IT is a highly emotive tragedy that is certain to divide opinion between animals lovers and those who feel "man's best friend" can no longer be trusted.

A five-month-old baby girl dies after being savaged by two rottweiller dogs which had been guarding the Leicester pub which her parents were caretaking.

Once again, society must ask whether it is safe to share our lives with animals that have an instinctive urge to protect and kill. Should the law be tightened? Should still more breeds be outlawed in the way that those specifically reared to display aggression were banished from Britain by the Dangerous Dogs Act of 1991? Or must we accept that rare attacks of this type are a price worth paying for the special relationship between human beings and canines?

The Dangerous Dogs of 1991 was the conclusion of the last debate of this kind in Britain. It prohibited four dogs which were genetically programmed to kill. It became an offence to own or keep the pit bull terrier, Japanese tosa, dogo Argentino and Fila Brasileiro unless it was on an index of exempted dogs.

The act also made it an offence to permit a dog to be dangerously out of control in a public place. A separate law governs guard dogs. It states that a person shall not use or permit the use of a guard dog at any premises unless a person who is capable of controlling the dog is present on the premises and the dog is under the control of the handler at all times while it is secured so that it is not at liberty to go freely about the premises.

The handler of a guard dog shall keep the dog under his control at all times while it is being used as a guard dog at any premises except while another handler has control over the dog; or while the dog is secured so that it is not at liberty to go freely about the premises. Warning signs must be displayed at each entrance. Tragically, we must now ask whether the animals responsible for this attack were treated like family pets when they should more properly have been regarded solely as guard dogs?

Bans

There will certainly be those who believe it is time to consider banning further types of dog. It is likely that the rottweiller will be among them. The breed has attracted a poor reputation in recent weeks, with the former Great Britain rugby star Andy Gregory among those who have suffered. Gregory, who played for Widnes, Warrington and Wigan, and served as coach of Salford, has told how he fought off a rottweiller which savaged him while he was walking his two dogs.

The 12-stone dog, which was on a lead, charged at the ex-scrum half after trying to go for his Jack Russell. Gregory, 45, was left with a deep puncture wound and bruising after the attack in Ince near Wigan. "I fell to the ground with the rottweiller jaw sunk into my side," he revealed. "I had to fight the dog and punched it several times in the face to make it let go."

However, he does not want the animal to be destroyed. Other animal lovers suggest that the law is already tight enough. Indeed, it seems that responsibility for ensuring that animals are kept safely should lie with dog owners.

Dog behaviour expert Ryan O'Meara warned of the dangers of leaving any breed alone with young children because of the chance they may have a "primal" reaction to fear. O'Meara, who is also editor of K9 Magazine, says no dog is "perfectly safe" and should always be kept under supervision when children are around. "I am of the school of thought that you should never leave a dog alone with children {ndash} of any breed," he says.

"They're an animal and it is very hard to gauge how they will react while you are not there." Mr O'Meara, who owns a rottweiller, said if a youngster was left alone with a dog which then barked, that child's response could be fearful.

"Dogs in some cases respond to that fear and if somebody was to start screaming or crying you can often get an almost primal response in the dog. "But I don't blame the breed, I blame anyone that leaves their child alone with any dog of any kind," he says.

Another expert, Carole Copeland, of the Rottweiller Welfare Association, says that "irresponsible owners" are to blame if the breed became dangerous. "Until people train their dogs properly and don't just have them as guard dogs chained up in the back yard then problems will occur. If you bring a rottweiller up properly then they can be fantastic with children. "Any dog that goes into a park has to be kept under control, it doesn't matter if it is a rottweiller or a poodle."