I hope I am posting this in the right category, if not my apologies in advance.

A few days ago, I was walking my bull terrier x. She is a very gentle dog who doesnt have an aggressive bone in her body. She was off leash, which was probably not a good Idea but as she is well trained I didnt give it a second thought.

As we walked past a neighbours house, their American Pit bull (these are illegal in australia where I live) stuck its body out of its box wire fenced yard up to its shoulders and was barking. Bindi (my bully x) went over to the dog and it grabbed her by the throat and dragged her into its yard. It then proceeded to attack her together with their german sheppard, staffy x and two small dogs.

The fight went on for a good ten mins. Eventually their son (about 13) managed to get the pitbull off her somehow. He is lucky he did not also get mauled. I could do nothing as I dont know these dogs so was not going to go in their yard.

This pitbull has killed my other neighbours cattle dog a few months ago. She was at work and came home to the neighbours saying her dog had jumped in their yard (i dont know if that is true) and their pitbull proceeded to rip its throat out.

I have spoken to the owners about this who were very apologetic and paid for my dogs surgery and vet bills (her skin had to be re-attatched to her body)

My dilemma now is, what do I do about this dog?? It is viscious. I do not beleive they are the type of people to train their animals, as their dogs bark all day and night and don't listen to their commands that I have seen. As I mentioned previously, pitbulls are illegal in Australia and I am concerned this dog will maim or kill someone else's dog or child! As Bindi is the second dog I am aware of the pitbull has gotten a hold of.

Should I report this animal? I (possibly stupidly) hate the thought of any animal being put down.. even this pitbull, and they paid without incident. Also, they are a little rough so I am concerned about retaliation if they are made to put their dog down which I am certain they would be.

I would really appreciate opinions on this matter as I am at a loss for what to do..

Thanks, Jessica

"I would really appreciate opinions on this matter as I am at a loss for what to do."



The attacking dog and the other dogs in that pack -- they are completely fenced and as far as you know have never escaped and attacked off that property?

I'm not asking in order to "blame" you .... I'm asking for clarity. You say the dog's shoulders and head were through the fence? Does that allow for the dog's head, etc., to be off their property?

"She was off leash, which was probably not a good Idea but as she is well trained I didnt give it a second thought." You were unable to keep your dog away from the fence and the other dog?

As horrible as the attack must have been, and as sorry as I feel (VERY sorry), are we kind of left with a situation where your dog was off-leash and on their property?

(I may be mis-reading.)

Again, regardless of what these answers may be, I'm very sorry that you and your dog went through this.

Hi Connie,

Their dogs head was off their property, it was on the nature strip as the dogs body was half out of their yard. I admit that Bindi going over to the dog was my fault, I suppose it just all happened so quickly. I have learnt a valuble lesson and will never again walk her without a leash. But to answer your question, my dog was not on their property UNTIL their dog pulled her by the neck into their yard.

Thanks for your fast reply

You have neighbor's whose dog has already killed one dog, and is capable of getting at least enough of it's body out of the enclosure to enable him to attack and drag your dog through the fence, (while walking by off leash)... and you don't want to call the authorities, correct?

Jessica, I have no idea how we can be of any help if you are unwilling to irritate the owner of this dog or are in fear of the dog being pts. Had the boy not gotten your dog out, she too would have been killed.

Hopefully, eventually, someone whose dog is mauled or killed will decide it is time to protect the rest of the community. God forbid a child get too close.

Yep, the best thing you can do without calling the authorities and possibly annoying these folks is to keep your dog on a leash and never walk by that house again. And hope the dog doesn't get his entire body out next time.

Hi Barbara,

Please notice I wanted opinions as to wether I should call the authorities or not. I did not say I'm not going to, I am just concerned as I have to live near these people and I feel they could become very nasty, I have a daughter of my own and do not want to live near people who harass us. Please try to understand my predicament.

You could speak to the neighbors about fixing their fence so that their dog can't get it's head out to grab passing dogs.
Mention to them that you are concerned about the safety of their dog as it is probably only a matter of time before the police get involved.

If time passes and you see that they have done nothing to fix the fence then I would ask the police to just happen to be in the area when you go past the house so that they can witness the dog behavior.

Carry a big stick when you walk your dog past that house in case their dog gets loose. Use it on the dog if you need to.

Thank you Debbie, thats a good Idea

I'd agree with Debbie, talk to them about the fence but as the attacks happened on their property I don't think the dog should be punished, VERY different story if they were getting out. Just be VERY careful around that house from now on as you don't want to be around if it gets out.

Sorry about your dog BUT..
Are there leash laws where your at?
If not and "she is well trained" then why did you allow her to get that close to a barking dog that was on it's own property?
My honest opinion is that you need a bit more control of "your" dog because you can't control the others. At the very least be more alert to your surroundings.
Not intended to be a cruel shot. Just an honest opinion!

As I said in my opening post, I did not have her on the leash, she IS well trained, always comes when calls, however it all happened so fast I didnt react in time. I WISH I had, I wish I'd put her on a leash, next time I will not be walking any of my dogs without a leash BUT hindsight is a wonderful thing, I know I made a mistake I have also said that in a previous post but I can't change it now so would really appreciate if anyone who's going to reply from now on would not tell me what I should have done as far as calling her back or putting her on a leash. Again I will say the dog was not on its own property. It's feet were, its chest and head where not. My dog was on public land when she was grabbed by the neck and pulled into that dog's yard. I am not a nieve person and can see where I have gone wrong here, I wanted opinions on ways I could approach the owners of the pitbull to do something about their dog without necassarily having to contact the authorities. I feel a little as though I have been judged here....