Over the past year, dog ownership has surged, and they have brought many of us untold joy. But the lack of proper training or socialisation has led to a growing danger of attacks
Annie Forman’s cockapoo was not a pandemic puppy, but she became one: a furry lifebuoy to cling to during the first lockdown. Forman, 28, a receptionist at a GP surgery in a small Devon town, had grown up with dogs. They had never let her down, which she couldn’t say for some of the humans in her life.
So when in January last year, Forman moved from her parents’ dog-filled home to her own place, the first thing she did was get a puppy. “There was no way I was going to go anywhere in life without a dog,” Forman says on the phone. As she speaks, Nellie the cockapoo is curled up on her lap. “I’ve struggled with my mental health for many years, and dogs were what got me through it. That’s why it was a bit crap what happened – because everything that had made me feel better sort of got taken away.”
