Ditto! When I was little, one of our Danes knocked me on my bum down a step into a sunken living room, by careening into me on her way by. She was a puppy with the zoomies, but a Dane so she was 120 pounds. 
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It’s possible the two dogs got each other riled up and might’ve started a fight between themselves and the owner got caught up in it. But i don’t want to be speculating, even if that had happened i’m sure there’s more to the story as it was mentioned.
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It’s not irrational at all, exactly the opposite. They have no ability to think through long-term consequences of what they’re doing. “If I bite this human, I will be put down” is not a thought an animal ever has. I don’t think people should own pitbull type dogs or other large and strong dogs. Insurance companies agree with me, with dog bites being a very common home insurance claim, and pitbull type dogs being the worst for this.
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(And vice-versa)
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So what? If that’s true 99.999999% of the time, it’s still not good enough, and it’s no consolation to the parents of a kid who is mauled to death.
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There were five dogs, not two. I love dogs, been around them all my life, but a pack of dogs has a collective behaviour that is not like an individual dog,.in my experience. ( I grew up where there were no leash laws, so you saw a bit of this. Dogs running deer were often packs of erstwhile couch potatoes. )
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What would propose, banning dogs?
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Dogs cry tears of happiness when eating their humans, scientists report
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Unfortunately there are tons of examples of dogs doing that. I was quite surprised when the Papillon that my family had owned for years without any issue suddenly started taking an interest in biting the toes of strangers wearing sandals. Fortunately he’s small enough that he’s never caused any real injuries. But any animal, including humans, can act unpredictably.
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We should arm the dogs!
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Agreed. The owner should be held responsible for the dogs actions.
I would type a more thorough response, but I’m too busy dodging bullets /s
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Keep in mind as well that the whole “dogs as pets” thing is, with a few noble and royal breed exceptions, extremely new. Terriers were bred as ratters, pit bulls were bred to bite and hold down bears and bulls for bloodsports, and Great Danes were bred for hunting wild boars (think 300 lbs of bone and muscle with 6-12" tusks and a very bad attitude.) Sled dogs to this day are bred for their ability to pull and endurance, but also for their ability to defend themselves in the wilderness. Guard dogs. Mastiffs that accompanied knights onto the battlefield. Wolfhounds. The list goes on.
Dogs that weren’t aggressive and, yes, violent towards their targets were not selected for breeding back then, and the trend towards making them docile and kid-friendly is relatively new – certainly less than a couple of centuries, and of course there are modern “breeders” who want aggressive, violent dogs, so those gene lines continue as well.
If you read accounts of life in Victorian, medieval, and earlier times, a common theme is packs of wild dogs, escaped or descended from escaped domesticated dogs, who attack or threaten to do so, being unafraid of humans through long contact and, like bears near campgrounds, knowing that humans mean food. One way, or another.
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Back in my basement suite rental days, my landlord used to foster rescues.
She was amazing at turning dogs around and her 120lb German Shepard (raised from a puppy) was the big softy that made my now wife loose her fear of dogs.
Unfortunately not every dog could be saved. The damage done by some owners was so severe that it just wasn’t possible to make a dog safe enough for adoption. I still clearly remember when after 6 months of being buddies a large German shepard randomly attacked me and ripped the sole off my shoe, and the foster agency agreed we had no choice but to put the poor thing down. I still hold no malice to that dog and regret that he couldn’t be saved because some jack ass owner had abused him soo badly.
Anyway back to fear of dogs. I always tend to caution first with dogs I dont know.
Personally I find the larger powerfull breeds get too much flack, as a well raised one can be a delightfull pet (yes including pit bulls). In my personal experience it’s the little dogs whose owners let get out of control more often. I have had more bites and nips from little dogs excused by their owner as just excited behaviour when its actually just being a bad dog owner. Just because your small dog isn’t breaking skin does not excuse its behaviour…
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My partner had a very similar experience – she was three, unattended, under a table with a Sheltie (who was known to be aggressive) and went to give the nice doggie a hug. The dog attacked her face – She lost two teeth, still has facial scars, and thanks to a heart murmur, had to be awake during the suturing, so now she can’t stand needles, personally or in media.
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Yes, but there’s a big difference between a mean pit bull and a mean chihuahua.
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My daughter was also 3 when she went in the back yard with some neighbor kids and their very friendly family dog nearly killed her. She still has a scars around her eye. They had to kill the dog to get it to release her.
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The danger of having a chimpanzee as a pet should never be underestimated. They are extremely strong, have very sharp teeth, and can and have done horrible things to people when they snap.
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“Nope”
for those who’ve seen the movie.
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