My partner was attacked by a dog today. Pitbull / XL bully type - not sure of exact breed. Pierced the skin. Police didn't attend when I called, is that normal?

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Hot_College_6538@reddit

How recently did your partner have a tetanus injection, it’s probably necessary. Give 111 a call and make sure it’s all good.

I’m confused, it may not have warranted a 999 response, but did you get a crime reference ? I would be insisting the dog was dangerously out of control and looked to be an illegal breed. Call 101 and push.

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Chemical-Winner1743@reddit (OP)

I did call 999 at the time for the police. I meant it wasn't worth going to A&E for the wound. Yes got a crime reference but just had to leave as they wouldn't attend so had to make a statement later.

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Dr_Passmore@reddit

Dog bites are nasty. High risk of infection.

I recommend getting the wound checked tomorrow at a minor injury unit.

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Then-Estimate1646@reddit

A vicious dog attack not worthy of a trip to hospital? Something doesn't add up here sir.

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SoggyWotsits@reddit

Some people will sit in A&E for hours for a stubbed toe, some would argue about going if their leg was hanging off.

The trouble with a dog bite, is it’s what you can’t see that’s dangerous.

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occasionalrant414@reddit

When I went for, what turned out to be a (very minor) heart attack last year my wife had to drag my 41yo arse there because the thiught of waiting 6hrs to be told "its gas" or "its a panic attack" was off-putting. Whilst we were waiting there were two ladies waiting since 4am (it was 9am when I got there) and she was telling my wife that she knocked her toe whilst out the night before on the lash and she wanted an xray to see if she could take the day off. 🙄

If I wasn't otherwise engaged I'd have contemplated why the NHS is struggling.

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alicatpow@reddit

Idk I went to A&E after getting bitten on the back of my head by a large dog and after sitting there for 7 hours they finally saw me and all they did was disinfect it with iodine and then glue my hair together to hold the wounds closed. Felt like I had wasted their time and resources and I could have just done all that at home.

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Drayner89@reddit

In fairness I was once bitten on the bsck of the thigh by an Irish wolf hound. It was a single bite and because it wasn't bleeding I thiught it'd be fine. My wife and a nurse friend had to force me to go to hospital to get it looked at, which in hind sight was very dumb of me. I just didn't want to cause a fuss.

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Dr_Passmore@reddit

Depends on the damage.

That said I would always encourage seeking medical attention for a dog bite due to the high risk of infection

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InsaneInTheRAMdrain@reddit

Some people will find any reason to not sit 6hr in a&e

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Terrible-Group-9602@reddit

You call 101 for non emergency here.

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Chemical-Winner1743@reddit (OP)

I considered it a police emergency so I called 999. I said it wasn't a health emergency.

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IansGotNothingLeft@reddit

From what you describe, it was not a police emergency. You should call 101 in future, unless it's an actual emergency: Risk to life, escalating situation where harm is likely, serious RTA, crime in progress, etc etc.

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Chemical-Winner1743@reddit (OP)

I disagree there were kids nearby.

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Dimac99@reddit

Really, really hope OP takes this advice. A dog's mouth is full of bacteria and washing with soap may not have cleaned the wound out properly. Definitely get it checked and dressed properly, with advice on what to look for to make sure any possible infection gets caught early and what steps to take.

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BeatificBanana@reddit

Do you know why this is the case for dog bites but not for cat bites?

Just curious because I'm a cat person, never had a dog, but being bitten is part and parcel of cat ownership (especially when they're kittens and haven't yet learned how to play gently - it's not aggression, just how they play) and I've never known anyone who's gone to A&E because of being chomped by kitten teeth. I just wash the wound and slather on some Savlon or Germolene. If I had to go to A&E every time a kitten bit me I'd be there literally every day

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Loki-ra@reddit

I know someone who had to go to A&E for a cat bite. The nurses said cat bites are much worse than dog bites for infections because cat teeth are more needle-like and cats mouths have more bacteria in them (eating mice outside etc). It was only a tiny bite but it went deep and their finger swollen up and they couldn't bend it, had to get antibiotics and get it cleaned out properly at a hospital. They were sent to A&E by the vet.

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Dimac99@reddit

I feel bad for laughing at the last line.

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Scratchy-cat@reddit

Having googled it because as a cat owner my orange has drawn blood (although generally with claws) it's only recommended for anything if it looks hot or swollen or you have any symptoms of an infection or the bleeding won't stop. I would go after a dog as they are likely to have done more damage (I also went to my doctor's after a bird attack for a tetanus jab) but I don't think I would after a cat unless it was a sustained vicious attack

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snakeoildriller@reddit

Having seen what my cats (no longer here) used to eat from the wild and how they used to clean themselves at the rear end I'd absolutely not trust a cat bite.

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Screaming_lambs@reddit

So has mine. I had to get a tetanus booster and antibiotics.

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Dimac99@reddit

That's an interesting question. Mouths in general aren't clean but I'm not sure why dogs would be that much worse than cats. I'm going to have to see what I can find out or it'll bother me lol.

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Dr_Passmore@reddit

Agreed. A minor injury unit or walk in center are the best place to go.

Minor injury unit may require a 111 call to be referred. My old local one you could just go to.

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/animal-and-human-bites/

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Frizzyfluffy@reddit

A woman local to me lost all of her extremities and was in hospital for a year, they suspect, because of a dog lick. I wouldn’t be taking any chances, I’d be asking for antibiotics.

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Illustrious_Study_30@reddit

Ex Nurse Practitioner here...I can tell you some real horror stories. Absolutely OP needs antibiotics and that's without looking at the wound..I'd already have them written up..I've seen the really bad side of this several times. We had the local vet on a yellow card...they could flash it at reception and I'd have them in and out in five minutes....

Do not take any chances with this.

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snakeoildriller@reddit

Go to A&E for sure - you don't know the health of the dog and you want to end up with sepsis.

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mattcannon2@reddit

I'd pop to the GP/A&E for a round of antibiotics and a tetanus jab. I did this when my cat bit me quite hard!

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hoocoo@reddit

If the skin was punctured at all, it should be looked at by a medical professional

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Etheria_system@reddit

You absolutely need to get this treated either at urgent care or the GP in the morning. Do not rely on home treatment for dog bites.

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Drawinginfinity182@reddit

NHS no longer recommends tetanus jabs for dog bites. Was in urgent care a couple of days ago expecting one but … nope

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Miss_Andry101@reddit

Where in the UK are you?

The NHS will provide a tetanus shot for dog bites based on wound severity and immunisation history.

They definitely shouldn't be turning anyone away with a dog bite, claiming 'we no longer recommend that'.

You should open a complaint via PALS, if that is genuinely what you were told. It is bad practice.

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Illustrious_Study_30@reddit

There's a real protocol . Stop winding people up. It's perfectly ok to not give a booster in many many situations, which is reliant on their age, social group and previous vaccine hx . Most people in the UK are tetanused right up

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Miss_Andry101@reddit

The NHS will provide a tetanus shot for dog bites based on wound severity and immunisation history.

Saying the NHS no longer recommend a tetanus for dog bites would be someone on the wind up, princess.

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Illustrious_Study_30@reddit

You're telling people to open a complaint without understanding the protocol.

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Miss_Andry101@reddit

If they were told 'we dont recommend tetanus for dog bites anymore' then that is bad practice and protocol wasn't followed.

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Illustrious_Study_30@reddit

So if the clinician said '. We don't automatically ....' that would be ok ?

I'm just saying you'll have a wasted complaint, but you do you mate

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Miss_Andry101@reddit

My concern is more for people reading this thread who may think the NHS actually hold the position that they no longer recommend a tetanus vaccine, in the case of dog bites, based on the comment I responded to, then they may not seek the medical care they need.

I responded in the way I did, to make sure the person was aware that the information, if given to them, as a blanket factual statement, is completely false and bad practice.

If it was different information I would have responded in a different way, or not at all. I was never speaking to you, you wasted your time, but you do you, mate.

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Illustrious_Study_30@reddit

Have you drafted your strongly worded email yet ...??

😴

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Miss_Andry101@reddit

Again, you wasted you're time. I was never the one complaining. You're commenting to the wrong person, if that is your concern.

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Illustrious_Study_30@reddit

No .you just advised a complaint...which frankly is stupid advice. Jesus...let it go...you gave shit advice...

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Miss_Andry101@reddit

So, why would I be the one composing an email, silly?

I disagree that suggesting complaining about bad practice within our NHS is bad advice but you clearly think differently and that is entirely your perogative.

However, that wasn't what you initially responded to me about. It seemed you were claiming I was on the wind up for suggesting the OP was given incorrect information if they were told 'the NHS no longer recommends tetanus for dogbites'.

Why would I let it go when it's you that had insisted upon engaging me in the first place?

Again, I wasn't even originally speaking to you. : )

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Illustrious_Study_30@reddit

Encouraging unnecessary complaints is winding people up.

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Miss_Andry101@reddit

Complaining about bad practice within our NHS is necessary to maintain a decent service.

For someone who claims to know protocols it's quite concerning to me that you dont want to encourage people to ensure they are followed.

I will always advocate for patients to raise a complaint for any bad practice so our NHS staff can be made aware of lapses, and be given the opportunity to improve, if appropriate.

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venuscans@reddit

Presumably not though if they insist on giving one if you haven't had a jab in the last 10 years which seems to be the recommendation? Basically once you're over 24 that'll be most people.

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Illustrious_Study_30@reddit

The protocol is clear, though people do still give a booster after ten years, if they deem it necessary or aren't absolutely certain of hx. That's within clinical judgement. It's simply not a necessity by the letter of the law but it is given. My main point is most people will be fully covered in this country. Boosters are covered by protocol but aren't always clinical necessary and that will depend largely on the clinician

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Motor_Finger_3262@reddit

A friend of mine was bitten by a dog 4 weeks ago, she went to the local walk in centre and they did a tetanus shot

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Illustrious_Study_30@reddit

It's whether you've had more than five in a lifetime and whether your booster routine is finished (5+). Do not worry, the protocol is well established.

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No_Medium_648@reddit

I was bitten last year. Tetanus and antibiotics.

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venuscans@reddit

I was bitten by a dog two weeks ago and my doctor insisted on antibiotics and a tetanus jab! Hope you recovered well.

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YuccaYucca@reddit

The police are not going to attend for a graze. I can’t believe you thought they would. Do you think the police turn up every time someone phones 999? (Which you shouldn’t have done)

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Chemical-Winner1743@reddit (OP)

It was not a graze. Also there were kids not far from the spot and it was out of control.

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Out-For-A-Walk-Bitch@reddit

I'm finding it a bit tricky to get my head around the damage done, it's a powerful dog, required a 999 call, they're known for gripping on, shaking and not letting go, yet didn't required a hospital bite? I'm confused about what happened.

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Chemical-Winner1743@reddit (OP)

Her skin was punctured in several places and was bleeding profusely. We got it cleaned up with a first aid kit from a nearby cafe. The dog bit her leg and floored her but she managed to get up straight away and as we were shouting at the dog and the owner shouted at it and it did let go. Whatever they are known for that is what happened.

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-Saraphina-@reddit

Since it wasn't a deep bite and you didn't even find it A&E worthy, you were able to remove yourself from the situation and weren't in any immediate danger, then it doesn't qualify as an emergency. It's a scary situation to have been in but not appropriate to call 999. There is a non-emergency police line to report things like that instead. Emergency service resources are unfortunately stretched very thin and have to prioritise more serious incidents.

I would have taken a couple of photos of the dog and irresponsible owner to show the police afterwards and to warn others.

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Chemical-Winner1743@reddit (OP)

Good for you miss perfect. I wasn't able to take photos as we needed to get away from it. 🤦‍♀️

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-Saraphina-@reddit

There's no need for that condescending attitude just because you're unhappy with the responses you're getting here. You said you "waited near the owner and he didn't seem that bothered" in your post, so it didn't sound like you ran away. Just letting you know what you can do if it ever happens again.

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Chemical-Winner1743@reddit (OP)

Yeah it doesn't take a genius to work out what you put. You were the one with the condescending tone.

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-Saraphina-@reddit

Tone can be hard to read through text. I wasn't being condescending at all. I sympathised that it was a scary situation to be in. Your question was whether it was normal for 999 to not respond to emergency calls like yours, so I explained why it's normal and told you a better way to respond in a situation like that in the future. I apologise if you interpreted my answer to your question as being condescending but that wasn't the intent. Maybe it sounds that way because I'm neurodivergent.

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likelivewirevoodoo@reddit

Hi, I work in healthcare. Your partner should get medical attention for the bite. We treat all animal bites with broad spectrum antibiotics if the skin has been broken, there is a high risk of nasty infection. I suggest they seek medical attention.

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godoflemmings@reddit

Biomedical scientist here seconding this. Dog bites can cause Pasteurella infections as well as Staphylococci (which MRSA is one of) and Streptococci. Need to get to a GP ASAP.

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Milam1996@reddit

The dog would need to be infected with MRSA for you to get MRSA and afaik dogs are not a known infection vector.

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godoflemmings@reddit

I know, I was only giving context to what Staphs are since almost everyone's heard of MRSA, even if they don't know what the acronym stands for.

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mikeyhorror666@reddit

I am so sorry your partner was attacked, definitely go to a&e to have the wound looked at and disinfected. Ive read the replies and as no one has given any self defence advice against pit breed type dogs, I will. Because these dangerous dogs latch on tight and don't let go (seriously I have seen videos where people have snapped the dogs back legs and they still remain in a grip) you have to choke them. If they have a collar on pull it back tight, if they dont push down hard on their throat with whatever limb its not latched on to.

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-Saraphina-@reddit

If that doesn't work, you can also push your arm/whatever they're biting far back into their mouth to make them widen their jaws and weaken their bite. It can also trigger their gag reflex which will make them let go. First instinct is to try to pull away from the bite but this actually makes it worse. That just becomes a tug of war, the dog will pull against you and cause even more damage.

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Kid_Kimura@reddit

Police would likely only attend immediately if the dog was still there and out of control, otherwise it's the kind of thing that would be handled by appointment to take a statement.

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Chemical-Winner1743@reddit (OP)

It was still there. I said on the phone to them at the time it was pointless leaving and getting a statement later as then nothing would happen to him or the dog. We ran away out of sight from the owner as no idea if he got it under control or not. Really thought it warranted an officer coming but no. No resources apparently.

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Shriven@reddit

Really thought it warranted an officer coming but no

No resources apparently.

They literally explained why to you

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Chemical-Winner1743@reddit (OP)

My question is, is this normal now.

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Remote-Pool7787@reddit

It’s always been normal. Minor dog bites are not a police emergency

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Hot-Sign-249@reddit

Wrong. If it is a pit bull or X bully. They're actually illegal breeds to have and if it has bitten someone them police should of attended

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Remote-Pool7787@reddit

I’m afraid that’s not how it works

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Prince_John@reddit

It's how it should work though. If we all just settle for the status quo, we'll forget how things used to be before austerity.

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Chemical-Winner1743@reddit (OP)

Thank god someone here finally gets it. Felt like I was going mad reading these responses. Especially people telling me I was wrong to even call them!

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Remote-Pool7787@reddit

You think that pre austerity the police were attending dog attacks resulting in minor injuries? It simply isn’t an emergency

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Prince_John@reddit

Believe it or not, the police used to do things that weren't emergencies.

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Remote-Pool7787@reddit

You’re missing the point. It’s not that the police won’t do anything about it, they will investigate. But it doesn’t require an urgent response, and never would get an urgent response. It’s basic triaging.

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Dimac99@reddit

A suspected XL bully attack absolutely needs an urgent response. The number of people killed by that type is completely disproportionate to all other breed types, which is, rightly or wrongly, why they were banned. Getting that call wrong could easily result in a fatality and these aren't dogs that just 'calm down'. If OP reported a Labrador bite then nobody would be expecting an automatic emergency response.

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Remote-Pool7787@reddit

The breed being banned doesn’t change the triaging. The injury was minor and the dog was brought back under control. It won’t get an emergency response. Also dog incidents require the dog team. XL bullies are seized by police every week, but almost none of them immediately following an incident. It’s days later or after a string of reports

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Dimac99@reddit

The dog was not under control, that's my point. Those dogs are never under control, they just choose to do what they're told if you're lucky. The weight and strength of them means that they cannot be controlled if they don't want to be and unmuzzled they represent an ongoing threat. Most grown men would seriously struggle to have anything approaching control over one of those dogs.

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Remote-Pool7787@reddit

OP says that the dog was brought under control but they are concerned it poses a future risk. Look, you may not like it, but that’s how incident triaging works.

I’m not a fan of bully breeds and I support breed specific legislation, but to say they are all uncontrollable is ridiculous. What you’re saying could then be applied to any dog. Also let’s not forget that we don’t know if this dog would fall under banned breed criteria. I’m going to say probably not, given how minor the injury was.

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Chemical-Winner1743@reddit (OP)

I don't know if it was brought under control or not. We ran away from the owner and his dog. It didn't come after us I can say that. We hung about out of sight so couldn't see the owner and dog for the police to come and they didn't.

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walkwalkwalkwalk@reddit

They would've imo.

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Chemical-Winner1743@reddit (OP)

I'm 40 so I'm old enough to remember pre 2008. I agree they would have come. That's why I'm shocked and made this post. I guess I'm just fortunate I haven't needed the police in all that time.

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qbnaith@reddit

Yes. The police are garbage these days.

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Fantastic_Picture384@reddit

Yes.. don't expect the police to do their job.

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PurchaseCharming4269@reddit

Go to A&E to get the wound looked at. Like go today. You could catch sepsis. Very important that you go👍

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Motor_Finger_3262@reddit

In the first instance your partner should go to her doctors at least to get documentation of the injury. I don’t know about the police attendance question sorry, common sense says they should if it’s a particularly vicious attack and injuries. I don’t know if this falls under that category.

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tannercolin@reddit

'We need an officer here urgently, the situation is tense and it is rising'

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xDogsAreCoolx@reddit

Agree with other people about getting the wound checked out. There's so much bacteria in a dogs and cats mouth that you definitely should get it checked, especially if it broke the skin.

If the police aren't interested in the matter, I would the dog warden from your local council. You can usually fill out an online form on the local councils website, in some cases they may have a phone number.

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Scratchy-cat@reddit

If the dog broke the skin then seek medical help, I don't know if the police will turn up but medical help is still needed either through A&E or a doctor, I really hope your poor partner doesn't get an infection and heals quickly regardless

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SirGranular@reddit

I was bitten by a family dog when I went to feed him etc while his owners were away. He was one of the big breeds. Sadly was age related (possible tumor) and he didn't recognise me after us being friends for years.

As soon as I heard that growl I turned on my heels, and that (fortunately) is where he bit me.

I was able to free myself and hauled ass over a fence. Went to A&E and they took it pretty seriously with cleaning and antiseptic dressings along with a course of antibiotics.

Dog bites can be pretty dirty. Cats are worse again! Just an anecdote to get any would checked and cleaned etc.

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sora_resi@reddit

Hi, got bit by a dog recently. 5 day stay in hospital, a clean and debride, 3 weeks of antibiotics. Please take care.

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legendalive@reddit

I’m finding the comments here quite shocking about the police response.

Don’t get me wrong I’m not sure of the national policy or how it should be handled but I work for the police in a medium sized county with a mix of urban and rural areas.

Every single time that we have a dog attack incident come up, it’s attended on a blue light response, usually our dog units are scrambling to get to scene from wherever in the county they are as well as the local response officers.

It’s no different to someone having a knife in public - there’s a dangerous animal that has attacked a human, there’s a potential there will be more victims. Police should have gotten on scene immediately. “No resources” doesn’t matter.

Policing is absolute shit state right now because there isn’t enough officers but if there’s an emergency ongoing, you fucking find a resource. It’s as simple as that. You move things around, officers get pulled off commitments, you try other areas, there’s the ARV / RPU / Dog officers that are roaming all over the county. Just get someone down there.

Obviously I can’t comment on what happened exactly but if you called 999 for a dangerous dog that attacked someone, and at point of call the dog was still there and you were still on scene, and the call handler / control room told you whilst you were still on scene that they weren’t attending because there was “no free officers” - I would heavily consider filing an official complaint.

Again, I’ve not dealt with too many of these incidents during my time in the police - however from every single time I have - officers attend on blue lights, the dog is seized from the owner and put down - zero tolerance for dangerous dogs.

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TheAnonymousNote@reddit

Also job, but I disagree with what you’ve said.

Whilst I do think dog attacks reported there and then are more than likely going to be immediate/grade 1 responses, if the threat becomes diminished by the victim taking themselves away then I don’t see why the call wouldn’t be downgraded to a slower response level, like any other type of incident, provided that it’s no longer actively attacking people.

From a community/neighbourhoods perspective - there are plenty of dog bites that get allocated as investigations without attendance, like any other type of crime. I do appreciate that attendance at the time would probably improvement positive outcome rates, and is something we really should be doing, but that is unfortunately not the world we live in.

And regarding officer availability for incidents - yes the control room will move people where possible but you must have experienced having fuck all units and 5+ stacking immediates? Whether you utilise ARV/Traffic/Dogs/Neighbourhoods or not you will eventually run out of cops. And it’s a bad idea to tie up your ARVs with anything protracted anyway, for obvious reasons.

I do agree that if anyone is dissatisfied with the service they received they should always complain, however I would caveat that with the fact that if they had no cops then I wouldn’t expect the complaint to achieve anything. There’s no magic box of officers.

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Remote-Pool7787@reddit

Police won’t attend immediately unless they was ongoing danger. They should attend in the next few days

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Chemical-Winner1743@reddit (OP)

Well that's pretty pointless

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Remote-Pool7787@reddit

How it it pointless? The owner can still be fined, have restrictions put on them, arrested and the dog could still be seized and destroyed etc

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GetCapeFly@reddit

How? Unless they can identify the owner there’s nothing they can do later.

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Shriven@reddit

"unless they can do something, they can't do anything!"

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AskUK-ModTeam@reddit

Don't be a dick to each other, or other subreddits, places, or people.

Don't be a dick to each other, or other subreddits, places, or people. AskUK contains a variety of ages, experiences, and backgrounds - consider not everyone is operating on the same level or background as you. Listen to others before you respond, and be courteous when doing so.

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Chemical-Winner1743@reddit (OP)

Exactly!

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Chemical-Winner1743@reddit (OP)

Because he isn't going to be stood in the same spot with his dog three days later.

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Remote-Pool7787@reddit

No, but the dog needs to be walked. So a description of the dog, the owner and where it happened should make it very easy to track them down.

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No_Height_2408@reddit

If they don't come out to arrest someone with a dangerous dog which is out of control, how likely is it that they will lie in wait in a local park.

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Remote-Pool7787@reddit

Because it’s not the same resource. It’s community policing who’ll deal with dog issues

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Fantastic_Picture384@reddit

Welcome to law and order in the UK

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VerbingNoun413@reddit

They get paid either way so it's not pointless for them.

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Difficult_Egg_4350@reddit

I asked my sibling (then a police officer) this question a few years ago when a friend of ours was bitten by a dog. The simple answer is, there are only a handful of patrol/response vehicles on shift at any one time. They will almost certainly not be hanging around waiting for calls. So basically, unless you live in London or another major city that has more money and more officers per head than most of the country, officers are only available to be sent out to serious crimes in progress (ie threat to life, ongoing assaults, someone literally lying in the street bleeding to death). A dog bite where you are not critically injured and have moved away from the perpetrator will not be assessed as the top priority call at that moment. You therefore will have someone come to take a statement later, and follow up with cctv enquiries etc which are not going to disappear if they wait until tomorrow.

Obviously this is not going to console you if you have heen a victim of a horrible attack, not is it necessarily right and just, but it is the reality of a service that has had budgets cut while demands upon it increase.

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Chemical-Winner1743@reddit (OP)

Thank you for answering the question instead of another condescending response. I know there are more serious crimes but I was under the illusion this was still serious enough to attend. Sad to know it isn't but appreciate the insight of your answer.

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Shriven@reddit

still serious enough to attend

You said they told you they had no resources to send. If there's none, the level of seriousness is irrelevant. You are getting condescending responses because you are being denser than a concrete pudding

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AskUK-ModTeam@reddit

Don't be a dick to each other, or other subreddits, places, or people.

Don't be a dick to each other, or other subreddits, places, or people. AskUK contains a variety of ages, experiences, and backgrounds - consider not everyone is operating on the same level or background as you. Listen to others before you respond, and be courteous when doing so.

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Tricky-Reporter-5246@reddit

Bit rude.

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CharieRarie@reddit

A few years ago my partner was bitten (not badly), we did an online report as the dog was unattended.

The police went to the area a few days later and found the owner. They got a warning to keep their dog secured.

My husband was checked out at minor injuries. They cleaned it and gave us a list of symptoms to watch for, it wasn’t a deep bite and thankfully he was fine.

If it was a vicious attack I would definitely get it checked out, and also call your local police station to make sure it’s been properly reported.

I hope your partner is okay.

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lordjimbob01@reddit

999 is attended by response officers, they get passed jobs by their radio on grades 1-3. Immediate response is a grade 1, this means ongoing threat. Most of the time all officers in the area are already on grade 1 incidents.

You had removed yourself from danger, there was not an ongoing threat of further harm. Enquires will be dealt with by neighbourhood officers, these officers work smaller areas, have a better idea of known nominals and generally have more time to deal with enquires, as they aren’t flying around their patch trying to stop the ongoing threats these officers will follow up.

I appreciate that this isn’t what you want, trust me it’s not what the officers want either, but between austerity, reduced police number, increased paperwork and being the default for every other service that can’t resource situations that’s the state of modern policing.

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No_Height_2408@reddit

I have seen a policeman greet a man walking by with an XL Bully unmuzzled before. You could see he thought about saying something and decided it wasn't worth it. I had the impression they don't want to deal with it

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geese_moe_howard@reddit

If the dog subsequently sends your partner an offensive tweet, the police will be there immediately.

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ukbot-nicolabot@reddit

A top level comment (one that is not a reply) should be a good faith and genuine attempt to answer the question

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PM-me-your-cuppa-tea@reddit

Don't be ridiculous.

If the dog wears a Palestine Action t-shirt though...

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Bustakrimes91@reddit

Unfortunately it’s very common now and police will only attend for serious crimes.

I understand though that it’s incredibly frustrating as now the person is unidentified and their dog is still loose to do the exact same thing all over again.

I’ve had to call the police on quite a few occasions due to my job as well as living in a pretty bad area and I would say their attendance is less than 50%. I was assaulted recently and they came very quickly due to being nearby but when I needed to see a CID officer they made me stand and wait for over 6 hours before deciding that wasn’t worth doing so waited a few more hours for your standard police to come and get mw. Then I waited over 38 hours for them to come and take me for the essential tests that I required at the time due to the nature of the crime.

This was for a very serious crime and they were incredibly apologetic but said the exact same thing to me as they said to you, they don’t have the resources.

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indomitus1@reddit

I've worked in AE and the protocol for dog bites to avoid infection and sepsis is a course of antibiotics not just a bandage. Risk it at your peril

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Crochet-panther@reddit

As others said they will have recorded the incident, but certainly based on my work training if it broken the skin your partner should be going to at least an urgent treatment centre as he may need a tetanus jab or other treatment even if the bite itself is minor.

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ciarafd@reddit

If it’s broken through skin and caused bleeding then you should get antibiotics, you can get nasty infections from dog bites. Maybe not A&E worthy but you could go to a walk-in centre. I agree that the police should have attended, what if it is a pattern or if it attacked a small child?

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Chemical-Winner1743@reddit (OP)

It was by a lake next to a place where loads of families go. Kids were only about 200m away. Said all this to the police.

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