The information reviews about folks being attacked and even killed by the American bully XL canine breed have been surprising.
For us in colleges, the worry of a kid being harm is all too actual – as a recent incident at our college underlined.
It was a Wednesday morning and, like on daily basis, the senior management group, together with myself, have been on gate responsibility for drop-off.
I used to be standing by the kindergarten entrance once I abruptly noticed a pitbull-type canine working straight in the direction of me at excessive velocity with no proprietor in sight.
I realised the canine would quickly attain the playground entrance, the place a whole lot of kids have been fortunately enjoying. I shouted to workers to close the gates. They didn’t know what was occurring however knew from my tone it was one thing severe and acted swiftly. Relief hit because the pupils have been now protected.
Then I heard the scream. A 3-year-old baby, not but within the playground, had seen the canine and was scared by it. His mum, a couple of ft away, had no thought a canine was on the free.
The canine, listening to the scream, ran in the direction of the kid – reaching him earlier than I or the mum may accomplish that.
Thankfully, it didn’t straight attack however as a substitute jumped across the baby, scaring him however not doing any hurt. The mum then grabbed the kid and lifted him up, at which level the canine began leaping on her as a substitute.
Dog attack hazard
By now passers-by and different workers had seen what was occurring and stepped in to assist attempt to calm the canine down.
Some close by roadworkers came visiting and, with the canine drawn to their fluorescent jackets, fortunately its curiosity within the mum and boy light.
As all of this was unfolding different dad and mom and kids have been arriving and had no clue about what had occurred.
We have been so fortunate that nothing extra occurred than one baby being scared. But it may have been a lot worse. The canine’s velocity and energy meant there was little I or the mom may have carried out if it had latched on to the boy.
Reviewing college protocols
We known as the police after the incident and in addition undertook a important incident evaluate of our personal protocols.
This concerned watching video footage of the incident and reviewing the actions taken. One factor that turned obvious was the necessity for improved communication between these inside and people exterior on gate responsibility.
Because drop-off is on only one highway and people exterior can all the time see one another, we had not invested in a communication system between us and the reception group and workers contained in the campus.
We had been unable to lift any alarm to the college, so folks inside and outside had no thought what was occurring.
We realised that workers exterior should be capable to shortly inform workers inside any incident to allow them to, if needed, lock the campus down and shut doorways or gates. This is one thing we are actually reviewing.
We additionally reiterated to the local people that, no matter authorized compliance, it’s best apply for all dogs to be safely on leads inside the neighborhood of the college. Responsible canine homeowners know this and are all the time prepared to work with us for the advantage of all.
The should be ready
You could also be questioning what occurred to the canine. Well, it turned out that, whereas we have been navigating the incident, the proprietor was calling the police to warn them their 18-month-old Staffordshire bull terrier had escaped their condominium by leaping over the balcony.
The canine liked kids and clearly thought college was a improbable place to be. It was discovered protected and returned to its proprietor, who now has higher security precautions.
We have been fortunate the canine simply needed to play. But it has cemented my perception that homeowners have to be held accountable for his or her dogs, with legal guidelines making homeowners liable for animals of their care.
Even with such legal guidelines and necessities in place, nonetheless, it’s clear that college leaders want to pay attention to the hazard posed by dogs and have protocols in place for mitigating this menace ought to something occur.
Liz Free is director and CEO of International School Rheintal, in Switzerland, an IB World School
