Cracker by Damian Christie

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Cracker: Flashback

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  • andrew llewellyn,

    Good Post Damian,

    You're not even a dog owner are you?

    But the real surprise, of course, is that such attacks don't happen more often than they do.

    Just like I'm surprised a journalist (no offence) checked the facts.

    BTW - how many of those 550 odd attacks were from "pitbulls' (I maintain that most people wouldn't know an actual "pit bull" if it jumped up & bit them.) and how many were from say, labradors?

    But you're right, enforcing the existing laws, would go a lot a long way towards reducing the incidence, than drafting new laws which the problem owners will ignore just as much.

    Since Nov 2006 • 2075 posts Report Reply

  • andrew llewellyn,

    oops.... did not check the facts.

    Since Nov 2006 • 2075 posts Report Reply

  • Damian Christie,

    Sounds like you need a sub, Llew...

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1164 posts Report Reply

  • andrew llewellyn,

    My excuse is I'm not a journalist. I check nothing at all (which may explain a bit to some who know me).

    Since Nov 2006 • 2075 posts Report Reply

  • andrew llewellyn,

    BTW - glad to hear you kept your job. Although I thought we'd agreed, you were to get Ralston's job & then give me.. oh, I dunno, Mark Sainsbury's.

    Since Nov 2006 • 2075 posts Report Reply

  • Damian Christie,

    Oops, sorry, I didn't realise you said Close Up, I thought you said Good Morning. At least the commute to Avalon will be easier on you...

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1164 posts Report Reply

  • Keith Ng,

    In India, they've been having issues with elephant attacks. Now *those* make good television. They get poked with a stick or starved one time too many, and they just go ape, chasing people around, flipping over cars, flinging people like, you know, it was a big angry friggin' elephant.

    Great television, I tell ya.

    (Apparently it's all part of a labour dispute. The fees for festival elephants are skyrocketing, so owners are trying to get their elephants to put in more hours by poking them with spears and dehydrating them to make them a little more... active. They get active.)

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 543 posts Report Reply

  • Riddley Walker,

    "I'm not a journalist. I check nothing at all"

    i don't understand the stress on not?

    AKL • Since Feb 2007 • 890 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    It’s a fact that seems to have eluded the writer of this editorial in the Herald on Sunday:

    But the real surprise, of course, is that such attacks don't happen more often than they do.

    What, more than 553 times a year in Auckland City? More than 100 times in Wellington? What kind of Cujo-esque rampage were you hoping for?

    Are we agreed that HoS editorials are lately setting new standards of know-nothing badness? It's like a certain other column is seeping up the page.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • James Green,

    Well I am rather sick of dogs and their negligent owners. It occurred to me recently that having a dog for protection is a bit like having a gun for protection. They tend to make life less rather than more safe.
    And that's not to say that dogs that aren't for protection aren't annoying either. Our neighbour's dog was (I think) taken away by dog control. Actually, it was a pretty agreeable most of the time, but I didn't like the way it was frequently wondering around our house. The clincher was probably when it ended up on our deck, while chasing a cat. The deck is about 3m off the ground, and the access is around the corner of the house. So needless to stay I was stunned to find a dog up there.
    The other neighbour's dog is more annoying in the grand scheme of things, however. The owners are blind to how it behaves a lot. It already has one bite on its record, and has the very endearing habit of sitting silently behind a low fence, and then leaping up and putting its paws on the top of the fence and having a bit of a snap. Conveniently, the only way to access our laundry is a set of steps right next to this fence, so the dog is more or less in biting distance. Mostly its well-behaved enough, but I'm somewhat resigned to the fact that it's probably going to bite me eventually.

    Limerick, Ireland • Since Nov 2006 • 703 posts Report Reply

  • Russell Brown,

    Our neighbour's dog was (I think) taken away by dog control. Actually, it was a pretty agreeable most of the time, but I didn't like the way it was frequently wondering around our house.

    Surely canine sentience is something to be cherished. What was it wondering about? Is there a God? Will the All Blacks win the World Cup?

    And do you reckon it did its wondering at your place because you have a lot of books?

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 22850 posts Report Reply

  • Damian Christie,

    Are we agreed that HoS editorials are lately setting new standards of know-nothing badness? It's like a certain other column is seeping up the page.

    Yes, rather like the HOS banner headline and p3 article about an email campaign against one of my colleagues. Didn't the Listener just point out the whole folly in such stories re the Kim Hill rumour? Or did the Listener just do exactly the same as the HOS did, except make itself seem smarter?

    I should point out that the "boy savaged by pitbull" piece in the HOS was written by Jonathan Marshall of nztabloid fame. Second chances and all that, but I think I'm right to be sceptical about anything carrying his by-line.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1164 posts Report Reply

  • Riddley Walker,

    perhaps the HoS should also be subbed in Delhi after all, it may improve the standards.

    AKL • Since Feb 2007 • 890 posts Report Reply

  • David Slack,

    poking them with spears and dehydrating them to make them a little more... active

    Isn't that more or less what the fluffer part of your contract stiplulates regarding studio guests, Damian?

    I must say I like the notion of an elephant going ape.

    Yes, rather like the HOS banner headline and p3 article about an email campaign against one of my colleagues

    I'd say the nadir in recent months was the whispering campaign against one of your former colleagues. They seemed only willing to pick that one up with their Glucina tongs. Or am I thinking of the other gossip page?

    Devonport • Since Nov 2006 • 599 posts Report Reply

  • Ben Austin,

    I remember last time this came up as well - again, the opinion of the my lecturer at time (Palmer Senior) was that if the existing laws (back in 02/03) were enforced then incidents would be less likely. However he went on to make the point that these incidents were very media friendly and were hyped to the point that parliament felt it politic to do something. Kind of sad to see the cycle begining again so soon.

    London • Since Nov 2006 • 1027 posts Report Reply

  • James Green,

    And do you reckon it did its wondering at your place because you have a lot of books?

    You'd like to think so. However, it may in part be explained by us also being cat free, so a lot of the neighbours' cats like to try to claim our property as theirs as well. After successfully stopping the cat's shitting in the strawberry bed, I'm quite happy to have the cats around as long as they're not fighting. Dogs get on my nerves, mainly because I can never quite predict when they're going to decide to have a go, and because they usually have a good element of surprise.

    On a more pleasant note, I have to say that I'm enjoying working at home today, and making myself lattes from different single origin organic fairtrade beans. So far I've had Mexican, Sumatran, and Ethiopian. Must be time for some Guatemalan, Dr Ropata?

    Limerick, Ireland • Since Nov 2006 • 703 posts Report Reply

  • James Green,

    if the existing laws were enforced then incidents would be less likely

    Part of the problem is that owners don't see their dogs as bad, and neighbours don't want to disturb the peace. I like the neighbours, but I have yet to convince them that there is anything off about their dog's behaviour. The dog may never bite anyone again, but I don't think I'll be doing anything about it until then...

    Limerick, Ireland • Since Nov 2006 • 703 posts Report Reply

  • Josh Addison,

    And of course the other implication is that the dog attacks that don't occur during the latest "epidemic" (and which therefore don't get any press) don't matter. I got bitten by a dog when I was 11, for little more than looking at it, and I didn't get in the paper. It bloody hurt, too.

    Onehunga, Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 298 posts Report Reply

  • Riddley Walker,

    i myself would like to bite dogs.

    AKL • Since Feb 2007 • 890 posts Report Reply

  • andrew llewellyn,

    i don't understand the stress on not?

    Now you mention it, neither do I.

    Is there a God? Will the All Blacks win the World Cup?

    Where is your cat's food?

    the opinion of the my lecturer at time (Palmer Senior) was that if the existing laws (back in 02/03) were enforced then incidents would be less likely

    it's easy! (he says optimistically), take all the unregistered dogs & destroy them (or at the very least desex them). Police the owners who habitually have unregistered dogs. Confiscate all recidivist wandering dogs & fine the owners. destroy the dog if it is unregistered.

    As for muzzling, can't see it working. Will a stray dog stop to put its muzzle on when it escapes its section?

    Since Nov 2006 • 2075 posts Report Reply

  • Juha Saarinen,

    Acts of Dogs

    Isn't that what this blog post should've been called? You know, because if you read it backwards, it's sgoD which is really rather funny and insurancey like.

    The Geekzoners are scratching their heads over a graphic in the Herald that appears to say you can receive Freeview with a wok-mounted USB WiFi dongle...

    Since Nov 2006 • 529 posts Report Reply

  • merc,

    I myself bit a dog (Cherman Shepherd) and got a notched ear for my trouble requiring several stitches, but that's the other thread.

    Since Dec 2006 • 2471 posts Report Reply

  • Nat Websta,

    Thanks Damien for a post that pretty much sums up the way I've been feeling about the msm reporting on these incidents in the past week or so. "Whipping up hysteria" is a phrase that springs to mind. The Herald escalated their tone in a re-report of the lady who got bitten by the dog at the supermarket - she went from being bitten to having been "mauled" in the space of about 2 days.

    I agree that introducing new laws isn't going to prevent the problem as IMHO it's far more likely to be the currently unregistered,allowed to rome free, largely uncared for section of the dog population doing most of the biting (or mauling). It's these dogs owners who are the problem as they don't give a s*&t what their dogs are up to and are unlikely to change their ways with the introduction of a couple of new or revised laws.

    Auckland • Since May 2007 • 23 posts Report Reply

  • Rich of Observationz,

    Personally, I think keeping a dog as a weapon is both antisocial *and* cruel to the animal.

    Maybe all agressive breeds should be neutered and we can just have nice fluffy dogs like Newfies and St. Bernards

    (I wish more sites allowed photos in comments. Make them look more interesting)

    Back in Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 5550 posts Report Reply

  • Ben Austin,

    When I grew up we always had lots of farm dogs, that were sort of pets but that also had work to do. We also used to come into contact with lots of neighbouring farm dogs, and hunting dogs too, so we were taught very early on to be careful around dogs, and not to take liberties. When I moved to the city it was quite different, all dogs were pets and therefore dogs were perceived differently. It is the difference between feeling able to pat or approach a strange dog and not.

    London • Since Nov 2006 • 1027 posts Report Reply

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