The deplorable death of a child in Liverpool should cause us all to examine our attitude to dogs.

When I lived in Iceland the authorities and citizens had what I thought was an intelligent and appropriate attitude to the place of dogs in society. Dogs of any breed were not allowed in urban areas. They were confined to the countryside as work dogs who assisted shepherds in the control and movement of sheep.

Their exclusion from urban centres meant that there was no excrement on pavements or in parks or public open areas and there was no killing of children. As in so many other ways we can benefit from how other countries handle problems.

We really need to make our minds up whether children are more important than animals.