my rescue dog who i have had only two weeks bit a child on the arm should he be put down?

Question

the dog is half blind because of cattaracts and had just been examined by my vet for the first time he was on a short lead and the two children were in the vets surgery running around him! is there no such thing as parental responsibilty? do you not expect to find sick and injured animals in the vets who might be under stress and could possibly bite an excitable unaccompanied child?

thanks to everyone who answered! i have three young children myself and i don,t let them run around shout or go near anyone elses dogs in the vets surgery . the parents of the child have said that they want him detroyed or they will take things further. this dog spent five months in rescue centers and the staff loved him so much and were desparate to find him a home nobody saw any aggression from him. with my children he is perfect. i have apologised to the parents and have promised that he will always be muzzled at the vets in future and sady this is not enough for them i understand that they are upset but so am i and my family so it looks as though we have a fight on our hands!!

Answer 1

no dont get your poor dog put to sleep put a muzzle on him when your out i had to when my dog bit a boy not bad but it scared the living day lights out of me we get stressed we have bad days so do dogs and it sounds like your dog has alot to deal with i have children and when im out ie doctors or vets i make them sit quietly and still poor dog i do feel for u both

Answer 2

The parents are clearly being unreasonable. Do you have witnesses who can confirm that the children were running around him at the time he bit them? Too many parents demand dogs be put down when they nip or bite one of their children, without ever acknowledging that more often than not it was the childs actions (and that of the parents in not controlling their childrens behaviour around animals), that caused the incident. I am sure your Vet can confirm that a dog with cataracts in a strange place and feeling fearful because of over excited children running round that he can't see clearly, most likely would bite, and that this cannot be held against him. These days the Police don't automatically insist on a dog being put down after it bites a person. They tend to look into the circumstances first, and I am sure between the rescue centre's report, the witnesses and the Vet's report, they would drop the case pretty quickly, so don't worry too much.

Answer 3

ok there are two answers, the first one i lean towards, the children should have been better supervised and educated to not approach a strange dog and upset him, esoecially in a place such as a vets, where obvioulsy the dog is ill. In this case i blame the children and the dog should not be put down.

In the second case however, you should ask yourself, did the dog show signs of aggression, would you trust the dog around children in future and most importantly did he nip (not breaking the skin) or did he bite (obviously breaking the skin) If he bit hard enough to break the skin then I am sorry, I believe the dog should be put down as he is a liability and its the responibility of all good dog owners to judge when our animals have crossed the line into dangerous and unpredictable.

If you feel that you need to put the dog to sleep, try and make his last day memorable, lots of love and affection and a trip to McDonalds. You did your best, and good for you giving an older dog a hoe from the shelter. Go back to the shelter and tell them what happened you'll see they won't blame you and will help assisting you find another new friend.

Answer 4

I've provided a link to DEFRA's website which discusses the Control of Dogs. The main two laws that you need to check are the Dogs Act 1871 and the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991.

It's hard to judge exactly what the courts would decide. If the children had been asked to stop, or you'd taken measures to keep the dog under control, then the ruling will probably be more favourable.

My personal opinion is that you may have to pay compensation, and possibly keep the dog muzzled, but otherwise you'll probably be allowed to keep the dog.

Answer 5

How irresponsible are the parents of those children who were running about in a vets practice, I feel so angry for you, your dog was at that vets for treatment, its a vets and thats why you take animals there in the first place, for goodness sake any animal is very stressed when they go to the vets, especially dogs they have a terrific sense of smell so can you imagine what they can smell in there as well as fear from the other animals, is it any wonder you poor dog go so stressed by those children he lashed out, so the little darling caused you dog to snap and bite and now their parents want you dog destroyed, no way, they have to take full responsibility for their actions over this, have you got the time to make one of those free appointments with a solicitor that are advertised in your local Thomson Directory or Yellow Pages, will you vetinary practice back you up over it saying they would rather not encourage children to run around in front of animals, have you any witnesses who will back you up, I can't believe they were the cause of it and now want to do the meanest and cruelest thing in the world to a totally defensless animal who was provoked into its actions by their children, I am sorry but there is no way on this earth my dog would be destroyed for them and I would fight tooth and nail to stop it happening too.
I have a golden retriever who is a rescue dog, she isn't keen on children usless she knows them very well, I often get approached by children wanting to stroke her and when I say no sorry and their parents become stroppy and say I am mean, I then get annoyed back and tell them my dog isn't fond of children, guess what they say then, well it should be destroyed incase it bites a child, I just get angrier and say sure when you muzzle your child and keep that under control, please don't give in to those selfish people and I wish you the very best of luck.

Answer 6

I am sorry to hear such a situation occurred. I tend to side with the animals more in situations like this. In a perfect world, parents would train their children to be cautious around animals they do not know well- especially at the vet. You on the other hand have a responsibility to train your dog, and protect it from potential "situations". Since you mentioned it is a rescue dog- I assume you are not totally familiar with it quite yet- due to having it for only 2 weeks.
Coulda-Woulda Shoulda is not going to help you here. I hope that a receptionist, tech or other clients saw this happen and can back up your version of what happened--if the need arises.
Was the child's parents upset about the incident? Or did they recognize their children were out of control and UN attended?
*** Now for all of you who are going to flog me for siding with the dog- I am not saying the kids deserved to get bitten. I'm simply saying that just because a dog is in a public place does not mean it is used to EVERYTHING and that it will not react in defense or frustration. Parents please teach your children to respect animals, pet owners (most) try to have their animals behave around children.

Answer 7

I feel sorry for you, having to deal with this, but given the circumstances I have to agree with most who have posted on here, that as long as the bite wasn't serious (and frankly if it had been, I suspect the decision would be taken out of your hands) then the dog should not be put down.

Unfortunately there will always be children who are not under parental control, and they don't always understand how to behave around an animal.

Speak to the rescue that you got the dog from if you need further reassurance or advice.

Hope it all goes well.

Answer 8

I know you won't like this but cataracts don't cause a dog any pain or discomfort and are not an excuse to bite. Our old dog had cataracts and never tried to bite a child. I wonder if that was the reason your dog was put in the home?
If the parents insist on euthanasia then you have no option but to have your dog euthanased.
In future be aware of the problem. Although your dog was on the lead he was not under control. You need to react faster. As dog owners we have a responsibility for the dog - but also to the dog. That means protecting him from this kind of situation.

Answer 9

I sympathise. However, I still think you can find another dog.

Regardless of where you are, it is YOUR responsibility to make sure your dog is safe around kids. It is ALWAYS your job. The onus of responsibility is always on you, and not on the kids' parents. You could have told the kids to stay away from your dog, you could have taken the dog outside to wait, any number of choices that you could have made to make the situation safer, you didn't.

I really don't think the dog is the prime aggressor here.
BUT you cannot take chances. A human life is always more important than a dog's life. I understand the dog was not entirely responsible for his actions due to blindness and dumb kids, but that situation can happen again and it is not your right to take risks with other people's kids.

You can always get another dog.

Answer 10

I don't believe in putting animals down unless there is NO other alternative. From what you've said, it wasn't an act of meanness, I think he got annoyed with those kids! Did it break the skin on the child? I would make sure I kept the dog away from children. Some kids don't understand that not every dog likes to play all the time. I don't let my kids go up to a strange dog, even in the vets offfice, until they ask the owner and only in a calm way. I try to teach my kids to respect animals the same way people should be respected.

Answer 11

No ... I would not at all put the dog down.

The dog was nervous and upset about being at the vets. He was in an usual environment and with different smells etc.

There shouldnt be any children at the vets, it isnt a playground!

What I would do though is proberly train him if he hasnt already, and perhaps a muzzle when he is going for walks etc.

Good luck ... all the best