Had the dog put down today after it went for a child.....

scorchisio · 24 Jul 2013 at 22:11

this thread just be closed tbh now, theres so many dog lovers and dog haters it could go on forever. fact is i dont see any joy or satisfaction from a dog, ( my opinion) it just costs money and does nothing. im all for guard dogs and guide dogs when needed but people who work full time and have dogs sat at home all day alone really annoy me.

So do people who leave dogs outside all day/night and they bark constantly and howl as they are miserable, it ruins your peace and quiet in your own house. i have had to go through the council over these issues and its a grind that gets me down.

scorchisio · 24 Jul 2013 at 22:14

i think you should only have a dog if you are retired and can make sure its cared for and isnt a nuisance noise wise to anyone else 24/7 or you are a shepherd and it isnt sat at home most of the day miserable as sin. Dogs are pack animals and they need company and to be stimulated.

Xordium · 24 Jul 2013 at 22:14

Well done OP for doing the brave, correct and obviously difficult thing.

Oh and lol at all the muppets saying to muzzle it for the rest of its life. Like that is going to work out.

Suarez7 · 24 Jul 2013 at 22:16

Xordium said:
Well done OP for doing the brave, correct and obviously difficult thing.

Oh and lol at all the muppets saying to muzzle it for the rest of its life. Like that is going to work out.

scorchisio · 24 Jul 2013 at 22:17

i have owned a dog myself btw and grown up from being 5 with various breeds all my life by the way as most of my relatives have owned them. So this is not the view of a complete dog hater who has never had one or been around them. I used to have a dog sleep under the quilt with me and my grandma growing up as a kid it was normal to me.

scorchisio · 24 Jul 2013 at 22:18

my last dog was islamic i got him from some asian neighbours who said he was too aggressive. I had to muslim.

Suarez7 · 24 Jul 2013 at 22:19

Scorchisio had one too many wine gums I think.

marl · 24 Jul 2013 at 22:22

As a dog lover I was sorry to read about what happened. I find it difficult to criticise your decision as you were really in a no win situation. At the end of the day your dog can't talk and can't tell you why it bit the child or promise you it won't do so again.

gord · 24 Jul 2013 at 22:27

Suarez7 said:
If it actually caused damage then maybe I could understand, surely if it attacked properly it would have broke skin?

That's the whole point of the decision. What if? Who knows what might have happened if Scania didn't act as quickly. Scania's thread could be looking a lot different. That's why people have dogs that attack put down. The risk is too great.

It's a vets job to keep pets healthy. I've never met a vet that doesn't love animals and have a rational view of their value as living creatures and members of a family. But it doesn't affect their advice, especially to parents when it comes to a situation like this.

Suarez7 · 24 Jul 2013 at 22:37

gord said:
That's the whole point of the decision. What if? Who knows what might have happened if Scania didn't act as quickly. Scania's thread could be looking a lot different. That's why people have dogs that attack put down. The risk is too great.

It's a vets job to keep pets healthy. I've never met a vet that doesn't love animals and have a rational view of their value as living creatures and members of a family. But it doesn't affect their advice, especially to parents when it comes to a situation like this.

You can't live life thinking what if.

LizardKing · 24 Jul 2013 at 22:49

Op did the right thing! You cant be held responsible for a dog that is capable of attacking a child and there are no guarantees had the dog been rehomed that it would never come into contact with children ever again. You just cant risk that sort of thing.
Human welfare is more important than a dog at the end of the day and i say that as a dog lover!

gord · 24 Jul 2013 at 23:04

Suarez7 said:
You can't live life thinking what if.

Very true, but that doesn't mean you can't mitigate probable scenarios with reasonable precautions.

[DOD]Asprilla · 24 Jul 2013 at 23:21

Suarez7 said:
You can't live life thinking what if.

That's exactly how you live your life. People evaluate risk and opportunity constantly.

Oh and someone who advocates putting a dog down in certain circumstances isn't a dog hater they are a responsible owner.

McBain · 24 Jul 2013 at 23:34

I'm a massive dog lover, but I see no other option in this instance.

Sorry for your loss, but in my eyes the right action was taken.

Caseh · 24 Jul 2013 at 23:56

I feel for you Scania, I really do. A damn hard decision, but I believe the one you needed to make.

Philtor · 25 Jul 2013 at 00:30

Reading this breaks my heart. You'll never know what caused him to attack like that, but to loose a family pet is just as bad

Macky · 25 Jul 2013 at 00:34

Sorry to hear mate. Can see both view points but have to agree that it was the right thing to do. You'd struggle to have your dog killing/seriously injuring someone off your conscience if you could have helped it.

jamief · 25 Jul 2013 at 06:51

Suarez7 said:
You can't live life thinking what if.

Of course you do. Life is a constant series of risk evaluations. A dog bites a child and is aggressive towards the owner. Do you wait until it happens again? Or until skin is broken? Of course not. You take the only sensible option and have the dog euthanised. I can only imagine that you are trolling, which is in pretty poor taste.

Pestilence · 25 Jul 2013 at 09:42

jamief said:
Of course you do. Life is a constant series of risk evaluations. A dog bites a child and is aggressive towards the owner. Do you wait until it happens again? Or until skin is broken? Of course not. You take the only sensible option and have the dog euthanised. I can only imagine that you are trolling, which is in pretty poor taste.

Not entirely correct. The term "You can't live on 'what if'" generally means in hindsight -- ie. you simply cannot go forward agonising over the potential alternate outcomes of your choices -- not the "what if" of the actual in-the-moment decision making.

So Suarez kinda defeats his own point there -- because "What if" Scania had given the dog the benefit of the doubt, and ended up with a severely mauled child by the end of the week? There's no way of knowing, and a preventative decision was made.

"What if" has no reasonable place in any discussion, as it's entirely hypothetical.