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Wednesday 27 March 2013

Dangerous dogs? Dangerous owners?

{Please excuse this departure from my normal topics but this is something I feel strongly about}

In the aftermath of another child being mauled to death by dangerous dogs, I have this to say:-

I'm  very much afraid that animals [and dogs in particular] are EXACTLY like people, there are good ones and there are bad ones. No amount of nurture can make a dog that is essentialy a psychopath into a lapdog [just as no kind treatment could turn a man of the same nature, into a kind loving one] .

It's absolutley impossible! And I speak as a dog owner of two dogs [a collie and a rottweiler] and owner of a multitude of past dogs.

Raised in Glasgow, I was always a keen observer of the nature versus nurture argument and believe me, I saw some rotten apples in otherwise good families and vise versa.

I'm no scientist and I have a creative bent rather than a scientific one anyway, so I guess my penny philosophy counts for nothing in the grand scheme of things but for what it's worth...let's accept that there are some dogs who are downright mad and will chew your leg off with no provocation at all.

Let's not however, turn this into a witch hunt - I am by no means suggesting this is true of ALL dogs, merely a minority - but like the minority of yobs on our streets who turn us against the entire population of youths, there is that chance.

I don't have any answers for you. I don't know if giving wardens better powers under law will make a difference and I certainly don't want to see dogs banned from public places, or any other drastic measure being taken.

But please let us accept that just as there are dangerous human members of our society, there are dangerous dogs. I hope we can find a way to weed both of these out of our environments and create a better, safer world for all.

My thoughts are with the family and friends of Jade Anderson x

Tuesday 26 March 2013

I have just finished writing Chapter 20 of Volume IV. I have had no time to write over the past couple of weeks and was desperately missing my characters. It was so lovely to catch up with them again today.

However, it is unlikely that I will get much writing done now until after the Easter holidays due to having children and dogs constantly rampaging through the house. Oh well will have to turn my scheming mind to something else I guess ...

I wonder if Henry Winkler  [aka The Fonz] has read Volume I yet?