Grieving Man Jailed For Stealing Back Dog

[Little Gifts]

I have been thinking about this case still and checking in on people's opinions. I said in an earlier post that if any of my dogs attacked and harmed a human being I would have no hesitation in pts. I stand by that still. Having been on the receiving end of a home invasion my dogs at that time went beserk and chased the intruders quickly from the house to the degree that one broke an ankle falling from a window. My dogs did not make contact with the three individuals involved but if they did I would expect them to stand guard over them at the very least and perhaps to nip/grab onto their clothing at the very most. I would also expect with the training they have to return to me and leave the offenders if I gave them a command to 'leave' and 'come'. Even under those kinds of circumstances. I would not ever expect my dogs to physically attack someone even if they posed a threat to me, so why would it be ok for them to physically hurt someone out in public when I'm not around and they aren't needing to act protectively? If they do then to me that indicates an unpredictability and I believe that most people would not be committed to managing that dog appropriately for the rest of the dog's life. In five years time they may just forget to close the gate and the dog could do the same thing again. So stress, threat, duress, whatever confronted this dog made him a danger to people and moving him to the bush (as suggested in another post) is just being in denial. Animals and people need to be able to live alongside each other safely under a range of conditions. I have also been in a situation where I tried to restrain a stray dog from going on to a busy road. The dog growled at me indicating it was feeling threatened so I moved back. I think most dogs give indications of how they are feeling before attacking and if not then again you have that unpredictability factor.

[Snowysal]

Just on the point of Rangers (council) - locally we have two (in Southern NSW) one of them is a devoted animal lover and active in animal rescue and care, the type of man who will ring you if he thinks you could help in an animal related situation and would go way out of his way to avoid trouble for any animal. He spends his whole life helping others in one way or another . However for years he was portrayed as a heartless bastard who would entice dogs from their yards so he could impound them , now I know the man and his wife , I know this is totally untrue.

The other ranger is the opposite , actually told me he only took the job because noone else wanted it and at his age it was the only job he could get - thats the nicest thing I can say about this person.

He boasts about how many dogs hes had declared dangerous - even to the newspapers, he lies and says things to suit himself at the time .

One of the problems is, being a Ranger is just a job, however the uniform supports a lot of offical power over animals in the council juristiction.There are no qualifications necessary to become a Ranger for the council.

I am so glad we have moved back out of town - away from Rangers and .....people in general .Life is so much more peaceful here.

[sandgrubber]

In weighing this all up, it should be considered that loosing a finger is a big deal. My mother lost her middle finger due to gangrene in an infection. The phantom finger pained her day in and day out for decades. For a blue collar bloke or a musician, a lost finger may mean a change of job as well as a lot of pain.

[megan_]

In weighing this all up, it should be considered that loosing a finger is a big deal. My mother lost her middle finger due to gangrene in an infection. The phantom finger pained her day in and day out for decades. For a blue collar bloke or a musician, a lost finger may mean a change of job as well as a lot of pain.

Agree. I could lead to long term unemployment for some.

The dog's owner should actually consider themselves VERY lucky. Owners are legally liable for what their dogs do - so the person who was bitten could have sued them (and if they were a brickie for example, they could sue for a lifetime of lost wages). The owner could have ended up going bankrupt.

I've said it on this forum before. Woe betide any off leash or loose dog that attacks one of mine. The owner would find themselves on the wrong end of a lawsuit (and I'm not the suing kind).

[Little Gifts]

Sandgrubber my dad - an animal lover all his life, was followed and attacked by a dog and had a big chunk taken out of the back of one leg. He could see it was going to happen but couldn't do anything about it and had nothing to fend off the dog. Now he doesn't like animals much at all. I know it is a fear thing. Even with our dogs he doesn't want them coming too close and wont pat them. Attacks can change people psychologically as well as physically. Lots to be lost from such an event and not much to be gained really for the dog or people involved.