "look".

Please make sure that you take care when waling along this road!!!!

[Dez]

There are a lot of those dogs around now, I thought they required muzzles?

[bigbadwolf]

Usually I'd make fun of you and the event that took place on Pytchley rd lily but I've been attacked by a dog twice when I was younger and it is an incredibly frightening experience so you and you daughter have my sympathies. I've never blamed the dog just the utter dickheads that don't look after them properly.

[first mate]

If it was a pitbull or pitbull cross then these dogs are totally illegal and should indeed be muzzled and neutered if they exist at all. However, there are lots of long-legged Staffs and Staff crosses that might look like pitbulls but are not.

In my view any dog can become nasty if treated badly but one of these dogs, if very badly treated, is much more of a danger because of their jaw strength and the fact that they will not let go once they really attack. Having said that, the Pibull, the Staffie and the Bull terrier are probably amongst the most people friendly breeds you can ever come across,they were bred to be totally biddable to humans, though unreliable with other dogs (the dog fighting heritage).

The fact that the dog ran away probably indicates that it wasn't vicious, more than likely it wanted to say hello,they are very playful dogs, but also often too in your face. I say this only to stop you being worried about meeting other dogs like this. Nonetheless, the dog should not have been off lead and out on its own and I quite understand why you'd be frightened and worried for your daughter. It's the irresponsible owners that are at fault.

On the other hand if I have misunderstood and the dog was showing aggression (unless you know dog body language it can be hard to know what their intent is if they approach you) then I hope that the matter is properly investigated.

The only other thing is that the guy who works in the pet shop on Northcross Road had a bad experience on Peckham Rye where his dog got badly attacked by a black male Staffie, at the time wearing a fancy harness. Apparently this dog is also people aggressive. If the dog you came across was an entire, black, male Staffie type dog then it might be worth reminding the police of this other incident that was also reported to them.

[SteveT]

I was attacked some years ago by a pitbull that had no handler on Brockwell park, and it was all I could do to keep it off me with a stout walking stick, it was a terrifying experience and I never ever walk on a park without carrying one.

I cannot blame the dog just the brainless owner who needs to possess such a dog.

You have my sympathy lily'smama

[first mate]

Steve T,

Poor you. That must have been terrifying.

The problem is that I think there are yobs out there who are either training dogs to be people aggressive or deliberately breeding from genetically badly unstable dogs that are constantly on red alert and attack anything that moves. And yes, dog fighting and drug dealing are the reasons behind the breeding of this type of animal.

It gives "normal" dogs and their owners a bad name. I should add that because of the above I too stay well clear of anything that looks like a bull breed type dog, when out walking my own dog, that is unless I know the dog and its owner well. A number of dogs have been attacked and killed recently by these rogue animals.

My sympathies to you again- I would have been terrified.

[lily'smama]

Thanks so much for all your sympathetic and insightful messages. It is such a shame that the owners seem to "mess" up these animals. I have read so many stories where children got badly bitten or even killed that I just went right into panic mode. Letting out any dog onto the streets without a handler is in my opinion utterly irresponsible and dangerous not only for people on the street but also for the dog itself.

First mate:

I am not sure about what kind of collar the dog was wearing , sorry. Thank you so much for giving me a better understanding of these dogs!

[LegalEagle-ish]

it might have escaped from it's owner rather than having been let out alone.