How many more babies to be mauled to death by dangerous dogs?

The fact that pit bull-type dogs can be extremely dangerous is well documented and not one of them should be left alive to cause harm.

I have no doubt that if a pit bull is raised properly from birth and is not encouraged to act violently, it will respond 99 per cent of the time.

But dogs have been hunting animals '“ for millions of years. They hunted and killed to survive and that basic instinct is still there, deep down.

People who own animals much bigger than any child can, and do, live on borrowed time.

I was appalled to watch a recent Family Fortunes programme in which 100 people were asked to name things they would rescue in the event of fire in their home.

More people answered they would rescue their pet animal than those saying they would rescue a child or a spouse.

I think the millions of people in the UK who appear to put the welfare and care of animals before their own human kind should really re-evaluate their lives.

I also find it astonishing that the police were told that the housing association property where a child was mauled to death was suspected of being used for the breeding of dangerous dogs. Yet they did nothing.

I think it's about time that when police are found to fail to do their public duty, the chief constable of the force concerned is made personally responsible.

A chief constable standing in the dock charged with manslaughter through neglect of duty might be what's needed to make police and other agencies, such as social services, fit for purpose.

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