Rottweilers unwanted after baby tragedy

Jan 1 2008 by Steffan Rhys, Western Mail

A RESCUE centre said yesterday it had been contacted by the owners of several rottweilers whose owners no longer want them after a baby was mauled to death.

One-year-old Archie-Lee Hirst was killed at his grandparents’ home in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, on Saturday, and Many Tears Rescue in Llanelli said it had already taken in four rottweilers and received calls about a further nine it could not accommodate.

Owner Sylvia Van Atta said owners had called saying they had to get rid of their dogs because they had children or grandchildren visiting and didn’t want to risk having the dogs around despite them not having behaved aggressively in the past.

Ms Van Atta said the blame for dog attacks – which have reportedly left the Hirst family “inconsolable” – lay with those who sold such dogs to “anybody”, did not carry out background checks and sold them without stipulating they had to be castrated or spayed.

Sue Denham, from Llanybydder, Carmarthenshire, who has been breeding rottweilers for almost 20 years, said education was vital for owners but that they would still not necessarily listen to advice.

“No dog – rottweiler, poodle, bichon – should be left alone with a child,” she said.