to want a dog that bit me put to sleep?

[pickgo]

I was out for a walk with DS, DGS and mother on Sunday. We walked past a woman with 3 children and a dog on the lead. As we passed her on the pavement the dog leapt up at me and bit me on the chest.
Fortunately I had 6 layers of clothing on so it has only left me bruised, the skin is not actually broken.
The dog owner apologised. She admitted she already had a muzzle for the dog but hadn't put it on this time [OBVIOUSLY!!].
I said her apology wasn't good enough. What if I'd had a baby in a sling, or it was one of the children? What if it goes for one of her children? Told her I thought the dog should be put to sleep.
Ironically, I myself had a dog some years ago that randomly bit people. I too always kept it on a lead but one day it leapt into a pram and I was terrified it would bite the baby. That day I took my dog to the vet to ask for advice. The vet's advice was that once a dog has crossed 'the line' of biting people it will always be a possibility it will do it again. So I had the dog put to sleep. A sad, hard decision but I think the right one.
So, AIBU to want this dog put down? Surely I should be able to go out for a walk without being mauled by an animal and left injured?

YANBU to have been scared and feel like you want something done about it.

YABVU to want the dog pts - there are other options. We don't kill people who kill people, why should it be OK to kill a dog who has attempted to bite someone?

YANBU to want to protect others from the dog, clearly the owner is not trying that hard if she couldn't even be bothered with the muzzle.

to the previous 2 posters.

the dog didn't try to bite the OP it did bite her.

it may not have broken the skin on this occasion, but if it had been a summer day and only been biting through a t-shirt instead of winter layers, it could have been a different story.

YANBU, if people don't control their animals then it is their fault if the animal needs to be killed.

I don't know if there is anyway you can take this further, you would need to document the injuries and possibly press charges?

Not good enough.

should be put down. having to mussel a dog is a sure sign of it's nature.

Yanbu- and it would not be the op's responsibility if the dog were put down- it would be the owners.
Clearly the owner was NOT in control. She sounds irresponsible and the situation could have been far more horrible or even fatal- what If it was summer so the op didn't have six layers of clothing on? Or what if it was a baby if attacked?
If the dog was forcibly taken from its owner, professionally retrained and rehomed with an owner with some intelligence and responsibility- fine, don't put it down. But we all know that wont happen. So in the meantime, the police give empty platitudes and the dog remains with a useless owner.
In the context- op YANBU

I'm sorry but I think you are being unreasonable.

You weren't hurt. The fact is, you are not a child nor a baby, so using the "what if" is pretty silly. If it jumped up and bit you it probably has a problem with adults in some way or another. It needs training, and the owner needs to ensure that it is muzzled at all times.

I don't believe that killing an animal for this is fair treatment at all.

"well if the dog lovers assert it was the owners fault why not have her put down?"

What a stupid thing to say.

Most people don't agree that arbitrary killing of humans is helpful. For most of those who have expressed their discomfort at the dog being killed, this extends to other animals. IT doesn't mean they think the humans should be killed instead.

its not arbitrary though is it? seems like some are happy to let the dog maul people rather than put it down.

YABU. GAG.

How can a dog actually "make contact" with your chest? That's like me biting down on a beach ball - logistically impossible!

If the woman had attacked the OP and left bruises then she would be entitled to have her arrested for assault, how is this any different?

The dog is the owner's responsibility, anything it does is the owner's fault.

I expect we shall soon see at least one poster calling for the OP to be PTS herself for traumatising the poor doggy with her chest

FFS

Out of curiosity dog lovers, is it ever not on for a dog to leap up and try to bite a human? Do those conditions ever exist?

Of course it should be put to sleep! It's bitten someone FGS - that's enough. Let alone the irresponsible owner - presumably if she has a muzzle, that might be because the dog has bitten someone before.

Would be interested to know what the law says - should the police be prosecuting the woman so that a court decides whether the animal is put to sleep?

if my dog seriously bit someone I would have it put to sleep on the basis that you cannot and should not rehome an agressive dog. But I'm talking about dogs that bite and cause serious injury here - not a dog that snaps or happens to catch someone with its teeth.

But this dog didn't seriously bite the op - in fact it sounds as if the dog jumped up with it's mouth open - it is not physically possible for a dog to bite someone on the chest.

To say that the op was mauled is a gross overreaction.

To say that the owner was lying about this being the dog's first offence is just offensive - no-one knows the owner or the dog or whether or not this was the first time the dog had jumped at someone - every dog that potentially bites someone has a first time - why is it so inconceiveable that this was the first time for this dog?

The owner had the dog under control by it being on a lead. If the dog hasn't bitten before she had no way of knowing that it was going to jump up at the op.

It clearly was not under control. If it had been the OP would not have bruises from it.

I'm honestly very suprised at how eager everyone is to have this dog put down for such a minor incident. She has three children so I'm sure if there was any threat at all she would at least given it to a shelter for a family without kids.

I think its disgusting the way animals animals lives are not valued and with the ease you were willing to have it killed for its playful nip. It was evidently just excited out on its walk and I would say you are over reacting massivly.
Seriously, you guys need to chill out.

I just have to pipe up again, because wannabe is entirely right EXCEPT for the belief that "you cannot and should not rehome an aggressive dog". Well, you shouldn't, so technically she's correct there but you can rehabilitate and rehome an aggressive dog.

Been there, done that and I work alongside many who do the same and whose experiences back my argument up. It takes time, patience, experience, knowledge and continuous assessment but it CAN be done successfully. Occasionally such a dog will need to remain in expert hands in rescue - not kennelled all day every day as might be claimed, but part of the household, in a non-public, controlled environment. There is no justification or need to kill a healthy dog whatsoever.

I'll bugger off and leave you all to it now, being comforted to note that mine was not the sole voice of dissent with the OP which I expected. I just cannot allow others to believe the mistaken idea that you cannot rehome an aggressive dog as that could cost lives, and as I said, my life's work is to prevent that.

I agree with Val. But I hope you are ok and recover soon.

'Playful nip', snort what is it with the dog people on MN? I like dogs, was raised with many, have owned a couple who I loved dearly.

The dog is the owner's responsibility, allowing it to 'nip' someone else, playfully or otherwise is unacceptable. The owner needs to be taught a lesson in dog ownership. Personally OP I would be looking to take it further if you at all can. I don't know whether the dog needs to be put down or not but the owner needs to be held responsible.

The woman should be punished for taking her dog out, knowing that it was likely to attack someone.

Wannabe
We don't know that it has attacked before, but the owner had stated that it had been traumatised by a break in and that it normally wears a muzzle. This leads me to believe that she was aware that the dog was unstable.

In this case, she should not be taking the dog out in public without a muzzle. And she should be keeping it on a short lead so that it has no chance of jumping on anyone.

Whether or not the dog broke the OP's skin is irrelevant. It did not cause serious injury because the OP was warmly dressed. If she had been wearing just a tshirt or the dog had jumped up on a child, then the story may have ended very differently.

Whether or not the dog should be PTS is a matter for a vet to decide, but the owner should be reprimanded for not being in control of her dog.

Likely is the wrong word. She should not have taken the dog out without a muzzle - she obviously had reason to believe that it would need one.

Ha! "The woman should be punished for taking her dog out, knowing that it was likely to attack someone."

How did she know exactly? What if it was the very first time. Should no dog owner ever take a dog out just in case??

I dont even own a dog but this is just crazzzzyyy how you guys are jumping up and down to get this dog put down when evidently all it did was jump up.. All dogs do it. Doesnt mean they should ll be put down.

the thing though val is that it comes down to responsibility.

Let's say that my dog one day turns and bites someone - let's say that it's me or dh. I have a child so I don't feel that, in the interests of my child's safety, it would be appropriate for me to keep the dog. So I approach one of these dog rehabilitating organisations who agrees to take on the dog, and rehabilitate it. Six months later the dog is rehomed, having been considered to have been rehabilitated.

Then one day the new owners have visitors who have a child (the dog has specifically been rehomed to a childless family). The child is merrily playing around, and suddenly, the presumed-to-be-rehabilitated dog goes for the child and bites him, causing serious facial disfigurement or worse, killing him. And ultimately, the responsibility for that is mine, because I rehomed that dog knowing that he was agressive - doesn't matter that I rehomed it to someone who claimed they could rehabilitate it, ultimately, it was my decision to pass the responsibility for my dog's agression to someone else and the child in this senario has paid the price.

As I said in previous post, I'm not talking about a dog that snaps, or a dog that has a bit of a grumpy disposition, as a child we had a dog that would snap if pulled around/if her personal space was invaded - she wasn't agressive she was just intolerant of small children but would happily stay out of their way - she would never have bitten anyone unprovoked. but talking about dogs that show serious agression. Anyone who rehomes such a dog is irresponsible imo - once a dog has shown that level of agression it can never again be trusted, and once you knowingly take the decision to rehome such a dog you bear some of the responsibility if that dog then bites someone again and causes serious injury or worse.

Angelina
We crossposted. I reread my post and corrected the "likely".

The dog owner admitted that she had a muzzle for the dog - I am a dog owner and do not have a muzzle for mine so I am presuming that the dog had behaved aggressively in the past for the woman to have used one.

The woman also said that the dog was not out of control. Well, of course it was or it would not have been able to attack the OP.

The owner knew the dog was traumatised and usually muzzled it. This is HER fault, anything that happens as a result of her dog is her fault.

with val entirely.