Heather du Plessis-Allan: It's time for a hard crackdown on bad dog owners

I am of the view that it is time for authorities to start cracking down really hard on bad dog owners. 

When I was on maternity leave, apart from trying to ignore Donald Trump, I was trying very hard not to read too much news because I was just trying to get away from work a little bit. 

Frank Newman: Time for dog owners to be more responsible

How many more children need to have their faces torn apart or their throats ripped out before regulators and dog owners get real about their responsibilities? It’s not an easy issue to deal with and there is no perfect answer. Most dogs don’t maul people and most people have a mild-mannered dog as a companion not an aggressive breed for protection or status. It’s time for people to get off the fence on this issue.

A common element to most vicious attacks is the dogs breed. Research in the USA shows two-thirds of human deaths and about 60% of attacks on humans are from Rottweilers and pit bull-type dogs. The report concluded “…thus, there appears to be a breed-specific problem with fatalities." It is possible that these breeds are preferred by irresponsible owners and it is the owners rather than the nature of the breed that is the cause for the attacks, but I think that unlikely given a second common element was the response from the dog owner that the attack was said to be “uncharacteristic”.