should a dog be destroyed?

Question

shold a dog be destroyed because of the breed? I recently learned my local council has destroyed dogs because of thier breed.

do you think a dog is dangerous BECAUSE of the breed or BECAUSE of thier life experiences?

Answer 1

Many people are going to "thumbs down" me on this one-but there are breeds that have more agressive tendencies than others-period. However, a breed should not be destroyed just due to breed alone!

Some states are looking at Breed Specific Laws aimed at American Bulldog, American Pit Bulls, American Stafforshire, Wolf dogs, etc.

I believe that any dog is a product of breed characteristics and environment-Cesar Milan proves it every week!

Many local town governments across the nation are enacting local ordinances aimed at specific breeds. Again, I say it is People-the dog owners that cause the problems! People acquire a dog, usually because it looks "cute" rather than they want the specific temperment of the breed, they don't train the animal, or properly control or restrain their dogs.

Horses are dangerous animals, too, and people that are novices wouldn't dream of getting a horse without knowing what they needed to know to own it! No, I do not think a dog is dangerous due to the breed type alone-and I also don't believe that the dog's life experiences are the only cause of temperment problems. But, breed specific legislation is being enacted all over the place-people need to follow their local governments closely, or yours might be the next area to "outlaw" a dog!

Answer 2

Sometimes, it is sad to say, that is an option shelter have to take. Look at many shelters and rescue groups. Most are run on a shoestring, and run by people with NO real knowledge of canine behavior. If these shelters and rescues take in dogs like pit bulls and other "aggressive" breeds, they run a VERY real risk of adopting out a dog that can be dangerous and a liability to society. Some are at least responsible enough to know they cannot take that risk. It is not ideal, but I would rather see a dog put down that rehomed in a situation where it becomes a problem to other animals or humans. Many times you have NO clue where the dog came from of what it's situation was. So raising them "right" may not have happened.
I think when you are dealing with breeds that have so much higher prey drive and higher chance of aggression, you need to do the responsible thing as far as the capabilities of the shelter or rescue.

Answer 3

Never judge a dog by its breed. A dog is not dangerous just because it is a certain breed. I'm sure not all pit bulls in the world are vicious, attacking monsters. Some very irresponsible people take dogs of a certain breed based on whet they look like, and belt the crap out of them to make them vicious. Then these abused dogs go and attack some poor innocent person or dog. By doing so, they give their breed a bad name. In my opinion, it is people that make the dog vicious, not the dog's breeding. You're supposed to TRAIN your dog, not use it as a punching bag or football. But some people out there (certainly NOT animal lovers) just want a vicious dog as a status symbol, to make a fashion statement.
By the way, did you know that Chihuahuas are pretty savage little pocket rockets. I've read of more than one that have made their way into the cot of a baby and mauled or killed it. If not for their hand bag size, I'm sure this breed would be put on a restricted/dangerous breed list also.

Answer 4

I believe that only the dog's individual temperament should be considered when deciding to destroy a dog. Otherwise, I'd be killing every dalmatian in sight. My step son was almost killed when his uncle's dalmatian tried to rip out his throat. Do I think ALL dalmatians should be put down? No. Don't punish the breed, punish the deed. This dalmatian was the product of faulty breeding. Poorly bred specimens of any breed where the breeder doesn't carefully research ALL the lines before breeding, and thinks, "It's registered, so let's breed it" are potentially dangerous. I have even seen poorly bred golden retrievers, a breed known for thier melowness, be viscious. Killing a dog because it is dangerous and has proven it will bite is one thing, but killing because it "might" be dangerous someday means you'd have to eradicate every single dog from the planet.

Answer 5

the best answer to that is --The dog is as only as good as the training and it's mental ability. There are dogs that have brain defects that make them dangerous..I have seen a few that would turn on anything for no reason at all. A person I heard of was attacked by his Doberman, which was trained very well, and while he was riding a horse , with the dog following, it killed the horse and severly mauled the owner. It was found later to have a brain tumor.

So I don't think a dog shopuld be destroyed because of it's breed. All dogs have the potential to be killers or savage biters. Even Chihuahuas..

Answer 6

Most of the time, dogs are the way they are because of how they have been treated as they grew up. There are a few cases in which dogs have kind of gone a little crazy because of their bread (for example, badly bread dogs that are from puppy mills that are weird mixes can become very aggressive dogs). I think that is really hard to say, but for the most part, it isn't just because of the bread (although I know someone with a Pit mix who has always been treated great and was a really smart dog but one day started being aggressive and biting other dogs all the time for no reason). I guess it is just like people... some can be normal and some can be crazy. lol.

Answer 7

The Humane Society and Animal Shelter up here will automatically euthenize a dog that they "suspect" to be mixed with a wolf or have some sort of "pitbull" in them. They do not consult experts or do tests, because these animals are considered "unadoptable".

I think it is AWFUL! Recently some woman found a beautiful and wonderfully behaved am staff wandering the streets. She brought it to the animal shelter so that the owner could claim it. When she called back 3 days later, no one had claimed it and she asked to adopt the boy. They told her that they could not and he would be euthenized two days later.

This was publicized all over the town and the shelter has had many complaints and boycotts...but there really isn't too much that can be done...

Answer 8

I personally do not feel a dog should be destroyed because of their breed. I do not feel it is the breed but the uneducated owner that makes a mean dog.

We rescued a chow chow when we first got married that was so mean when we got it that it would not let us feed him. After a month with us he was the biggest teddy bear. He was the best dog we ever had, everyone that met him still talks about him. We turned him into a therepy dog and took him to retirement homes for visits. We just didn't let him be alone with children for safety's sake but he never did anything to make us not trust him.

I miss him every day. The subdivision we live in now has a no chow chow rule.

Answer 9

Certain breeds have a greater tendency toward aggression than others. However, the individual dogs will not necessarily be aggressive unless the owner trains them to be so. So much of how a dog turns out depends upon how the owner treats the dog and what traits the owner nurtures in a dog. So not every pit bull or Rottweiler is going to be aggressive. I am totally against BSL.

Answer 10

99% of "Bad Dogs" are that way because of bad owners. The other 1% are that way because of bad breeding practices and bad owners.

"Pit Bulls" (generically) get a bad rap because they have become a status symbol for boys who feel the need to compensate for small (I digress). They want to take a breed that for centuries was bred to NOT be aggressive towards humans and try to turn it into a guard dog. BYBreeders have added to the problem by trying to turn a quick buck with animals that the old timers would have culled.

People tend to forget that when any breed has a surge in popularity, the number of bites/attacks increases dramatically. Unfortunately, there are a number of larger dogs ("pits", rotties, GSDs) that have been BYB fodder for the last decade (some, like GSDs much longer, since the '70s.)