Horrible topic, I know. I just can't get this out of my head. A woman I know has a 3 year old. Their dog scratched the 3 year old's head (on the forehead) bad enough that it bled and took a while to heal. The husband took the dog out back and shot him. I'm appalled. There appears to have been no talk about what to do, he just took the dog and killed him. I can't imagine.
Have you ever considered putting down your pet because they injured your child?
wonderful kiwi / 23653 posts
The method of putting down is pretty appalling to me! As much as our dog can get annoying, she has never done anything to deserve even the consideration to be put down! If something horrible happened between the dog and DD, we'd just re-home her... Not kill her!!
pomegranate / 3658 posts
Holy shit!!!
There is absolutely no excuse for that, I'm pretty sure shooting a dog is illegal animal cruelty.
I think it's traumatic when a pet harms a baby but you have to be rational about it. Most of the time the dog is behaving in a manner they think is acceptable to communicate their boundaries. You have to make the dog understand what's okay and not okay. If there's a serious repeated issue, then rehoming could be an option, but I encourage people to try very hard to pursue other options before considering that.
Regardless, who shoots a dog??
cantaloupe / 6059 posts
Well, I had a German shepherd dog that I loved dearly that my parents were keeping for us since we couldn't have it at our home. She was an engagement present we had received as a puppy.
It growled and lurched out (baring teeth) at my cousin 2 times this summer (separate days) according to my parents. I wasn't there when it happened. My cousin is an ex-military, rough and tough type who has a history of being aggressive with humans let alone animals and I suspect that he had been aggressive at the dog (but could never prove it). Anyways, he grabbed his hand gun and threatened to shoot her right then and there but my uncle talked him down. The second time it happened he threatened legal action and said that he had PTSD from Iraq and that her actions brought him back to that time. (This is the same guy who told us that he got diabetes because his ex-fiance broke it off with him. Apparently his doctor told him that he could get diabetes from that. There are no words.)
My parents felt backed into a corner and took her to the vet and put her down before consulting us. I was heartbroken. My kids LOVED that dog. She had never ever been harsh with any of us. In fact, she would let my daughter ride around on her.
It was a devastating situation all around. My dad was upset by it too because he really enjoyed having her around. We were made all the more angry when my cousin texted my family the next week with a picture of his new dog - you guessed it, a German shepherd puppy. 
cherry / 129 posts
That story makes me sick. I think most people's problems with their dogs are their own doing (ie, the dogs don't get enough exercise or parents don't teach kids how to interact with animals).
Some people should not be allowed to own animals. BTW, shooting a dog like that is illegal in most places and I would not hesitate to report them, friend or not. Not cool.
pomelo / 5678 posts
I wouldn't keep a dog that hurt anyone on purpose.
When I lived out west, BTW, people REGULARLY shot one another's dogs (!!!!!!) One of the many reasons I love where I live now. (And no exaggeration sadly- 3 separate dogs from 2 separate neighbors were shot by another neighbor because "they liked deer in their yard," and felt the dogs would scare them away, so screwed up! And in another location I had a neighbor try to shoot my dog and my friend's dog was shot by his neighbor ugh!)
wonderful cherry / 21504 posts
Thankfully my dog has never done anything that makes me worry about safety around him. But if he did and I really felt uncomfortable with him around small children I would try to rehome him. If he did something really awful I suppose I could see deciding to put him down in a terrible situation, but it sure as hell wouldn't be with a shot gun in my backyard. That's awful.
@coopsmama: that's so sad, I'm sorry. 
pomelo / 5573 posts
That's appalling.
I joke regularly about making one of our cats an outdoor cat because she's frankly pretty unpleasant, but I would never go further than that. We were worried before I had our son that she would be aggressive (she's not such a fan of people) so I made arrangement with my parents to take her if anything ever happened.
watermelon / 14467 posts
I cannot imagine why he would do that. It's horrific. I couldn't be friends with people that did that.
The only time we would put down an animal is if it was truly the best and most humane option (i.e. they were extremely sick or had been struck by a car or something of that nature). If there was a behavioral issue, I would do my best to correct it or re-home the animal.
pomegranate / 3791 posts
WTF?! No. Absolutely not. Rehome the dog? Sure. Call rescues and shelters? Okay. Kill it because it doesn't do well with children?? That is horrific.
pomegranate / 3791 posts
@coopsmama: that is so awful. The dog didn't even bite anyone! It was warning them the only way it knew how...and got put down for it? And it was YOUR DOG? Personally, that cousin would never be welcome in my home again.
cantaloupe / 6751 posts
@mediagirl: what in the actual F? That person has some serious, serious mental health issues if they took their dog to the backyard and KILLED HIM over a scratch. WTF.
That is beyond disgusting. if a dog is truly dangerous and attacks a person (unprovoked), then the proper thing to do would be to notify the authorities and humanely euthanize him/her.
grapefruit / 4988 posts
@coopsmama: That makes me so sad for your family. I'm so sorry.
We occasionally joke about giving one of my cats to my dad (we have one who is feisty and sometimes scratches without warning). But I would never put one down unless it was clear they were actually ill. We had to put down our german shepard when I was a kid because she had some sort of stroke when she was about 13 years old which made her violent towards us kids. That was so sad but it was clear that she was sick. She was like a totally different dog than the one we grew up with.
cantaloupe / 6059 posts
@wonderstruck: He's never welcome in MY home (and wasn't before the dog situation - I don't trust him around my kids), but unfortunately I can't control my parents. I was really disgruntled by their decision without at least calling us (we would have rehomed it or found a situation or made having her here work!!!) but I didn't want to burn my relationship with them (which is otherwise really good) over the dog.
My cousin terrifies me. He's two years older than me and I always dreaded it when his family came to visit ours growing up. He would hold me down or twist my arms around and would never ever listen when I'd scream stop. He's all around not the greatest guy. I think that's part of the reason my parents felt like they had to act. It was a tough situation all around. 
pomegranate / 3791 posts
@coopsmama: I'm so sorry. That's awful. I can definitely understand parents who will let unsafe not nice people around because familyyyy. It's an issue I've run across as well, although not to such extremes.
I should add to my responses that I have had a dog that got violent when my child was born. We did re-home him. He lives with my ILs now and has free reign of the huge finished basement when our kids go over there.
grapefruit / 4089 posts
That is horrific. It sounds like that man has serious issues.
Honestly, sometimes I see pictures of people letting their kids crawl all over and maul their dog, pulling tails and ears and whatnot, because the dog is "safe and harmless and sweet", and I feel like these people are asking for it. Dogs are still animals, no matter how tame. They often react in ways that we can't anticipate. So many people set their pets up for failure without thinking twice, and it's very sad.
eggplant / 11408 posts
Oh my gosh. I can't even. This story makes me sick.
To answer the question, I can't say it would never happen. But I cannot fathom a situation in which I would put our dog down for aggression. The only thing I can think is if pain were making her mean. Our dog once growled at LO because she tried to touch the dog's hurt paw, but I could hardly blame her for that. But I could never, ever shoot her, unless for some unfathomable reason that were the most humane thing to do.
@coopsmama: I am so sorry 
grapefruit / 4800 posts
That's insane. I would be questioning the mans sanity and the safety of his family. I'd trust a dog more than I'd trust that man around my family.
eggplant / 11408 posts
@wonderstruck: see, this is a reasonable thing to do. I can 100% see rehomong, should it come to that. But shooting as a first instinct?? Ugh. I'm sure your dog is much happier now, if he didn't react well to LO.
@Synchronicity: I think this is so important, setting your dog up for success. Admittedly, LO is all up in our dog's business, but there are certain things I do not let her do, like go in the food bowl while the dog is eating, touch her when she's hurt, etc. Our dog doesn't have many boundaries, but she is clear about the ones she has. And we have to respect that.
grapefruit / 4770 posts
That's a felony in some states. What are people thinking these days
pomelo / 5000 posts
I knew I shouldn't have opened this thread. I love dogs and these stories are so sad.
I did have friends put down their dog who was super anxious and randomly snapped and bit people. He was a only happy when his owner was around, and even then, he couldn't relax. They tried training and medication and everything they could. Isolating him would have made things worse, and they felt they couldn't ethically rehome a dog who bites. The talked to two different vets and had him put to sleep. It was heart breaking, but I believe they did the correct thing.
pomelo / 5000 posts
@Synchronicity: agree--those photos make me cringe. Not fair to the dog, not safe for the kid. Maybe that one particular dog will tolerate it (no dog likes to be jumped up and down on), so then the child thinks it's ok to do this to another dog who is not ok with that.
pomegranate / 3375 posts
Boo to this whole thread.
Our dog snapped at our baby once, and I saw it as a reminder that the dog needs her space, and our baby needed to learn (as much as possible) not to torment the animals. We still use separation methods, and we all live in peace.
I'd say your friend's husband is a piece of shit ... that's about it.
hostess / wonderful persimmon / 25556 posts
@littlejoy: I didn't say she was a friend. I'm not sure I could keep close company with folks like that.
I'm glad I'm not the only one appalled by this.
pomegranate / 3375 posts
@mediagirl: Yeah, I literally wouldn't have any connection to someone who could shoot their dog. It's disgusting. I'm sorry you had to even process this!
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