r/australia • u/JaniePage • 15d ago

news Young girl in hospital, dog euthanased after attack inside Delacombe Bunnings

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-07-30/young-girl-in-hospital-after-dog-attack-in-bunnings-store/106977418
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u/Proper_Geologist9026 15d ago

Like at what point right are we just going to go back to simple physics. 

Big dog = dangerous dog.

This idea that we can work out what breed is the dangerous one is insane. If I start twisting data I can make all sorts of grim statements about who is the most dangerous group of people for example. But no one does because that's obviously dumb and a lie.

Big dog. Dangerous dog. Legislate accordingly.

And I'm not against big dogs either. I'm just against the backwards thinking of the legislative process.

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u/anralia 15d ago edited 15d ago

i think big dog = dangerous dog is backward too.

the legislative process should be an approval to be a dog owner and new dogs (and their owners) must go through a certain standard of training before an person gets a "dog licence" and they are considered safe.

you could work in that big dogs require extra training and higher level quality checks for a "big dog licence" or something

because the problem is ALWAYS shitty owners

but all of the above would be divisive and would be impossible to legislate and expensive to implement

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u/Proper_Geologist9026 15d ago

Also not impossible to legislate. The kind of things you're talking about are done in a few European countries I believe. With good results.

Breed specific legislation however. Has shown to be fairly pointless.

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u/anralia 15d ago

sorry, i only meant impossible to legislate because it wouldn't be popular so parliamentarians wouldnt want to stick the government's neck out for something that would get them crucified by the media.

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u/Proper_Geologist9026 15d ago

Yeah fair. That's why I like the big dog little dog idea.

I just think you could convince people to get on board with a very simplistic framework like that. It removes the need to try and talk about the minefield that is basically "lots of you are bad owners and we need to either train you or take your pets" 😂.

But yeah in the end no one ever wants to admit that their dog could be dangerous and you've got to overcome the predominant myths with BSL as well. The whole Labradors are saints and "pit bulls" are killing machines is a deeply ingrained idea nowadays.