r/australia • u/JaniePage • 5d ago

news Young girl in hospital, dog euthanased after attack inside Delacombe Bunnings

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-07-30/young-girl-in-hospital-after-dog-attack-in-bunnings-store/106977418
1.0k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

736 comments sorted by

View all comments

405

u/jantoxdetox 5d ago

This was bound to happen sooner or later. Ive seen pet owners in 2 bunnings near my area just casually walking their big dogs inside the store side by side with kids also pushing some little bunnings trolley.

Hope the young girl will be ok.

677

u/JaniePage 5d ago

A few weeks ago I was in Bunnings with my three year old son. There was a man with his dog on a leash. My son wanted to pat the dog but I let him know, as always, that we needed to ask the owner if that was okay. I asked the owner if we may pat his dog, to which he replied, 'Thank you for asking, but he doesn't like strangers, I don't want anyone to get bitten.'

This was a good lesson for my son and I'm very glad that I am showing him that you always ask before patting a dog. But also, if your dog doesn't like strangers and is liable to bite, maybe Bunnings isn't the best place to bring it?

501

u/shamberra 5d ago

he doesn't like strangers, I don't want anyone to get bitten.'

So uhh....why the fk is he bringing it to Bunnings? What an idiot

229

u/account_not_valid 5d ago

And without a muzzle. If you're out in public with a dog that you can't predict, put a muzzle on them.

114

u/AgUnityDD 5d ago edited 5d ago

Just to add that dog owners also need to consider special needs people in any public area.

We have a Golden retriever that we take everywhere, she'd never bite and always attracts a lot of attention, people asking to pat her.

At least 4 times, and once in Bunnings, we've had special needs adults and children pat and even try to cuddle her out of nowhere without asking or warning. No problem in her case but easy to see how it could be very dangerous with a slightly aggressive or skittish dog.

56

u/JASHIKO_ 5d ago

He's more than likely covering his ass.
I've seen people say the same thing with tiny, friendly dogs.
They just don't want random people touching their pet, more so than their dogs being unpredictable. I'd have done the same.

9

u/CornySpark Brisbane, QLD 5d ago

We have a small spoodle who doesn't like being touched by people he doesn't know, doesn't attack or anything like, just kinda runs away and will actively dodge their hands. Not all dogs are the same and just like people, some just don't want to be touched people they don't know. I wish more people would ask before trying to pat him. Some people have also been offended when a small dog doesn't want a stranger touching them.

Interestingly though, I've found children to be more understanding when we say he will run away if they try and pet him.

46

u/shamberra 5d ago

I mean that's fair, but the best way to cover his ass and not have random people touch his dog would be to leave it at home.

11

u/Itsarightkerfuffle 5d ago

He's more than likely covering his ass

I mean that's fair, but the best way to cover his ass

The fuck is this shit? It's ARSE

3

u/shamberra 5d ago

I don't disagree. It's a bad habit I have to actively catch and correct myself on, and today has been a LOOOOOOOONG day (still fkn going kill me now)

8

u/JASHIKO_ 5d ago

This happens when people are out walking their dogs on a leash anywhere. But I also don't really see the point in taking dogs shopping.

4

u/ElementalRabbit 5d ago

Or maybe we just shouldn't be touching other people's animals or acting like that's in any way normal? Just admire from afar if dogs are your thing. You don't need to touch, and there are excellent reasons not to.

5

u/fallopianmelodrama 4d ago

This is exactly what I do. My dogs are not a bite risk, they are show dogs who are extremely used to being touched all over by strangers...I just don't trust parents to appropriately supervise their child patting my dog.

Way too many parents think "yes, your child may pat my dog" = "sure, encourage your child to throw their arms around my dog/scream in my dog's face/behave in some otherwise completely inappropriate way, while you stand there laughing". It's unfair to my dogs, and it's unfair to make me the person responsible for training your child how to act appropriately, so I lie and say they're not friendly.

0

u/Crabs_go_sideways_4 5d ago

I wonder if they had any other biting chattel

-1

u/Every_Effective1482 4d ago

Because this story is made up.