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Obviously a bite is different than an attack. Bites can even be accidental or playful.
If my cat had a bite record he'd have been PTS by now. He gives love bites and soft "leave me alone" bites. Quite an attitude that teenage cat has.
if your cat bit you hard enough to require medical treatment, he would have a bite record.........
the child that bailey nipped on the leg when he frightened her with a noisy toy truck was taken to the doctor..... i came home the next evening to a big yellow notice on my front door telling me to bring her shot records in to animal control because my dog had attacked someone.......
When I was a little kid my cockapoo (cocker spaniel/poodle mix) bit everyone, myself included. She came from a shelter and we were told she was rehabilitated from an abusive home. In today's laws, she would've been PTS for sure. She had a nice big, fenced yard to play in and she always escaped anyway. The neighbor kid tried putting her back in our yard and she did a lot of damage to that kids arm. It's a miracle we weren't sued or she wasn't shot by someone. My clueless mother didn't do anything to help the situation or make anything right and that was a vicious dog.
When I was a little kid my cockapoo (cocker spaniel/poodle mix) bit everyone, myself included. She came from a shelter and we were told she was rehabilitated from an abusive home. In today's laws, she would've been PTS for sure. She had a nice big, fenced yard to play in and she always escaped anyway. The neighbor kid tried putting her back in our yard and she did a lot of damage to that kids arm. It's a miracle we weren't sued or she wasn't shot by someone. My clueless mother didn't do anything to help the situation or make anything right and that was a vicious dog.
You're right. Things are much different today than they were a few years ago.
From your description, the dog that you've described in your post probably deserved to be labeled "vicious".
Unfortunately, the "one bite" laws today don't differentiate a dog that is actually vicious from a dog that barely bites once in defense.
Under these laws, it really doesn't matter if it's a tiny scratch or if it's "alot of damage". If a dog bites, even if it's a scratch, they are considered vicious.
Provocation, even if it's part of the law, is hard to prove and I'd be willing to wager that it rarely holds up as a defense.
Most of these cases are decided by Animal Control.
"One bite laws" are unfair to responsible dog owners.
Last edited by World Citizen; 02-25-2011 at 09:30 AM..
You are correct we will have to agree to disagree. As to my background...do I own one? No. Have I trained them, rescued them, done personality assessements on them, written articles about them, been active in the fight against BSL and insurance bias - YES I have. Are they a good dog for everyone? No -Of course not - but then no dog is correct for everyone. Are they over bred and misuderstood - absolutely! Are they trainable with a bite history - again - yes they are. I can't save all of them but I'm also not going to play god and say this one deserves to live and that one deserves to die. I believe in No-kill unless medically necessary.
Tried to rep you on this one, but I have to spread it around first! Great post!!
what you are saying applies to ANY dog of ANY breed ... not just pit bulls...
Exactly! I'm so tired of this breed being singled out for every little thing! My friend's Pittie was visciously attacked by a Golden last week...poor guy didn't even fight back!
The only thing I have a major problem with is bad owners, because most cases are the results of bad owners moreso than bad dogs.
I was watching this one show where this lady's dogs had attacked someone else's dog. This woman actually had no idea that this case existed. She thought she was being sued by the person who her dogs attacked a few weeks earlier. So her dogs had attacked twice in a short period of time and she didn't know what was going on. Her dogs did get out, but after the first time the owner should definitely be able to control her own animals. She shouldn't be allowed to have those dogs. If they do take the dogs from her, and they go to a shelter, they may be put down if they are aggressive. However, for society as a whole, that's a risk you have to take. You can't have aggressive dogs with negligent owners.
That said, if a dog really is aggressive toward many things, I don't really understand why owners take the risk of having them around. They may be responsible enough to keep their dog from attacking another dog, but it's still a risk. That is a risk that the owner assumes.
That said, if you're out walking your dog, no matter the size, they should be on a leash. Even the best of dogs have selective deafness when they don't want to listen.
I saw that show. What a clueless wonder that woman was!! I couldn't believe her! Have two dogs like that and denying that they EVER get out...yet didn't even know what attack she was being sued for! Geez!!! People never seize to amaze me!
It's interesting that the OP is ready to take away that ^^^ woman's dogs and have them put to sleep but she owns a "teenage cat" that bites and "has quite an attitude"...
Funny how that works...
Last edited by World Citizen; 02-25-2011 at 09:34 AM..
I honestly couldn't even imagine having to put either of my dogs down...even for biting someone. I love my dogs like they are my children! It would have to be something pretty darn serious...and completely unprovoked before I would even CONSIDER it. I think managing the situation is key. For instance...I have a 7 y/o Lab/Shep mix, who does not like children. I don't have any children, so I wasn't aware that there was an issue until she growled and snapped at a child. We immediately removed her from that situation, and have made sure that she has not been in a that situation since. If there are small children around, she's on a leash attached to me...AT ALL TIMES...until the area is free of the little ones. We do not allow children to approach her. Parents have sometimes given me a very odd look when their children ask to pet my dogs, and I tell them they can pet my pittie, but not the other one. She's not aggressive toward them, she's just very uncomfortable around them. I manage the situation to make sure that she is never pushed to or past her limits to envoke a reaction from her.
There are ways to condition an animal to give different responses to things that may normally send them over the edge. It takes a lot of time and patience, but it can be done. That would be my very first course of action, should I find myself owning an aggressive dog. Dogs normally do not bite for truly no reason. There's always a reason there, and it's up to us to figure out what that reason was. Some dogs lash out and bite when they don't feel well. Others, when someone or something makes them uncomfortable. Most bites or attacks are provoked in some way or another. Some people aren't able to read a dogs body language, and try to approach or play with an uncomfortable dog, and end up getting bitten. That, to me, does not justify putting a dog to sleep.
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