A Little Responsibility Goes a Long Way
The next time you go to the Humane Society to pick out a puppy, just remember that cute little Fifi could turn out to be a vicious killer. Think it couldn’t happen to you? Think again.
Last month an 82-year-old Virginia woman, Dorothy Sullivan, was mauled by three pit bulls that had reportedly terrorized the neighborhood for some time. These were not wild dogs. They were the domesticated pets of the woman’s neighbor, and Dorothy’s case is not an isolated one. Every year people just like you and me are killed or attacked by pets…pets just like yours and mine. In December of 2000, a woman was injured on a walking trail by an unleashed dog. The dog and another were with their owner at the time, who assured the woman “they’re friendly” just before the unexpected attack. In 2001, 33-year-old Diane Whipple was attacked and killed in her apartment complex by two dogs of a rare breed. The owner had lost control of them just down the hall. Are these just freak cases of “Dogs Gone Wild” or should the owners be held liable?
My feelings tend toward the latter.
Though I have no dogs right now, I grew up in a family where dogs were the norm. From very early childhood until I graduated from high school and went off to college, we usually had one or more dogs roaming about on our 4-acre country home. We had no fences, and sometimes when we let the pups out to run we didn’t exactly know where they had run to. Surrounded by cornfields and forests managed by the local farmers, it wasn’t hard for a couple of Labs to disappear into the foliage, sometimes overnight. On several occasions our beloved “kid-friendly” pets were returned to us in the back of one of the local farmer’s pickup trucks, shot dead. It seems the canines had a penchant for dining on the neighborhood chickens, and the farmers felt they had to protect their interests.
Even at such a young age, I never once thought to myself, “Those bastard farmers! How could they do such a thing to a couple of harmless pets???” I remember even then believing that somehow my family was responsible because we had had allowed Cloudy or Goldie or Champ run loose. We had no one to blame but ourselves. In my later years, I realized how lucky we were that the Labs’ victims hadn’t been human.
Perhaps it is because of these early experiences that I do not assume that dogs and other pets are totally harmless and could never be a danger to anyone. This just simply isn’t the case. Anyone who thinks otherwise is setting themselves up for a tragedy. Dogs, like other animals in the wild, can be set off by something entirely unpredictable, like the smell of a certain perfume or a child laughing. There are a multitude of factors that may be involved in an attack, including individual temperament, physical condition, reproductive status, and many, many more. The assumption that a dog (or other domesticated animal) could never harm anyone or anything is simply false.
And before you try to convince me that it’s all in the breed – that pit bulls and Rottweilers are the only dogs that ever bite, maul, or kill – think again. According to the website fataldogattacks.com, since 1965 over 50 breeds of dogs have been involved in attacks worldwide. Our sweet, family Labradors are case and point. I’m sure my parents, brothers, and sisters would have argued that they wouldn’t hurt a fly, and yet their bloody attacks on the local farm animals proved otherwise.
The vast majority of domesticated dogs are of no danger to society. But the point is, how do you know for sure? Can you guarantee that your German Shepard won’t try to bite my 7-year-old stepson? You can’t, it’s as simple as that. So why are there so many dogs running loose in neighborhoods, including my own? I’ve had strange dogs (well-fed and wearing collars) approach me as I walk on the sidewalk, and even as I work on my own property. Where are the leashes, the fences? Although only one of those several incidents caused me any alarm, it only takes one factor to turn a routine encounter into a tragedy.
Unfortunately, the deterrent of “owner accountability” isn’t a strong one. Many cases of dog attacks are hard to prosecute. It must be proven that the dog’s owner somehow knew that their pet was potentially dangerous, like evidence of an earlier attack or other similar incident. This is hogwash, without a doubt. Pet owners have a responsibility to keep their dogs (or cats or snakes or whatever) from harming other animals, people, or property. All animals have the potential to be dangerous, and owners should be made accountable if they do not take steps to prevent harmful incidents.
I’m not talking about enacting more laws and I’m not talking about taking steps that are above and beyond realistic. What I am suggesting is stiff punishment for owners that do not take simple, reasonable steps to keep their pets from hurting others. If my 12-year-old niece throws lit firecrackers at her friend’s dog in their back yard, and then that dog bites her, I’m going to tell her she deserved it. But if my neighbor lets his pooch run around without a leash and “Barkley” puts a gash in my niece’s thigh as she sits on our front step, there shouldn’t be any question as to who pays the price, both monetary and legal.
It’s time for people to realize that when they decide to accept responsibility for owning and caring for a pet, they also accept responsibility to keep that pet from harming others. And if they don’t, they should be aware that some potential “victims” might just be bringing Fido home in the back of a pickup truck with a bellyful of metal. Or they might have a really good lawyer.
posted by thebeann @ 1:17 PM
0 comments
