British politician wants to ban “dangerous” Japanese dog breed
After a few recent incidents in which British children were attacked by dogs of the Akita breed, a British politician running for re-election has announced that he will try to ban these dangerous and exotic beasts:
The Japanese hunting dog, or akita, is proving increasingly popular among owners in the UK, despite a tendency towards violence, particularly towards young people.
The breed was originally used to hunt bears in Japan, and is regarded among dog experts as being prone to unpredictable behaviour.
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“You would have to look into whether the dangers associated with owning the dogs outweighed the freedom of people to do what they want, and perhaps this recent spate means that balance is going against that freedom.
“The question that occurs to me is, does anyone really need a dog that has been specifically bred and trained to kill a bear?
“Despite all the coverage last year on similar cases, including the one on Anna Knuckles from Carmarthen, nothing has been done at all to get these dangerous dogs off the street and to keep them away from children.
“This is an increasingly prevalent problem and the Government seems to do absolutely nothing about it.
“The akita is bred to bring down bears, so people have no chance against them.
“I don’t know why someone would want a bear-hunting dog and I feel strongly that the Government should add them to the list of banned breeds.
One report about a recent mauling attack had these bullet points at the end of the article:
# Akitas are native to the island of Honshu in the Akita region of Japan.
# The Akita’s ancestors were historically used as hunting dogs and Samurai warriors used Akitas for dog fighting.
# Recent DNA analysis has confirmed that Akitas are one of the most primitive breeds of dog.
Wow, i can almost visualize brutal samurai warriors sending primitive Akitas into battle against bears, and then pitting the dogs against eachother in violent deathmatches!
Dogs of this breed have also been known to attack children in the United States, and some insurance companies there actually charge higher premiums to households that own Akitas.
Not everyone agrees with the conclusion that Akitas are a dangerous breed. Kjled Duits points out that the wikipedia entry on Akitas contains nothing about the breed being a primitive fighting dog that is prone to mauling children. It is also worth noting that the Akita is not considered a dangerous dog here in Japan, where the great Hachiko stands as a symbol of loyalty.
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i think they mean primitive as in closely related to wild wolf, as opposed to being a domesticated pet like a dalmation or something
and really, wikipedia? really?
May wanna ban Dalmatians too.
The owners should make sure that they do everything to ensure peoples safety.On the other hand parents should know what there children are doing and take good care of them.
I am actually living in England (originally from Germany) and my family owns a dog (not a monster by anyones standards, you can be happy if he lifts his head every now and then…)
Anyway, over here everyone and his uncle own a Staffordshire Bullterrier (which btw. I find to be extremely ugly). Kids are taking them for a walk etc. At the same time, these dogs are on a list of dogs that are not allowed to be imported into Germany and if you got one, it is only allowed to be held under special restrictions. Same goes for parts of Switzerland, where you are not allowed to have one at all.
I guess it is safe to say that in most cases, the beasty on the other side of the leash is as least as responsible for what a dog is like as is the breed.
i have an akita and there brilliant so fuck up and leave them alone lock up murders and rapists to keep the country safe and leave the harmless pets out of it!!!!!!!
You should be ashamed of yourself if you want the Akita banned. I own two of them and they are no problem to anyone as they were socialised correctly. I know they are more than capable of killing a person. My male akita weighs in at 62 kgs and he certainly looks menacing but in reality he is very gentle. My son climbs all over him, pulls his ears and tails and trys to horsey ride on him. The akita looks at my son as though he is just some of an amusement. He has never growled and snarled at him nor has he ever shown any aggressive behaviour towards him. I do agree that people who own them should take responsibilty for this graceful and noble animal. People who own them as a status symbol should be taken out and flogged tarred and feathered. I have had my male akita trained as a close protection dog so i know that if i ever had to use him as protection its not a case of him doing it, it is more that i can stop him. And yes he does so without questioning the command. Akitas are no more dangerous than the person who owns them. Make the owner responsible for their actions. Walk the dog on a leash and a muzzle if you are not able to control your akita. Easy!
Riding on the back of an akita is a risky business. If he bites, it will be major damage and life long scaring for your child. The akita bite is among the very strongest, It could possibly severe a limb of a child.
Any person who thinks Akitas should be added to the dangerous dogs list must be a complete idiot and an ignorant fool. If this jobsworth “politician” took the time to visit any number of Akita owners then he/she would realise that this amazing animal, although may once have been used for bear hunting, are actually gentle giants and the perfect family pet.
At the end of the day any dog is dangerous, and the owners should be held responsible for the dogs actions, not the dog, certainly not the breed.
People have some sense!
I hope this “politician” has a glass belly, that way hed be able to see where he is going when he/she makes head up arse bullshit uninformed statements .
“I don’t know why someone would want a bear-hunting dog and I feel strongly that the Government should add them to the list of banned breeds.”
I will tell you exactly why someone would want a bear-hunting dog. Because they are loyal, loving, protective, fun, beautiful…the list goes on.
I have a stunning Japanese Akita. He is the perfect gentleman, great with everybody, especially children, other dogs and I can even trust him with my rabbits. I wish people could come and meet my dog before they condemn the whole breed because of a few bad apples!
I hope this idiot of a politician educates himself a bit.
I have to deal with predujice against my Akita because of attitudes like this. Breed bans are not the answer, breeds are not the problem! The problem is people who can’t control their dogs, all dogs can be dangerous, so why don’t we just ban all of them?!
The answer is eductating people, and making sure dogs are kept under control. As someone else said, all it takes is a lead and a muzzle if you can’t control your dog!
I’ve been bitten by Labradors twice, maybe we should ban them too? The whole breed must be vicious, violent, aggressive dogs if I met two nasty ones, right?
HAVE SOME COMMON SENSE, PLEASE! BAD PEOPLE MAKE BAD DOGS!
Its unlikely that you will perish from the bite of a labrador. Pitbulls Akitas Rottys etc are just a tad more serious when it comes to inflicting damage
What idiots. Akitas arnt bad dogs. They are easily trained and very loyal. As for their “unpredictable behaviour”, dogs fight all the time. I mean, shit. Look at chihuahuas. Aggressive little shits. If they were the size of an akita, they would be destroyed asap.
In Aus, i hear of dogs attacking ppl. Only once was it an akita. I mean jeez, here, a horse picked up a little boy by the neck and threw him so far it killed him. Lets ban all stallions too!
Lets ban golden retrievers and huskies. They attack ppl too! and why not maltese? ive heard of a few attacking babies. LETS JUST BAN ALL THE FUCKING DOGS. Idiots. Lets ban politicians too. How about that.
I had a 13stone male akita, Big friendly giant. Until one day the little shit from across the street gets a big stick and wacks the dog repeatly on the head. The next day i had the dog on the leesh and a street full off 3-7 year olds, everythings fine and then theres the little shit once again pelting the dog with stones in my presence, The dog runs towards him and bites.
Was that the dogs fault? NO!
I lost my dog because some dickheads dont know how to raise there fucking kids.
I never had a problem with that dog in the hole 6 years i had him until that.
That politician dont no what the hell he/she is talking about!
Dogs have psychologies that come from wolves and coyotes, from domestication and selective breeding, and from their having to interact with humans. Akitas require proper handling, specific to the breed or at least to the sort of dog it is–such as the way you might handle an Alsatian. Akitas are great guard dogs. They are not for first time owners unless these owners get trained on how to handle them. There is nothing about the breed that is particularly exotic or dangerous.
The wiki article, like so many, need re-written. The Akita is a spitz type dog–lots of spitz types in Europe as well as Asia. It is an old breed relative to most breed that are popular now because most breeds have been developed only fairly recently. If you took a whole selection of domesticated dog breeds and let them go feral, in several generations they would look like coyotes because the breeds that succeeded in surviving and breeding would be the wolf-like, coyote-like, dingo-like dogs or dogs that were not that far from them. There is no doubt in my mind that the Akitas would have good representation in that emergent gene pool.
how ignorant must this politicion be? why ban a specfic breed, why not tackle the real problem, bad owners? (well of course they wouldn’t tackle bad owners, that would mean they have to do something useful heaven forbid) i bet this guy has not even done his research properly, labrodours are a common breed which attack, so why single out akitas?
yes it is true that the akita was originally designed for bear hunting, but is there any mention in that article as to how loyal and graceful the dog is? its made to seem as is the akita is some bear crushing monster which is far from the truth.
akitas are lovely animals, so don’t believe all the bullshit in the article.
p.s
why not tackle problems such as recession, knife crime, criminals, drugs, etc and leave the dogs alone!!!!
I live in the U.S. and my neighbors own an Akita, and it has attacked three young children, from the neighborhood.
I own 2 akitas and foster them, I think youare very ignorant and pre judgemental, it is the owners that are the arseholes not the dogs fault, every akita i have owned have loved my kids and my cat. I think the government should sort out the killings knife crime robberys etc before talking shit!!
I love the akita breed. To me they are a fantastic animal. However, I can understand the concerns of many as they are are extremely strong and difficult to stop if they attack.
I was shocked when i witnessed a fight break out between two akitas. (this was accidental, when one escaped from an enclosure they are great escape artists) Unlike most breeds, it was clear from the onset, that the two were intent on killing each other. They were incredibly difficult to separate, and one incidently was a family pet (was extremely docile dog and was well socialised with children)
Given that there are so many instances of this breed having attacked children, it has to be a serious concern for governments. Especially when taken into account that they are relatively few in numbers when compared with other breeds.
I believe it would be irresponsible to leave these dogs unsupervised with young children. They are a very dominant dog, and the pack pecking order with this breed is often challenged especially with the male, even with experienced handlers.