Justice for Ziggy

The recent events of multiple dog attacks in the Aberdeen community have created a lot of fear as well as grief, where some families have lost their beloved pets after being viciously attacked by other dogs. Those attacks happened in open fields where many people walk their dogs and are supposed to be responsible for how their dog(s) behaves. Some of the owners carelessly walk their dogs off their leads and/or without a muzzle.

People are afraid to walk their dogs on a daily basis because of these attacks and because the owners are not being held accountable. The police claim they cannot do anything until a person is attacked. Why? Why should our pets suffer and why can’t anything be done before it’s too late? 

With this petition, we want to see a change. Each owner who possesses a dog which has shown and/or is showing aggressive behaviour towards other dogs should be required to exercise their dog in a gated area and when walking, the dog should be held on a lead and wear a muzzle. In the case of an attack, the owner needs to take responsibility. Whether it is a fine penalty or in severe cases, the dog has to be put down to prevent it from attacking again. 

Our pets are part of our families, they suffer too. Why is this not enough to take further action? We are scared to go on a simple walk and no one is listening. Please see the fear in our community. Too many attacks have taken place this year and too many beloved pets have suffered.

The petition is titled ‘Justice for Ziggy’. Ziggy was a little 9 month old puppy. Their owners took him on his regular evening walk where he had been viciously attacked. They needed to take him to Livingston to carry out a life saving operation and managed to raise over £5,000 to help them pay for the costs. Due to the brutality of the attack, Ziggy did not make it through. Please help this nightmare make a difference to other dogs in the future. To show that Ziggy will make a difference!

Ironically, bloodsport “dog fighting” which involves intentional fights between dogs, to the death, with money on the line is illegal. However, when home pet dogs are attacked out in the open, nothing is done to prevent it or to seek justice for this behaviour.

To make this clear, this petition is not intended to say all aggressive dog breeds will attack. We realise that some dogs are well behaved and are friendly. This is intended for the owners specifically who actively train their dogs to be vicious, to attack and to show violence towards other dogs and people. 

In addition, owners who neglect their dogs violent behaviour should also be held accountable as stated above.