"Deadly Dogs" Debate
I took part in a debate on digital TV following the "Deadly Dogs" programme
on BBC this evening (Monday, 1st July). The others present were Mrs Anne Robinson (Leah Preston's aunt) and in another studio, Ken Purchase MP for the constituency (Wolverhampton NE) where Leah and another little girl victim, Nicky Hughes, live.
I think I was pretty well outnumbered but apart from going blank at one point
(everyone says they didn't notice but I could have sworn I was silent in
mid-sentence for at least 2 minutes) I think it went as well as we could have
expected.
The actual programme had 3 reports. One from the West Midlands Hospital where Leah and Nicky are still being treated and Anne told me that the programme had been unable to show the full extent of Leah's injuries because they were considered too extreme. The second report was from Germany with views of the Warehouse/Kennels where the "dangerous dogs" are kept and tested. Finally, we saw a report about an animal behaviourist being unable to retrain a GSD that was a threat to it's own owner.
Although there were interviews with a few dog owners, I thought the programme was rather one-sided and I am seriously considering reporting the Daily Express to the Press Complaints council over the photograph they published today to accompany Alice Beer's article (about how "successful" the Hamburg laws are???).
It is quite clearly a double exposure intended to double the size of the dog's teeth. It's not even a good fake!
I did get to speak to Anne Robinson (Leah Preston's aunt) quite a bit and gave her a copy of an article that will be published in the August edition of the Kennel Gazette. I've asked her to e-mail me her comments. She said several times that she didn't want to see "breeds banned" but couldn't understand why we need these "dangerous dogs" when there are so many nice ones.
Ken Purchase MP raised the same query so I think we need to think about our
response to that one. I'm afraid all I could muster on the spur of the moment
was to mumble about it depending on how they defined a "dangerous dog" and pointing out that Princess Anne has a Bull Terrier and Lennox Lewis a Stafford.
I doubt that many people actually saw the "debate" but Lesley McFadyen has told my sister it looked OK. (Thank heavens).
Oh yes, and I've also learned not to get my haircut on the day I go on TV. I
looked like I had a small furry rug on my head :)
David
