Couple’s horror as dogs savage pig
Saturday 9th January 2010, 9:24AM GMT.
A Shropshire couple were woken from their beds to find one of their pet pigs being savaged by two Rottweiler dogs.
Mark and Emma Tipton say the two dogs, who they claim belong to a neighbour, smashed through a fence panel along with a Jack Russell dog at around 5am on Tuesday morning. A rare Kune Kune pig called Rodney, one of two animals owned by the couple, was attacked and later died from its injuries.
Telford police spokesman Chris Ammonds said officers attended the address after the incident and police were due to have another meeting next week to sort out a solution.
He said the owner of the dogs had also been given advice about keeping her animals under control.
Rodney’s companion Gertrude, who was unharmed, has been living inside the family home ever since for fear of her safety and the married couple – who have a 16-month-old son, Harrison – have called for the dogs to be put down.
IT consultant Mark, 29, said: “I was woken up by our other neighbours who heard the commotion – Gertrude was okay but Rodney was covered in blood.
“It was a savage attack, we took him to the vets and he had suffered a broken jaw, brain and spinal damage and a collapsed lung. They did all they could but he died shortly after arriving there.
“We wanted the dogs destroyed or at the very least moved. We have a 16-month-old son. What if I am out playing football with Harrison in the garden in the future?
“It could have been him they attacked and if they have done it once they will do it again.”
Emma, also 29, said the couple only bought the pigs five months ago.
“We have both been left distraught,” she said.
“We only had the pigs in October and for such harmless creatures to be savaged in such a way is really worrying.
“We have been keeping Gertrude in the house since it happened in the hope we could let her back into her pen once the dogs had gone.
“Now we don’t know what to do – we wanted to get another pig because they are animals that need company but how can we bring one in knowing the dogs are there?”
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I think these dogs should now be put down or it wont belong before they attack a young child. They acted like pack animals do, they have tasted blood
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The owner of these dogs should be prosecuted and jaile, there are to many dog owners who can nor control their dogs, they are obviosly not under control, the dogs should be put down, or lets wait till a child is attacked and killed, let alone a poor inocent pig.
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i think rotwrillers should be banned from telford cuz nearly every thing is to do with those dgos last year i was left on life support becuase of a dogs like that lucky the scars are healing very well and i8 am donig fine now but i am absolutley terfied of them i grew up with a rotty and i love him but now i cant stant them i go into panic attakes wen i meet one so i think they should be banned or locked up safley thankyou
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“Advice about keeping her animals under control”????
Why weren’t these savage animals shot? It will be people next.
“A meeting to sort out the solution”?
Best solution for an early resolution and no more trouble > sue the dog owner. Works wonders and focuses the mind on individual responsibilities in the future. I hope that Mr. and Mrs. Tipton get their claim in early. Those rare pigs are worth a lot of money, so I hear.
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Here is a typical story of a pack. Its sad the pig was attacked but one of the dogs initiated it and the others followed. Why put them all down? there must be one that is more trouble than the rest.
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How dreadful. Kune kunes are so sweet. The dogs should definitely be put down they’re quite clearly dangerous. I’d be as worried as Mark and Emma if I had to live next door to them with a toddler.
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Anyone, usually the Police, can make”complaint” to the local Magistrates for an order to control a dangerous dog, the magistrates at their discretion can make such an order or direct that it be “put down”.
One again we have the dithering from the Police who do not appear to know what the law is. It is not a case of sorting out a “solution” – whoever heard such rubbish, only the Police presumably. The owner of the dogs should be reported and a complaint should be made to the court.
Complaint should be made to the Chief constable that this matter has not been dealt with properly.
I should add that “complaints” (re dangerous dogs) are not the same as an ordinary process for offences etc.
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They should be put down, no 2 ways about it. There are way too many irresponsible dog-owners out there, and if the authorities adopt a harder line with the animals and their owners, maybe people will be more willing to look after their pets properly. I’ve been attacked by dogs on 2 occasions (one occasion resulting in a fairly serious injury) and on both occasions, the owners claimed “they’ve never done anything like this before”… it’s something of a mantra for dog-owners in my experience.
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‘police were due to have another a meeting next week to sort out a solution’
They’ve found a way of bringing the pig back to life then have they? Or will they be buying Mr. & Mrs. Tipton another pet pig?
What a stupid statement.
And the owner being given advice about keeping her animals under control? I don’t recall the Dangerous dogs Act stating that advice was a satisfactory remedy in relation to vicious animal attacks. Or is it because they attacked an other animal it doesn’t really matter? Keep your son indoors until these dogs are destroyed Mr. & Mrs. Tipton
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So naturally a hunter animal, attacks an wild farm animal (regardless of the fact these pigs are ‘household pets’)? This is animal instinct! What about the Jack Russel, I assume this one is in the firing line aswell? Additionally, the fact that this other pig wasn’t harmed suggests that the deceased pig wasn’t innocently walking in the back garden.
I think this is the owner at fault, not the dogs. And as a Rottweiler owner i find all this slander towards what is a beautiful, loving and loyal animal disgusting.
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While I feel very sorry for Mark and Emma and the distress they have been caused I would like to jump in and defend Rottweilers (Liz Post 5)not all of them are nasty and they and their owners should not all be tarred with the same brush as these pair, but I do agree that the owner has not controlled their dogs and now they have the taste for blood it may get worse so something does need to be done.
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Babyfields:-
If this was a group of teenagers that attacked another, whether they took part or watched, they would all be done under the joint enterprise law. So why not do it with dogs who attack in a pack and kill another harmless animal. Would you be saying the same had they killed a child? I think not.
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thats awful, they should all be put down and the owner of the dogs fined for compensation. you wouldnt want your 16month old boy playing in the garden knowing that could happen.
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I believe that once an animal has tasted nblood it cannot be trusted and these dogs should be put down, i couldnt live next door to these dogs with a toddler without living in fear. does their owner have no consideration for others. poor piggy
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for heavens sake…the average lab would attack a piglet, this is just breed phobia…doesnt mean they would attack a child and as for the old ‘tasting blood’ rubbish…i feed my dogs natural..they eat blood every day…and no..they wouldnt kill a child, well …might try and lick to death…
blame the deed not the breed….
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it is sad that the pig was killed but the dogs will not hurt the child! the child will have a diffrent sent to the pig so the dogs will not kill the child at any point. if u think about it why get pigs if there r big dogs next to them? i dont think the owner was to blam and i know that the dogs should not be killed them selfs. i know that this is not the point of the matter but pigs are killed everyday and that is not nice. mr and mrs tipton what did they do to prevent this? if they knew that the dogs were next door why get pigs? the dogs r going to know and will try and kill them! did they do anything to stop this? if not then arnt they to blam as well. you have to think about both sides as well as just one side.
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if you do keep pigs then you should be aware of the dangers from other animals, it is no different to putting a cat and a mouse in the same room (the cat will try to kill the mouse) because it is food.
Let put this plainly, those dogs have never, will never go out and harm a child, they may start barking loudly (they’re dogs) one can yell at another person, however doesn’t mean that one will use physical violence.
pleace don’t start a witch hunt ( it may be Telford, but it’s not Salem and it is the 21st, not the 15th century
P.S have you ever herd of the word stereotype Liz?
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Matt: Are you crazy or is this your 1st time reading news????
Lets put this plainly, dogs like this HAVE and WILL go out and harm a child…. its happened loads of times before (and very well documented in the national news) and it will happen again in the future.
Did they intentionally put the pig in with the dog… NO, so whats your point?
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It’s not the dogs it is the owners. And other matt, they had a fence and the dogs smashed through it.
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MY MUM AND SISTERS IARE THE ONE’S THAT OWN’S THE DOGS, SO GET YOUR HEADS OUT YOUR BEHINDS AND MATTHEW ARE YOU CLAIMING THAT MY FAMILY ARE POTENTIAL BABY KILLERS? ARE YOU?
AND MY PIONT TIMOTHY IS THAT IT IS A WITCH HUNT, IT COULD OF AS EASILY BEEN A FOX!!!!! (OH WAIT, STILL A DOG)
YOU CAN SAY THAT ALL DOGS ARE CAPABLE OF DOING THAT (AS IN EVERY SIGLE BRIED) SO WILE WE’RE AT IT LETS ALL COMIT MASS GENOCIDE AND GET RID OF ALL DOGS. By the way that was sarcasm, SOMETHING THAT YOU HAVE NEVER HERD OF, NO DOUBT!
oh and did i mention that IT’S A WITCH HUNT!!!
We’re sorry for the pigs, we are!!! however, Tim, Matt, that does not prove that they are out for human blood, if so how come we have not been attacked, dogs that do go for human more often than not attack there owners! YES some dogs do attack (i.e. Rottweilers, Jack russells labradors, german shepherds, fox’s, wolves, french poodles ect) BUT ALL ATTACK HUMAN,
no doubt that i’m now going to receive a load of abusive/hate messages for technically being one of the owners of these dogs
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pigs and children have diffrent smells. the only reson the dogs will hurt that child is if the owner feed them humen blood and i dont think the owner would. you only know 1 view! dont talk about something till you have both sides of the story. you may change your minds if you two sides of the story. ( people will lie to make it sound worse then to what it really is.)
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well my point is ….
my dogs if i say it ok will hunt catch kill a rabbit and if i then say it ok will eat it…by the same token…if i put a live rabbit in front of them and say leave it…they will do so…
it not the breed…it the training and attitude to ownership…
black and tan syndrome…
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so matthew your telling me that my are family are potential baby killers?
yes that’s right people, me and my family own these dogs!
tim, my point is that it is a witch hunt
i have no doubt that some shropshire star readers are going to start sending me hate message
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then your saying that me and my family are potential child killers
tim, my point is that it is a witch hunt
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Bev,
An ordinary lab would not smash through a fence and savage a pig to death for goodness sakes.
1st Matt,
What planet are you on? The dogs smashed through the fence it was on central news and the hole was massive. Rottweilers wouldnt attach a child, no course they wont. If you are going to post on here please read the news!
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I cant believe what I read on here. People think this is a witch hunt ? People have lost a harmless pet and all except 2 people seem to understand. Would you want to live next door to someone that obviously has no control of there animals. What were they doing out at 4.30am in these weather conditions ?
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take your head out your backside philip! i believe that i live a planet earth, do live on mars? so it was on central news, WOW the world must be ending, rottweilers must planing to attack. to dogs pig are food. do you know what pork is? well the answer is pig and could could of as easily have been a fox!!!!!!
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Matthew, Im glad you helped with where pork came from, your talent on here is wasted. The point they were making is they have a young child who could easily be attacked. No dogs should smash through fences to get to anything, it may not be the dogs fault and the fault should/may lie with the owner. Its funny how you and your friend are the only 2 seeming to disagree. Let me guess you own a rottweiler ?
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Ok Thank you for your comments, I am the dogs owner. The dogs have been here for 6 years. They have a dog door. The neighbours have been here less than this and the previous owners were happy with the fence. They had 3 children.
I have had all the garden fenced and I warned the new neighbours about the dogs. They told me about the pigs a couple of months ago. They used my garage whilst they had building done.
I had no idea they had been trying to get through the fence until a letter arrived from them yesterday. My dogs are here to protect me and my family. They are used to children and myself. I was horrified when I found out they had gone throught the fence.I have tried to give a solution to Mark & Emma but to no avail. I now have to tell my children their dogs are to be destroyed? Dogs are dogs and they have no other history of harming. My elder dog is 10. Please look at the both sides. I have been vitrioled by hysteria. I have been mailed to the extent of harrassment. I cannot say how sorry I am about the pig but please look at both sides.
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