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I had an incident occur with my dog recently. I was 110% to blame. I have a Siberian Husky, she got lose and killed a small pet. At first the owner of the small pet wanted me to surrender the dog. Sadly, I obliged. I found out later that the dog was going to be put to death. She is not human aggressive at all, she is still a rather young dog. I called the owner of the pet and told him that we had surrendered our dog, and that they were going to put her down. He called the animal control office and stopped the execution and dropped all charges. He said that she was a good dog and should not be executed for this one act. We are still reimbursing him for the cost of his animal plus some because we feel an obligation to.
Anyway, when I went to the animal shelter, they were telling me that my dog was a horrible dog. That I was a horrible owner because she accidentally got out. That my dog was a no good mean aggressive breed, and that since she has a taste for blood, that she will eat my children next. Now, in retrospect, I find that I absolutely don't agree with them. My dog is a good dog, she just needs to be contained (I have raised huskies before, and they need exercise and plenty of it-- I know this, and I run 4-6 miles with her nearly every day). She's great with my kids. She's great with other dogs. She just is a hunter and likes to hunt for small animals.
So do you think animal control officers are prejudiced against certain dogs/breeds? Do you think it's wrong for the animal shelter to try to influence owners like me into killing their animals? The control officers were really kind of mean about it.
No they are not prejudice. They had a dog where an irresponsible owner allowed it to get out and kill another persons beloved pet. Had the negligent owner of that animal excercised diligent care to control their animal, this would never had occured. Now, I;m not sure if euthanizing the dog would have been the best solution but without a doubt, it needs to be taken from the owner and that owner should be brought up on criminal charges. Additionally, A/C should pursue a court order to prohibit that owner from ever again owning a dog unless they attend classes and can prove to a judge that they are responsible owners. They have already demonstrated a complete inability to properly care for that dog.
I have great sympathy for the dog because it's actions was clearly the result of negligent training or control by the owners. Even if the owners had absolutely no understanding that the dog could have been a pet killer, that is no excuse because they still failed to control the dog and they must be held accountable for their irresponsible conduct that resulted in the death of someone elses innocent pet that I'm sure they loved with all their heart.
It appears A/C was bound by the law to return the animal to the that irresponsible owner and that's a failure of animal welfare laws to allow such a thing to happen. They may have been hoping that the owners would realized they were negligent and irresponsibe and hoping the owner would voluntarily give up ownership so A/C could find a decent and proper home with people who weren't so negligent in their actions. The dog deserves better.
AC officers are human like the rest of us... and as such subject to the same sorts of shortcomings .... one of which for many people is "breedism" ....
yes, the AC officer was too harsh, imo.... and there certainly was no call for him to be rude .....
Moderator cut: rude
a terrible mistake was made and a lesson learned and price paid..... this was a far far different situationModerator cut: rude
would that we were all perfect.....
Last edited by SouthernBelleInUtah; 06-29-2011 at 10:09 PM..
I don't think this is typical of animal control officers. If they really said your dog was a danger to your children, they aren't nearly as knowledgeable as they should be. Just be sure you do what you need to do to prevent a repeat of the incident, for the sake of your own dog as well as other small animals in the neighborhood.
Some dogs (including gentle dogs such as Greyhounds and cute little terriers) have a very high prey drive...it doesn't make them mean or dangerous, it makes them carnivores and hunters - which is what dogs are. I have a cute little terrier mix who would probably kill an unknown-to-her cat (I have cats and she is lovely with them) and I have had large dogs (Rottweilers, a GSD mix) who were not necessarily trustworthy around fast-moving small animals, especially if such animal made attractive squeaky noises.
Yet all of these dogs are or have been wonderful pets and one Rottweiler was a registered therapy dog. And of the six Rottweilers I have owned over the years, three probably could have been left alone all day in a room full of crawling babies and would have done nothing worse than lick them. Not that I would ever suggest leaving a dog with a baby, just saying! Of the other three, two were rescues and came with some baggage, although not aggression, and the other - that I own now - is still young and foolish and has extremely high drive so he is a work in progress. He is extremely exuberant and friendly, though.
So....that a dog having a high prey drive does not at all make the dog mean or vicious in all or most situations. You would think that AC would realise this; generalizing one type of "aggressive" behaviour like that is somewhat ignorant. To say the least. That's like saying because a cat will "torture" and kill a mouse or baby bird or bug, it's not safe around people and other animals! Besides, huskies are generally very good with other dogs (because they were bred to run and work in close proximity in a team) and also regarded as lousy guard or watch dogs, because they are generally really sweet with people. So whoever told you this was an aggressive or dangerous breed was quite ignorant of the breed standard.
It seems you have taken full responsibility for what happened, and as long as you take extreme measures from now on to ensure your husky is contained and not put in a situation where temptation is going to override her normal good manners, I don't see any reason to berate you. Everyone makes mistakes, and sometimes those mistakes can have horrible consequences....I don't think many people can say they're pure as the driven snow on that account. Now if this was not the first time your husky got out and was reported for something, or picked up by AC, then maybe a little berating is in order....but I assume that's not the case because you probably would have been either charged and/or not gotten your dog back.
I would say this is not typical of a decent ACO...but they are human and I suppose that some carry certain prejudices or misconceptions.
FTR-- I have raised dogs for 20 years, and have worked with huskies extensively in my college years (we had a dog sled team at my school in MN). I have NEVER had a dog run like this dog, nor have I ever had a dog kill another domesticated animal (my malamute did kill a ground hog once). I have taken dog behaviorism classes, and have personally trained and fostered dogs for a rescue organization in Enid, OK. I think the PP is a little bit harsh in saying that should not be allowed to own dogs or own another animal again. I'm a dog lover at heart. If the farmer (it was a livestock kill) had shot my dog, I would have been sad, but it was well within his rights. I do think that I was negligent in this case, but I have taken extensive steps to try to prevent this from happening again. With that said, I don't think my dog is dangerous at all to humans (to livestock and small animals yes, but name me a dog who is not). With the exception of this one time, I do have control of this dog, she is for the most part leashed when outside, even in a 6 foot privacy fence. She run 5 days a week (4-6 miles at a time), so exercise is not the issue (having worked with huskies before I am aware that they get restless without appropriate and frequent exercise-- I ran her 6 miles the day she got out. Unfortunately, I didn't account for my 7 year old developmentally disabled child opening the door to the garage and opening the garage door to let her out.
I spoke to the judge, there are no charges being filed, I was given a warning. The animal's owners are happy with our plan of action, the judge is happy with our plan. And today another animal control officer called me to tell me that she was happy with what we were doing and that she thought that we were good pet owners, and that all dogs have the propensity to kill small animals, given the opportunity.
Chiropetra-- Amen on her being a horrible watch dog... OMG she sucks. She would not only let a stranger into the house, she would show him where everything was...
FTR-- I have raised dogs for 20 years, and have worked with huskies extensively in my college years (we had a dog sled team at my school in MN). I have NEVER had a dog run like this dog, nor have I ever had a dog kill another domesticated animal (my malamute did kill a ground hog once). I have taken dog behaviorism classes, and have personally trained and fostered dogs for a rescue organization in Enid, OK. I think the PP is a little bit harsh in saying that should not be allowed to own dogs or own another animal again. I'm a dog lover at heart. If the farmer (it was a livestock kill) had shot my dog, I would have been sad, but it was well within his rights. I do think that I was negligent in this case, but I have taken extensive steps to try to prevent this from happening again. With that said, I don't think my dog is dangerous at all to humans (to livestock and small animals yes, but name me a dog who is not). With the exception of this one time, I do have control of this dog, she is for the most part leashed when outside, even in a 6 foot privacy fence. She run 5 days a week (4-6 miles at a time), so exercise is not the issue (having worked with huskies before I am aware that they get restless without appropriate and frequent exercise-- I ran her 6 miles the day she got out. Unfortunately, I didn't account for my 7 year old developmentally disabled child opening the door to the garage and opening the garage door to let her out.
I spoke to the judge, there are no charges being filed, I was given a warning. The animal's owners are happy with our plan of action, the judge is happy with our plan. And today another animal control officer called me to tell me that she was happy with what we were doing and that she thought that we were good pet owners, and that all dogs have the propensity to kill small animals, given the opportunity.
It was just an unfortunate accident.
I have a dog that will kill anything that runs in front of him.
Its just me, but I would never keep a dog that has such a drive that it would kill anything that runs in front of them.
My dogs are protective (growl and bark at people and things they don't trust) but my dogs are raised not to kill.
sorry, I like dogs that scare simply by their mere presence, not their teeth.
You can say I am prejudiced, cause I am. I don't believe people should be handling dangerous things without training. Both owners and the dogs themselves should receive training if the dog shows Defensive/ Aggressive behavior.
To the person who asked to name them a dog that is not aggressive to livestock or small animals I can name you 4 at my house and at least 20 others. My dogs will curl up with cats, rats, birds, etc, (whether they are familiar with them or not) not all dogs kill smaller things. Our 85lb Boxer is more gentle than most small dogs I have come across
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