Posted on 06/06/2005 10:46:49 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
Baby girl bitten at dog amusement park
ARAO, Kumamoto -- A baby girl required nine stitches after being attacked and bitten by an Old English Sheepdog at an amusement park for dogs here, police said.
Operators of the Kyushu WanWan Okoku are being investigated for in a possible case of professional negligence resulting in injury.
"We're terribly sorry," park operator Ichiro Futatsugi said. "We are going to have to be really careful about the type of breed and character of the dogs that we allow in the enclosure from now on."
Police said the 1-year-old girl bitten in the attack had gone to visit the park with her parents, who had traveled from Dazaifu in Fukuoka Prefecture. The girl was playing in an enclosure set up for small children to play with dogs.
She had been petting one of the dogs in the enclosure when it suddenly turned on her and bit her. The baby girl fell to the ground and the dog jumped on top of her. Her father and a nearby park official jumped into the enclosure and rescued the girl.
The Old English sheepdog that bit the girl is a 1-year-old male about 70 centimeters in length. The dog had been one of the dogs in the enclosure for about the past half year. It was one of about 30 dogs in the enclosure at the time of the incident.
Park officials responded to the incident by halting access to the enclosure and increasing the number of officials on duty. (Mainichi)
I wonder how the dog would have reacted if strangers tried to dress it in funny costumes all the time. Things could have been worse under such an abuse.:-)
Perhaps the dog just found it "amusing".
She must have cut in line at the "Tilt-A-Whirl". Dog Amusement Park.....who knew??
What a concept. And, if the park is for the amusement of the dogs, why are children allowed to invade their space ruin their fun?
Seriously, having very young children playing with dogs they've never seen before seems unwise. Odds are that the dogs are placid and will cause no trouble. But it only takes one exception to that rule ...
My dog can spend an entire afternoon playing with a dead cricket. I don't know how much a dog amusement park costs but crickets dead or alive are pretty cheap.
Carolyn
Sounds like maybe it's not for the amusement of the dogs, but for dog-deprived urban japanese:
Japan is going to the dogs--or at least, Japanese tourists are. Thousands of canine-crazed and doggy-deprived locals are flocking to Wanwan Okoku (or Bowwow Kingdom), an all-dogs theme park in Moriyama City on Lake Biwako, near Kyoto. In a country with little space for humans, let alone dogs, visitors are lining up for the chance to play with 300 pooches, representing more than 80 breeds. Other activities include booking a belly-scratching session in the Petting Palace or hiring a dog for a half-hour stroll in the park grounds ($8.50 to walk mini mutts or $17 for a roaming romp with one of the park's bigger residents). The top dogs here perform in a circus, riding bicycles, walking tightropes, playing ball and rescuing a prince and princess from Bowwow Castle. Now all they need is a flea circus. Admission to the pup-lovers' park is about $15; closed Thursdays.
another one:
Dog lovers for whom trips away from home are a purgatory of Puppy Chow-less days and woof-less nights will find relief at Bowwow Kingdom (Wanwan Okoku), on Lake Biwako, near Kyoto. Along with thousands of Japanese who long for a pup of their own but lack the space to keep one, you can view 300 dogs of 80 breeds, play with them in the Petting Palace, hire the dog of your choice for a half-hour walk in the theme park's grounds ($8.50 for small breeds, $17 for large ones), and watch trained pooches ride bikes, play ball and dance. While you absorb this revitalizing dose of dogginess, you might also find out for the rest of us whether dogs in Japan speak English ("bowwow") or Japanese ("wanwan"). Admission is about $15; closed Thursdays.
Old English sheepdog, well. It wasn't a pitbull. Surprise, surprise.
For pity sakes, will people please learn that dogs and kids under the age of about 10 years do not belong together! Infants and toddlers have innate behaviors that incite undesired reactions from even the nicest of dogs. Keep your youngsters away from even the tiniest chihuahua!
I've seen how some children treat a dog when greeting it - it usually involves slapping the nose or head in some way. The kid doesn't know any better, but the dog sometimes takes offense.
As for dog amusement...mine likes to run off with the kids toys and be chased. The punishment for not chasing her is she chews it up.
Doggie ping!
Dog bites anywhere in the world are news here?
Actually, I was more interested in the Dog Amusement Park thingy, and that it wasn't a pit bull bashing thread.
Alright... as long as there's an interesting angle for somebody, I'll ping it ;~D
Thanks. I look forward to all the pinger's comments.
As the dog was being taken away, he raised the "Puppy Power" salute and claimed to have done the attack "in the name of All dogs in Asia that are being eaten! Now we will bite BACK!"
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