Plymouth's tame swans attacked by pitbull-type dog

“Anyone who has info on this attack needs to share it with the police ...to not do so is protecting some idiot who uses his dog as a weapon.Don't blame the dog though..it is the pathetic owner who should be punished and the dog rehabilitated.”

“Mrs Morse MUST take some responsibility for this sad incident, the swans have always rested near the boatyard yet it was her that moved the food to the park area. I do agree that the park is an area for all people and people must be in control of their dogs, but Mrs Morse is not from the area yet she denied the park for everyone, even my children could not enter the park without worrying the protective swans would attack which they have done in the past so maybe the swans should be muzzled too. Locals have taken care of local swans many years before Mrs Morse introduced her feeding programme. I was there when Mrs Morse arrived and she was very rude to the local residents, yet refused to accept that if she had not placed the food in the park in the first place the swans would have been safer. It appears the main purpose of Mrs Morse's actions are to gain her own feeling self satisfaction, her main concern is the swans yet does not comprehend that whilst in her pursuit of self gratification and recognition she herself has been breaking the law by parking over a cycle path and on the pavement putting pedestrians, cyclists and other road users at risk, again she refuses to accept this.
This is a case of 1 person taking things too far and trying to control nature, these birds are wild and while they are beautiful and lovely to watch the fact still remains that nature should not be controlled to this extent. I doubt these swans will be returned to the area, so now thanks to Mrs Morse and her misguided efforts local residents of Stonehouse will no longer be able take pleasure in these birds, but hopefully Mrs Morse will be able to find another pair of swans she can watch at the other side of Plymouth where she actually lives.
While most people in the area are decent hard working and friendly, all communities have a minority and these people cannot control themselves most of the time, never mind controlling a another animal, why should all dog owners be tarred with the same brush because of a couple of addicts with a dog and an over zealous woman trying to control nature.”

“Okay for starter, if the dog was in fact a pit bull, he should not have been in the street without a lead or a muzzle as this is a "banned breed" so rules should be followed. The dog clearly wasn't under the proper control so should without a doubt be taken away from its owners, as they have broken the law. It's irresponsible owners like this that give bull terriers a bad name. For people to always be reading these stories of bull terriers attacking things, will just make people unfamiliar with the breed to put them all in the same category, when in actual fact if they have been trained properly they are the most fun loving dogs ever. Bull terriers will always be my favourite breed. Hope the swans make a full recovery.”

“Hey people, it's easy enough nowadays to film incidents with cheap digicams which can be used as evidence, and we can also put it on youtube for free to let the whole world see..;)”

“I am awaiting the Police to contact me as I was directly involved with the woman and her dog. I will then show them the picture of scary Mary and her boyfriend Jason's dog.”

“I do not want it to seem that I'm attacking the Morses because I do feel that their dedication to the swans is fantastic, but I do think a word of thanks doesn't cost a thing and goes a long way, and there are things that could have been done differently to prevent this incident.”

“This has been coming for weeks and Mr and Mrs Morse should take some of the blame for this. In previous years local residents have left food and water next to the boatyard to keep the swans from the main road however Mrs Morse would throw the food and water away because she felt it was her job to leave these things for them so residents stopped. Then this year it was her who started leaving food and water in the park for them, encouraging them to go along, and eventually cross a busy main road (causing major tailbacks) and sit in the park which any resident of the area will tell you is where people take their dogs to exercise them. It is not a dog park, it is a community park, however dogs are welcome and there is a dog poo bin in there to emphasise this.
It was a local resident who also helps keep an eye on the swans who phoned mrs morse and when her and her husband arrived they offered no thanks (to anyone there) for phoning them or helping the swans but instead her comments towards people were quite disgusting as if she blamed them for what has happened.
She then ran up to the swans screaming my babies (which were lying on the ground clearly injured) and caused them further distress as they tried to get away up the bank on the side (in what looked like a good deal of pain as one clearly couldn't walk properly) and yet she didn't stop until they were at the top.
When the swans were being taken away Mrs Morse wouldn't let the police van take them and instead squeezed the two adults into the boot of her car and took the babies in the back seat, surely it would have been better for them to have the space of the van?
And finally the same resident who phoned her about the incident, phoned her yesterday to find out how the swans are, Mrs Morse has yet to respond.
Sorry but she has shown herself to be nothing but Rude, ignorant and just a publicity stunt.”

“Couldn't somebody have got a carving knife or baseball bat and finished off the dog?”

“All dogs should be kept on leads and muzzled in any public area, its not just mindless thugs who cant or wont control their dogs, only last week this paper reported a pony was savaged by a dog and the owners of that dog an elderly couple. If you want your mutt to have freedom be responsible.”

“How many more similar stories before something actually gets done about these mindless thugs and their dogs!”