Friday, August 11, 2006

The Devil Dog

The hate file, dog attack You won't believe this follow-on post from the Sunday, February 19, 2006 post titled, They Just Terrify Me. While out walking on the afternoon of Thursday, July 27, in Mill Park, a northern suburb
of Melbourne, 82 year-old, Antonio Olalla was attacked by a battle-scared pit bull terrier as it killed Mitch, one of his two small Maltese terriers. The pit bull mauled Mr Olalla's arms and hands as he tried to save Mitch. The Herald Sun reports that a neighbour saved Mr Olalla's life by beating the dog with a stick during the savage attack. But what's really scary about this particular dog attack is what followed......

The dog left Mr Olalla bleeding and followed his scent to his home, walked through an open door and attacked Mr Olalla's 81-year old wife, Maria. Mrs Olalla heard the dog and thought it was either Mitch or Bianca, their small Maltese terriers but when she turned around she saw the savage pit bull. The dog cornered Mrs Olalla in her kitchen however she managed to escape and ran into a neighbours house. Can you visualise that? It would make a great movie scene! I can hear that Jaws type music!
It seems that there isn't a day that goes past without hearing or reading about a dog attack somewhere. Early in July a Staffordshire cross bit off the ear of a 5-year old girl in an attack in Palm Beach on the Gold Coast, Queensland. Then, as reported in the Sydney Morning Herald, July 10, 2006, the second dog attack on a child in three weeks occurred when a two-year-old toddler was pit bull, the hate file
badly hurt when attacked by a large Japanese Akita, a powerful, solid, well-proportioned and distinctive looking dog (the image above is of an Akita).

Police said that the dog had escaped from a house 100m away. The toddler was seriously injured by the dog on Wallworth Road, Horsley Park and was taken to Liverpool Hospital and then transferred to Children's Hospital at Westmead, where he was checked for internal injuries. Then there's the report in The Age of an 11-year old boy hospitalised after being mauled by two dogs in far north Queensland. The police reported that the young boy was walking with a group of children in the Cairns suburb of White Rock when the attack occurred. The dogs' owner opened the gate to a yard and the two dogs, one a bull terrier-blue Heeler cross and the other a Staffordshire bull terrier-blue healer cross, rushed out towards the children and attacked the young boy who suffered cuts to his head and neck. The boy was taken to Cairns Base Hospital.

Laws in the Australian state of New South Wales restrict certain breeds of dogs but there are calls to review the laws and the list of restricted dogs. According to a August 15, 2006 report in the Herald Sun, while in the state of Victoria there are 470 pit bull terriers registered (not many when you think about it), there are some 5,500 other deadly pit bulls and pit bull crosses not listed! Despite the fact that by law, pit bulls have to be desexed, housed in child-proof and escape-proof back yard enclosures, and be muzzled and leashed at all times in public, vicious pit bull attacks continue to occur. Why?

Councils have the power to seize and destroy any unregistered pit bulls however, the problem according to Dr Graeme Smith, the General Manager of Lost Dogs' Home, is that many owners were using a loophole in the legislation to avoid detection. While by law, pit bull terriers have to be desexed, housed in child-proof and escape-proof back yard enclosures, and leashed and muzzled at all times in public, he said that to avoid having to comply with the tough law covering pure-bred pit bulls, many owners simply registered their vicious pit bulls as cross-breeds. Dr Smith urged the Government to introduce legislation to ensure owners of pit bull crosses were also listed as restricted breeds.

The Herald Sun report quotes Dr Smith as saying that "if you have got a pit bull terrier, it's bad news, but if you have a pit bull crossed with a bull mastiff or a rottie, it is an even nastier mix. They are dangerous."

In the August 15, 2006 Herald Sun article, there's a report of how 9-year-old Liam Spiteri's face was mauled by a savage dog wrongly identified as a Labrador/Staffodshire terrier cross when it was actually an American pit bull terrier on a leash, but not muzzled!!! The young boy is now recovering in the Royal Children's Hospital after cosmetic facial surgery and faces further facial surgery in coming months. Imagine now what his attitude to dogs will be.

More Recent Attacks:

I decided to do a quick search of stories related to vicious dog attacks over the last 30 days. Here is just a snippet of what I found:

Some Questions:
  • These reports on dog attacks continue to raise the question as to who is at fault here? Is it the dogs? Is it the dog owners? Or, is it the people or the actions of those being attacked? (see: Which is the greater problem, pit bulls or their owners?
  • What would you do if you were walking your little pet dog and it was attacked by a vicious dog?
  • What would you do if you were attacked by a savage dog?
Sources:

Finally:

  • If you know an irresponsible pit bull owner then please send them or direct them to this link: Irresponsible Pit Bull Owners
  • Desperate to end this post on a positive, I found this recent article: "Dog saves teenager from attacker," BBC News, Wednesday, 16 August 2006
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Tuesday, August 01, 2006

Dying for a Pee!

Do you know what I hate? I hate it when it just doesn't happen. You go, you stand or sit, you hold it, you stroke it, you shake it, you curse it, you think about waterfalls, rain or whatever but it just doesn't happen! It's very embarrassing when someone is standing on either or both sides of you, or anywhere near you, whether they're really there or just in my imagination.

The Hate File

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, this type of social anxiety disorder is known as paruresis, or pee shy, shy kidney, bashful or shy bladder syndrome, or dysuria. It's a type of social anxiety disorder, that can affect both men and women, in which the sufferer finds it difficult or impossible to urinate in the (real or imaginary) presence of others, such as in a public restroom. It also applies Also, for people who have difficulty under the stress of time pressure, when being observed, when others are close by and might hear them, or when traveling on moving vehicles such as trains or planes.

Many people experience isolated transient manifestations of urinary difficulty in particularly undesirable situations, and this is sometimes described as stage fright. However, that is to be distinguished from paruresis.

Paruresis goes beyond simple shyness, embarrassment or desire for privacy in that it is much more severe and may cause unnecessary inconvenience, because the inability to urinate, although psychological in origin, is physical in its effect, and not under the control of the sufferer. Severe cases of this disorder can have highly restricting effects on a person's life. Severe sufferers may not be willing to travel far from their home. Others cannot urinate even in their own home if someone else can be heard to be there.

Actual treatments for the condition include:

  • cognitive behavior therapy,
  • training with biofeedback,
  • anti-anxiety medications,
  • using a catheter, although this is alleviating the symptoms rather than effecting a cure, and
  • reducing the level of privacy at which the condition triggers by indulging in graduated exposure therapy. This last can be achieved by sufferers working together at organised events known as workshops.

If you're a pee shy sufferer then the following organisations may be of interest as they are dedicated to helping men and women for whom urinating in the presence or vicinity of other people, is difficult or impossible, and dealing with the problems this brings about:

These associations aim to break the silence about Paruresis, and provide a Forum for advice and discussion as well as support. Their websites provide a resource for people who suffer from this debilitating condition.

Last but by no means least, you might find Freedom from Paruresis and Panic, a personal account of, Max, a 43 year-old panic disorder and bashful bladder syndrome sufferer, helpful.

The hate, sent in by Colin, Kent

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