three4jump

Recently, a little girl was attacked by a pit bull near here, requiring several surgeries and an extended hospital stay. It was heartbreaking to see her interviewed on the news, saying how painful the treatment of her wound was and how terrified she is of dogs now. Then the news image switches to the dog in a kennel barking at the bright lights of the photographer. The dog will likely be killed, which is a mistake.
[1] The dog owner was negligent in all sorts of ways, including not training the dog, not keeping the dog restrained properly, and probably in getting a dog in the first place if he doesn't have the time or the motivation to train him.
[2] Why did the parents wait until someone was bitten before doing something about it? If someone has a pit bull in your neighborhood, find out what the owner is like and how they manage the dog. If they are negligent, put pressure on the owner to ensure the safety of neighborhood children.
[3] Killing this dog doesn't stop the jerk from getting another dog and creating the same dangerous situation.

I look at dogs as people, and I feel they should be treated with respect and certain basic rights. But even if you view dogs as disposable property, killing this dog does not solve any of the problems that led to the attack in the first place.

In another local news story, cops and animal control were called for a couple of dogs running loose in a neighborhood. The dogs barked at the animal control officer, so he directed the cops to shoot them, which they did. I take careful precautions to make sure my dogs are never running loose in the neighborhood, but if they did, it would be perfectly reasonable for them to bark at a man with a noose on a pole or men with guns. It is horrifying to think that someone could have them shot just for running loose.

seebs

I don't see how it's a mistake to kill the dog. What else are we going to do? Put it in a time machine back to when it was a puppy?

Maybe it's the guy's fault, but that doesn't make the dog safe and harmless!

Foxfire

I sincerely hope that you left out the part about the owner being charged with negligence/assault/etc. We have someone on our street like this idiot as well. He's a multiple dog owner, all of which are reasonably dangerous and have little to no training. He doesn't even have a decent fence to keep them in his yard! It's a wonder that nobody has been attacked yet. People like these make me truly sick.:banghead:

Marduk

Some people just shouldn�t be allowed to own animals, especially dogs that have the capability to do damage. It�s not like the Constitution guarantees the �right� to have attack dogs. The lady up the street from me has had pit bulls ever since I moved here. So far the police have shot three of them, they get loose, they bite somebody (usually the cop who was called out by the neighbors) they get shot. It is a shame. People who cannot handle their critters should not be allowed to own them.

MrFrosty

People with those type of dogs are retards. There really is no need to have dogs of that nature. Owners should sign an agreement stating that they will be put down along with the dog, in the event of the animal attacking small children.

Cynical-Chick

I think the owner should be put down, rather than the dog.




















Seriously, though, I think the owner should definitely be charged; he was grossly negligent. The dog is not at fault entirely; we should attempt to retrain him. If that doesn't work... *shrug*


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Sakpo

So what do you suggest we do with aggressive dogs that attack people? I think it's sad, but it's just not feasible to find good homes in which to rehabilitate all vicious dogs. Dogs are dogs, not people. We don't extend human rights to animals. We have to stop violent dogs from attacking again, and quite frankly putting them down is the best way I can think of to do just that. For what it's worth, I agree that people with bad track records shouldn't be allowed to own potentially dangerous animals.

I live in an area with plenty of dangerous dogs (rottweilers trained to be vicious, and the like), it makes me quite sad (and, of course, it makes walking around scary). As a society we shouldn't tolerate the people who make these dogs dangerous, but that doesn't mean we should tolerate the dogs either. I just don't think there's much that can be reasonably done to commit the resources that'd be needed to rehabilitate dangerous dogs who've attacked people, but something has to be done to answer the specific threat posed by a vicious dog that's attacked. Sadly, putting them down seems the best way to do that. I've seen a dog be put down, when it's done properly and humanely it isn't a nasty thing at all. It's sad, but I suspect most of these dogs are no longer worth saving anyway.

Sakpo

None of these make me think putting the dog down is a mistake. I agree that [1] is bad, but it doesn't undo its results, which is a dangerous animal.

[2] is totally unfair. Who's to say they did wait, that they didn't try? Have you ever lived near the sorts of people who have these animals? Nothing will get through to most of them. Trying to reason with them is pointless. I know this from personal experience.

[3] I agree. I think legislation, with proper enforcement, should be made to prevent such people from getting new dogs or other potentially dangerous animals.

None of that, however, is at all relevant as to whether an animal should be put down.

lisarea

Ideally, we'd be able to identify and do something about aggressive dogs before things like this happened. (How? I don't know. Do what? I don't know that either.)

As far as putting them down, though, I hate that animals are put to sleep so often, but they are. There are just too many of them for us to care for anyway. As such, dogs get put to sleep, many of just born unwanted and not cute or charming enough to be adopted in time. I hate this. I really do. But why should we expend the resources on trying to rehabilitate aggressive dogs when so many dogs who would never hurt anyone are killed every day just because we can't care for them?

It sure as hell isn't fair. The owners need to be punished severely for allowing that to happen. Pit bulls are naturally very affectionate and devoted dogs. They are not born people aggressive. They love people. I can only imagine that treating them cruelly and/or neglecting them would send them completely around the bend.

nelsondogg

Every day friendly loving dogs in pounds are being put down because owners cant be found and they are not adopted. They should be saved before any dog that has attacked someone.