27-05-2025
EXCLUSIVE Top vet reveals why a 'dangerous' dog ban would be a huge mistake after a six-year-old girl was mauled at a park
An animal behaviour expert has claimed banning certain dog breeds wouldn't prevent attacks from the animals, following a series of shocking incidents across the country.
In the latest dog mauling, a six-year-old girl underwent emergency surgery after she suffered horrific injuries during a frightening and unprovoked Staffy attack on Sunday.
The harrowing ordeal unfolded while Margot McNicol and her family were at Nairne's newest off-leash facility, Woofside Road Dog Park, in the Adelaide Hills.
Margot was playing with her puppy when an American Staffy leapt up and latched onto her head, sparking widespread calls for the government to ban the canines.
'Breed speaks for itself. Poor girl,' one Aussie wrote online, prompting another to agree that 'there are far too many ferocious dogs around' and Australia should 'just ban them'.
One person took aim at the 'not the dog's fault nutters' who 'put a human life second'.
And someone else had an issue with another breed, saying that 'it's always Pitbulls, always'.
However, President of the Australian Veterinarian Behaviour Group, Dr Isabelle Resch, told Daily Mail Australia that 'there's been plenty of different studies that show banning breeds does not work' and that dogs like Staffys can be great pets.
Dr Isabelle Resch (right) wants dog owners to be better educated on how to care for their pet after a six-year-old girl was mauled in Adelaide (left)
Dogs that are currently banned in Australia are the American Pitbull Terrier, Dogo Argentino, Fila Brasileiro, Japanese Tosa and Perro de Presa Canario.
American Staffordshire Terriers are not banned in Australia.
It was the same dog breed that mauled a five-week old baby boy to death as his parents slept at a NSW Central Coast home in 2021.
Dr Resch has been a vet for more than 30 years but now works in the field of veterinarian psychiatry.
'There's been quite a few countries that have banned breeds like the American Pitbull and Japanese Tosa and it's failed to reduce the bite risk,' Ms Resch said.
'We need to look at community education and how we interact with dogs.'
'I look after the mental health of dogs and I guess I'm an activist in educating people in the community about how we can help the emotional welfare of dogs,' Dr Resch said.
She said breed was 'not an indicator of behaviour' and that it was human actions that had a big impact on how dogs acted.
'There might be some genetic lines that are more prone to some behaviours but just the fact that you're a Rottweiler does not mean you're more likely to be aggressive,' she said.
'Aggression is saying 'bugger off and move away, I'm scared you're going to hurt me', so aggression is a normal response.
'People don't understand how we behaviour around dogs. Our body language often puts dogs in a position where they feel really threatened.'
Dr Resch said data showed dogs that bite the most around the world are often smaller breeds like terriers.
'Chihuahua's don't make it to the media because they don't put people in hospital,' she said.
'I've seen more Labradors bite. In my career I have not seen any aggressive Pitbulls.'
A report by the Sydney Children's Hospital in 2022 revealed a child was being admitted to a NSW hospital every week with a dog bite.
The data took into account of 628 patients who presented with dog-related injuries from 2010 to 2020 and found their average age was just five-years-old.
The breeds involved in the most reported attacks were Pitbulls (10.3 per cent), followed by Labradors (8.5 per cent) and Rottweilers (6.8 per cent).
The top three were followed by Bulldog (6%), Border Collie (6 per cent), Jack Russell (5.1 per cent), Terrier (other) (5.1 per cent), Kelpie (5.1 per cent), German Shepherd (4.3 per cent) and others (42.7 per cent).
So nearly half of all recorded dog bites over a 10-year period were from dogs whose breed could not be identified.
The results were likely skewed also because many dogs are misidentified as Pitbulls.
A victim may claim that it was a Pitbull that bit them when it was in fact a different breed.
And that didn't surprise Dr Resch who made the surprising claim about identification of dog breeds.
'We can't tell by looking at a dog what breed they are,' she said.
'We've got some very good DNA tests available right now and even those of us who have worked with dogs our whole lives often find we're way off the mark (in guessing a breed) after a DNA test is done.'
Dr Resch also said it was a myth that cross breeds were more aggressive than pure-bred dogs, saying they didn't behave any different.
She also took aim at social media and how it promoted a lot of misinformation that gave Aussies a distorted view about certain dog breeds.
'It's an absolute fallacy that Pitbulls lock their jaws. We are so biased by online content that feeds us,' she said.
'If someone tells you often enough that Pitbull's bite, you believe it, and I can tell you it's not true.
'There's just so many different variables as to what bites occur, what breed is the breed that actually caused the bite and does legislation stop the bites? No, it doesn't.
'I'm a scientist so I look at the science and I look at the research and the research has shown that banning breeds fails.'
Dr Resch said dog owners were the ones who needed to behave better around their pets.
'We need to teach people how to responsibly look after their own dogs and the body language of dogs,' she said.
'They need to get permission before they approach a dog. Don't let your child just walk up to a dog. I would never recommend unsupervised contact between any dog and a child.'
Dr Resch said the most common bites were in young male boys and it was generally associated with food and treats.
'That suggests to me that we're not setting these kids up or the dogs up for success. We need to put the onus back on people,' she said.
