crime

Dogs bite 2 pedestrians; owner arrested for negligence

16 Comments

Police in Tokyo's Setagaya Ward have arrested the 82-year-old owner of six dogs after they got loose on April 12 and bit two pedestrians, inflicting minor injuries.

According to police, the dogs' owner, Tsurao Nakao, was charged with gross negligence, Sports Nippon reported Thursday.

Neighbors said that Nakao's dogs have been escaping for the past nine years, and beginning seven years ago, 11 cases were reported in which dogs broke free and bit unsuspecting pedestrians.

After the series of incidents, Nakao was warned by several local health organizations for his actions.

Nakao was quoted by police as saying that the dogs only got out because they slipped through the door when he was opening the front entrance upon arriving home.

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16 Comments
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82 y.o and has 6 dogs??? WTF

0 ( +1 / -1 )

they dogs, and quite possibly the owner, should be euthanised.

-14 ( +1 / -15 )

Every dog is only as good as its owner.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

According to Asahi Shimbiun, Nakao lives alone and started keeping the dogs (medium-sized mongrels) 9 years ago because he 'was lonely'.

At his age, one dog might be pushing it - how does he manage to exercise 6 grown dogs?

Answer - he doesn't. Hence the lack of control he has over them.

the dogs only got out because they slipped through the door when he was opening the front entrance upon arriving home.

No, they only got out because you let them out when you opened the door upon arriving home after leaving them home alone for who knows how long. They were probably stir-crazy, hence their desire to escape.

Apparently relatives are looking for new homes for the dogs, but it's very, very difficult to find anyone willing to take on a dog with a history of biting. They'll probably end up being put down, because one old man couldn't be bothered/didn't have the know-how/physical stamina to look after them properly.

0 ( +6 / -6 )

Dogs have been enjoying a position as "Man's Best Friend." And they're welcomed as part of the family. But in the ancient times, dogs were thought be wild animals like wolves. And it would appear that they're aggressive. So it's no wonder that, for some reason, dogs sometimes show aggression towards people.

And they say a dog resembles it's owner. So the 82-year-old owner of six dogs are presumably trigger-happy type. But still it's out of question that he was letting six dogs run loose and bite pedestrians. WTF.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

11 previous bites but now finally they are doing something about it with these final two? Did they bite the governors family or something?

Sad for the dogs. All dogs are great if raised and handled properly. My friends pitiful/rhodesian ridgeback mix (who he got as a puppy and was told it was a labrador cross!) is the sweetest thing although she looks aggressive. The only time Ive ever seen her so much as grunt is when my dog stole her ball and even then she just rolled her eyes and grabbed another one. Its so true what they say - no bad dogs, just bad owners.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

It's got to be tough for an 82-year-old to take care of 6 dogs, but then again maybe they help to keep him sane and healthy, especially if he's living alone.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Dog soup comes to mind. Stir up the kettle, and help this aged man walk his puppies.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

It's got to be tough for an 82-year-old to take care of 6 dogs, but then again maybe they help to keep him sane and healthy, especially if he's living alone.

Not if it's going to be at the expense of others, wontond.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

This old geezer is an idiot! It should be ILLEGAL for an old goat like that to own any animal!!

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

Let's hope that the owner and the dogs can be in a better positron after this unfortunate result of love and loosing control, we all know what that's like.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

"It's so true what they say - no bad dogs, just bad owners."

That's the truth!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Dog bites man is news in Japan. The important part of this news is that this man's dogs have been biting and making a nuisance of themselves for years. Nothing was done except to warn the owner. That is dog you know what.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Does not matter what happened. When you own animals and they attack someone and inflict an injury or death, you the owner of the animal are responsible. My J-wife was riding her bicycle home with our young son in his child seat and a large breed dog which was being handled by a daughter of a factory owner down the block attacked her. My wife and child were thrown from the bicycle and she had a bite wound that required several stiches and antibiotics. In the USA if a dog did that, it would be impounded and tested for rabies but in Japan (a country with no rabid animals) the owner just says gomenasai. The dog lady and her cohort came to our home the same day and did the obligatory bowing and scraping and offered us about $1,000 dollars. I told them to get out and wen to the local Koban. The keystone cops said that it was a a personal matter. I got their names and went downtown to the police department and told the officer in charge what had happened and they jumped on it. I told them that the dog needed to be tested for rabies and our medical bills needed to be paid as well as some form of compensation as the wound was a serious visible scar. The hospital fees were paid and they paid a few grand in damages as well as the male dog was neutered to calm him down but we still avoid that street which is a shame to have to stay away because of a bad animal and negligent owner.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Hawkeye,

What a sad story. But not atypical unfortunately. All of us parents have stories of our kids being attacked by dogs but yours is worse than most. Twice dogs have chased after my boys, their ancient owners letting them off the leash while they were in a park because they thought that would be nice for the dogs.

Dogs are a major public nuisance and therefore need to be proactively managed rather than letting things go unmanaged to the point where real damage is done. Dogs are no different from a loaded gun in the home. The damage they cause is huge and clueless dog owners and sappy apologists for dogs deny this simple fact leading to more harm caused to kids and others. For example dogs should be banned from parks other than those specifically designated for dog use. That way dogs can attack each other or their owners rather than innocent bystanders. Dogs off leash in public areas should be impounded and their owners fined.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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