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Reality is what actually happens out in the real world.
With that said, I for one would like to know about these things - not bury my head in the sand and ignore it!
And knowing that dogs or certain dogs are seriously injuring small children, I think this should be DISCUSSED and maybe suggestions posted as for how to determine if any particular dog is suitable to be around small children.
For example my "over eager" Lab likes to jump up on people. That dog needs to be very closely watched when small children come over. She could easily push them over.
Maybe instead of banning such topics, a sub-forum on dog bites could be established?
i think that you should watch your pet around kids and be careful but not everyone folllows these rules so they will continue to occur.
As for the dog that hurt the kid I think it shouldn't be saved as it attacked a child to the degree that it happened . I like dogs but I think children come first. The dog knows now how to have power over kids and it should therefore be destoryed- however I think mom and dad need to be sued by child protection and loose parental rights if need be.
Think of the poor boy he might never have a normal face again
1: NO
2: where where the kids parents, no RESPONSIBLE adult allows their young child around ANY dog unsupervised be it a Chihuahua or a mastiff...
3: the dog was chained, and had a high alue resource, this has NOTHING to do with the dog and everything to do with BAD HUMANS...the dog SHOUDL be removed from the situation, properly evaluated for behavior sna resource guarding and its fate decided rom there, but this has nothing to do with the dog (or its breed)
had the dogs owners and childs parents been responsible, the situation would have never occurred and the dog would have never felt the need to react in such a way...
Small child (4 is NOT a toddler) allowed to roam unattended in dog's area grabs bone from dog
Recipe for disaster.
Breed of the dog is irrelevant. A dog is a dog is a dog and aside from the rare cases of genetic miswiring, are products of their environment.
Chained, under socialized dog protecting food/high value treat/toy. From pictures I've seen, dog looks a bit underweight as well. Wouldn't surprise me to find out the dog was also unaltered
Dog had an incident with another dog prior to this. That is irrelevant. A dog knows the difference between a human, a squirrel, and a dog. Dog on dog aggression does not equal human aggression. Prey drive on a squirrel doesn't mean that a dog won't get along with a cat nor does it equal human aggression.
-The dog lived as a chained, resident dog
-The child was unattended
-The child entered the dog's space
-The child grabbed the dog's bone
-The dog reacted by biting the child
The owners of the dog surrendered him for euthanization. Not surprising since they left this dog in their yard chained. They probably feel surrendering the dog mitigates their responsibility. Somewhere along the line, animal lovers decided to support the dog and make him the poster dog for all chained dogs who bite and calling for the babysitter's head. Neither side is right. The dog shouldn't be returned to the former owner, but I hesitate to absolve them of responsibility or not euthanize the dog. Possible candidate for a sanctuary, but the dog shouldn't be allowed to be adopted or fostered into another home. Euthanization may be the best option, as we don't really know his temperament. The babysitter absolutely should have had a better eye on the child and not allowed the child near the dog.
We have an American Bulldog. He's big and people are afraid of him for some reason. He is the sweetest thing and LOVES kids, especially ours, of course. HOWEVER, no matter how wonderful we think he is, if he ever showed even half that much aggression and bit someone, we wouldn't hesitate to have him put down. We won't risk it happening again. Same goes for our little miniature pinscher. We won't tolerate aggression of any kind!
This is exactly how I feel - as the owner of two large dogs, both of which are mixed breed, rescued dogs.
I would not keep a dog who had been unnecessarily aggressive for fifteen more minutes, I promise you. And if I had a dog who tore a kid's face off, I can't imagine NOT putting that dog down - within 24 hours. It would be a sad situation, but I just won't take on that sort of risk, or ask my neighbors to either.
By the way, I would NEVER chain up a dog and leave him for ten minutes - let alone day after day. That is, in my opinion, animal cruelty and leads to the phrase, "No bad dogs - only bad owners." Any dog left chained regularly is probably (and rightly so) very frustrated. Throw in some hunger and a natural territorial instinct, and you've got a recipe for disaster.
I think they should hold the parents responsible for negligence of some sort in many of these cases.
This situation could have been prevented and now the child is going to suffer for life and the dog put down all because of the parents lack of precaution.
What we should do is eliminate people who chain dogs. When I was 12 or 13, I was viciously attacked by my neighbor's dog. This is a dog I played with for years. He knew me. He loved me. I visited him everyday on my home from my friend's house. One day, he latched onto my forearm and started whipping it around like it was ragdoll. I had to kick him in the chest to free myself. Fortunately I didn't fall to the ground. He did severe damage. I still have scars from it decades later. The difference with this day is a neighbor was mowing the lawn and it was hot outside. He was probably stressed before I arrived. He didn't deserve to be euthanized, and he wasn't. BUT he didn't rip my face off either!
1: NO
2: where where the kids parents, no RESPONSIBLE adult allows their young child around ANY dog unsupervised be it a Chihuahua or a mastiff...
3: the dog was chained, and had a high alue resource, this has NOTHING to do with the dog and everything to do with BAD HUMANS...the dog SHOUDL be removed from the situation, properly evaluated for behavior sna resource guarding and its fate decided rom there, but this has nothing to do with the dog (or its breed)
had the dogs owners and childs parents been responsible, the situation would have never occurred and the dog would have never felt the need to react in such a way...
I agree fully!
This was not case of human aggression it was a case of resource guarding. This dogs needs to be placed in an envrioment and given the time and proper surroundings to allow for a proper decompresion. And once that has occured the dog needs to under go tempermant testing with a qualified and certified behavoris. Then once all that has happened it can be decided if the dog is of sutiable temperment. Yes i know there are a lot of costs involved with what i just wrote and I am sure that one of the rescues stepping up to try to save the dog would be willing to cover thoses expenses.
There is a lot of human error in this situation, probably starting from the day that the puppy was brought home. But the fact remains that the dog does not have good self-control and he does not exhibit good judgment.
There is a very good chance that the dog was born with a bad temperament. There are so many pitbulls with good temperaments who have been tortured and burned and dragged behind cars that still greet every human they meet with wags and kisses. If any dog had an excuse to rip a human's face off, it is they, but instead, they stay true to the temperament they were born with.
There are hundreds of thousands of pitbulls with loving temperaments put to sleep every year for no sin except there is no home for them. If there is a good pitbull home available, place one of those loving dogs in that home. Don't fill it with a dog who is dangerous.
Resource guarding or not, the proper canine response should not be to rip a face off. If the dog had nipped, or growled, or given a hard tooth knock, or knocked the kid down and scratched him, my answer to this would be different. But the dog's reaction was way out of line and not the behavior of a sane dog.
Adding: I'd be happy to see a court order forbidding these owners from getting another dog. There is too much human error with the raising and handling of this dog and those people should not be given a chance to do it again.
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