Isn’t this punishment enough?
Writing by treason on Wednesday, 27 of April , 2005 at 9:24 pm
A toddler was in the backyard this week, playing with the family’s three dogs. All of a sudden the dogs - pit bulls who had been part of the family since they were puppies - turned on the two year-old girl and attacked her. Her neck was bitten, her lung was punctured, and she was partially disemboweled. Her mother tried to pull the dogs off her daughter and was also injured. The little girl was rushed to the hospital for treatment; the three dogs were seized by authorities and destroyed.
Now local talk radio is abuzz with callers who feel that the parents should be charged with a crime. Their pets are dead, their daughter’s disfigured. Isn’t this punishment enough?
I hate these stories because every time a dog attacks, someone starts talking about banning aggressive dogs. What exactly is an aggressive dog? The usual suspects come to mind: pit bulls and anything that looks like a pit bull. A dog with a brindle coat could be mistaken for an aggressive dog, seized, and destroyed. In my time I’ve owned many dogs, including a Doberman, a Boxer, and an Am Staff. All three breeds could have been designated as aggressive - whether or not they actually were aggressive. Again, our politicians feel the need to create legislation to protect citizens from themselves, when education would be a better solution.
I don’t know if I’ll live long enough to see the day when people stop choosing mates, shoes, cars, and dogs based on looks. I won’t go into my breed experiences today, but I can tell you that I’ve learned that there are breeds I love, and breeds I can live with. Treason number eleven: A dog is not an accessory. A dog is family. In life, you don’t get to choose your family members, but when you adopt a dog, you do finally get to pick who you want to be related to. Choose wisely. Choose carefully. Do the research, and adopt a pet that fits into your situation. Pick the dog that you can live with - not the one you want to live with. You can always go to dog shows and admire the ones you love to look at. But to come home to the one that’s right is just so much better.
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