Woman dies after being bitten by neighbor's dog

So she was trespassing in someone else's backyard and got bit by their chained up dog? Sounds like Fido deserves a pat on the head!

Quite right. Too many interfering old bats in this burg think they can shuffle wherever they please.

Dogs should not be chained. If the dog had been loose in the yard, the old lady would probably have thought twice about trespassing in the first place. If the dog had been loose in the house, it would probably have barked its head off when she came into the yard, thus alerting the owner and performing its job as a guard dog perfectly well without getting the owner in trouble for owning a dangerous dog and without getting the old lady killed. And probably without getting itself put down as a killer. I hope that doesn't happen.

Dogs ・ should・ not・ be ・chained.

That's nonsense. You can be sure that dog barked its head off as the lady approached, giving her plenty of warning to leave before she was in chomping range.

Interesting story this one. Unfortunately, the dog will probably end up carrying the can for the woman's death. Agree with Cleo about chaining dogs up, for those who support such measures, sling a collar around your own neck and sit outside under the summer sun for hours on end. This would probably change your view on things.

At 70-80cm in height, anyone what to guess what this dog was? 70-80cm to the shoulder would put you at the lower end of the Great Dane/Mastiff scale. 80cm to the head would probably mean something like a Akita Inu or something of a similar size. Any comments?

Finally, I wonder if the owner was smart enough to have his property sign posted. "Dangerous Dog on Premises" etc.

You can be sure that dog barked its head off as the lady approached, giving her plenty of warning to leave before she was in chomping range

I'm not suggesting it didn't. But if she could see that it was chained, she may have thought she would be able to stay out of range. Maybe the chain was longer than she anticipated.

Also a dog chained up outside 24/7 tends to bark more than an indoor dog, out of sheer boredom. People in the house could have heard the dog barking madly and simply thought, 'Oh, he's at it again' instead of thinking maybe someone was climbing over the yard wall. If the same dog is indoors throwing himself at the back door, the people in the house are more likely to get up and see what all the noise is about. And if they had seen the little old lady tottering into Fido's jaws, they could have done something about it.

If you want your dog to guard your house, put it in the house, not outside.

Cleo does not write nonsense where dogs are concerned.

Maybe the old lady wasn't trespassing. Maybe she was just coming to ask to borrow a cup of soy sauce. Who knows.

timorborder -

I hope you're wrong about carrying the can.

I once saw a dog-training programme where the trainer got the clueless owner to sit alone on a hard chair in a room with no stimulation, no company, no nothing. After an hour he was crawling up the walls with boredom. Yet people expect their dogs to Sit Stay for ever - under the summer sun, and in freezing winter snow.

As for the size of the dog - yes, it's a good size. All the more reason to make sure it's mentally well-balanced and under control.

If you put up a 'Dangerous dog' sign, don't you lay yourself open to legal action on the grounds you knew the dog was dangerous? I made my own 「犬に注意」(Beware of the dog) sign to stick on the door because all I could find in the shops were 「猛犬に注意」(Beware of the dangerous dog), and there's no way I was going to put one of those up.

I do think dogs need to be chained, especially vicious dogs such as pitbulls. We've had a lot of cases here in my city where people just taking a stroll down the sidewalks of the neighborhood are mauled to death by dogs who escape thier yards. Usually the owner is at fault here because they failed to restrain the pooch.

I don't care what the reasoning is here, that lady still didn't deserve to die. I used to have a guard dog who barked at intruders but I made SURE it didn't kill anybody.

a dog kills an old woman and the dog lovers turn this into a lesson on not using a chain.

A woman died due an attack by the dog. If not on a chain perhaps this dog would have attacked others earlier.

Dog owners, get over yourselves. Humans are more important that dogs or any other pets. Try to keep that in mind the next time this happens.

I hate dogs, and I hate people in Japan that have big dogs locked up in small cages in their yards.

"Dogs should not be chained"

I can't imagine Lassie being chained.

Zurcronium, thanks, that was my point. Guess I got up too early and it didn't sound the way I wanted it.

I will say it again, sometimes a dog needs to be chained. Leave it loose and watch it attack people passing by and watch your butt be taken to court.

Who said the woman was even trespassing? She could have gone over to grab something that made it to the owner's backyard. Our neighbor never minded if we tossed a frisbee and it accidentally landed in his yard and we needed to cross and get it.

Where I live owners of certain breeds of dogs must carry insurance. In addition children are not permited to walk the dogs. An adult must be in charge of the animal at all times. Even with all these regulations in place people still getting attacked. Dogs that kill are usually put down and many times the dogs who attack are also put down. I am sorry the woman died.

The dog just sped up the inevitable. As for not chaining up dogs, what do you suggest, let em run around the yard, on a Japanese property. Yeah right! thepro-what do you care if people keep dogs in cages, you hate dogs right?

zurc -

get over yourselves. Humans are more important that dogs

Couldn't agree with you more. And if this dog had been cared for properly, the old lady would probably still be alive.

delitachan -

We've had a lot of cases here in my city where people just taking a stroll down the sidewalks of the neighborhood are mauled to death by dogs who escape thier yards. Usually the owner is at fault here because they failed to restrain the pooch.

Usually?? No, always. Any damage caused by a dog is ultimately the owner's responsibility. Even if the owner isn't there at the time.

I will say it again, sometimes a dog needs to be chained. Leave it loose and watch it attack people passing by and watch your butt be taken to court.

Say it as many times as you like, chaining a dog does not turn it into a little pussycat. Quite the opposite. If the only alternative to chaining a dog up the owner can think of is to let it run around attacking people, that owner isn't fit to have a dog in the first place.

And no one is saying the old lady deserved to die.

himasan -

As for not chaining up dogs, what do you suggest, let em run around the yard, on a Japanese property. Yeah right!

No. Supervise the dog properly, give it a nice cosy bed inside. Train it responsibly, see it gets the right amount of exercise and isn't going stir-crazy with boredom and frustration.

As timorborder says, try sitting out in the summer sun for hours on end with a chain around your neck, deprived of everything your instincts dictate that you need, and see whether you feel more or less 'vicious' at the end.

Guess you can't hold the owner liable if the dog was chained and the woman was trespassing. How did the woman get bitten in the first place? If the dog was barking and going ape sh*t like dogs do when someone enters their turf why would she get within biting range?

usapat -

I can't find any links at the moment, but I'm sure I read somewhere (can't even remember which country, sorry) of an incident where a dog was in a cage in the owner's yard, a kiddy climbed over a gate onto the property, stuck its hand through the bars of the cage, got bitten and the owner of the dog was held liable.

Chaining a dog will not turn it into a pussycat, but by god, it will at least be a responsible move on part of the owner. If it's chained up, the chances of it running after and mauling a person are reduced. True there are times when the chain will break, but at least a preventative measure was taken.

Train the dog all you want, its natural instincts are going to still make it bark wildly over intruders (depending on your breed). Some dogs are naturally excited over things like that and training won't take it away.

I'll gladly sit outside in the hot sun with a chain around me once my dog takes my place washing the dishes and cleaning out the house. Are we also going to chastise the Border Patrol and Police department for keeping the dogs chained up too?

Give it exercise yes, let him have a lot of running around time, yes. No one's saying to chain it up 24/7. I'm disputing the "dogs should NEVER" be chained" statement because yes, they need to be at times, especially when the owner isn't around. Even if it's a friendly dog, they become excited and seeing strangers pass by and often times jump at em. I've been knocked down before by an adult Golden Retriever. I imagine kids would have it worse. It's not being cruel to the animal, it's being RESPONSIBLE.

I live in front of a mom and pop grocery store where kids often walk from nearby houses to the store. I simply CANNOT afford for them to be injured and then held responsibility.

Not really his fault. The dog owner had it chained. It says the woman died of shock and not the wounds. Just a terrible accident :(.

If it's chained up, the chances of it running after and mauling a person are reduced.

If it's confined to the living room the chances are reduced still further.

Some dogs are naturally excited over things like that and training won't take it away.

Mmm, yes it will, that's what training's about, unless the dog's a congenital nutter in the first place. Most dogs aren't. Too many dogs are driven nuts by their clueless owners.

I'm disputing the "dogs should NEVER" be chained" statement because yes, they need to be at times, especially when the owner isn't around. Even if it's a friendly dog, they become excited and seeing strangers pass by and often times jump at em

A dog cannot jump up at passersby on the street if it's in the house. It is not responsible to have a dog chained up, it's just lazy. I'm not talking about having a dog on a lead when it's out with its owner, I'm talking about a dog chained up because the owner doesn't know/care about how to care for a dog and provide it with a safe environment.

I live in front of a mom and pop grocery store where kids often walk from nearby houses to the store. I simply CANNOT afford for them to be injured

Then why put your dog in that situation? Why not remove it to a safer place where the dog can be comfortable, the kids can get to the shop without having to run the gauntlet of a dog straining on the end of a chain to get at them, and you can get on with your dish-washing with an easy mind and the dog properly under your supervision?

After reading Cleo's last post: Could it be possible that she was having a heart attack and was trying get to the neighbour's house to get help and the dog freaked out when she collapsed and was trying to rouse her? Notice the bites are on her arms and not on her face or throat. She was on the ground so if the dog meant to attack her, it would most likely be biting her face and throat.

Chaining dogs. Rather than chaining dogs up (and thus making them more susceptible to stress), a better option is to train them. Furthermore, you should dog proof your yard so the dog stays in it. By the way, part of dog-proofing your yard means limiting access to other people (those who do not have a relationship with your dog).

Regarding putting signs up regarding dangerous dogs, we used to have a sign at home that said "Guard Dog on Premises." However, this did not stop those pesky door-to-door salesman coming to our door (and usually retreating rather quickly on meeting our larger dog). As such, I took a photo of our dog's teeth (just as he was sinking it into a ham bone) and laminated. The sign in front of our house reads "Guard Dog on Premises - Amputations Free of Charge" (that last bit was added by my kids). Rather crude but effective.

timorborder - I'm sure you'll agree with me that training a dog isn't so much a 'better option' as an 'absolute necessity'.

Amputations Free of Charge lol Another good one is 'No trespassing, survivors will be prosecuted'.

Cleo

Disagreed with you on another post, but with you 100% here.

Dogs are highly social animals, they need to live with their owners, it is part of their nature to be part of the family. Dogs must live indoors with their owners, tying up a dog is as cruel as tying up a kid. They are not dumb animals but highly intelligent animals, with 100% loyalty and love for their owner.

Dogs go crazy tied up and and without a feeling of being part of the pack (family).

Your dog will love you, show them the same love back.

'No trespassing, survivors will be prosecuted'..interesting, and here is another one in Asutralia about someone rotterweiller:"trespasser today,dog's pooh tomorrow."Anyway for peace of mind,have a chihuahua or border collie.

Hi Cleo - definitely possible that the lady collapsed because of natural causes and the dog was anxious and biting - it has happened before.