Editorial: Blame owners, not breeds

A tragic incident took place this week at one of the city’s off leash dog parks, and has reopened the debate surrounding what some call dangerous breeds.

A small, chihuahua-mix was mauled to death by a larger dog that some describe as a pit bull. While descriptions of breeds and sizes might be accurate, focusing on that only distorts the real issues.

The real issues revolve around the rules and the dog owners who choose to ignore them.
While the tragic incident took place because a small dog had a violent encounter with a big dog, it isn’t right to blame the dogs for this. This incident happened after a large dog’s owner decided to ignore rules and venture into a size-restricted park.

It isn’t the only disregarded rule of the park. Since the incident took place dog owners who frequent the park, and claim to follow the rules, have told tbnewswatch.com that owners of big and small dogs alike often ignore rules.

For example, owners cannot bring toys or treats into the park. But many do and some owners claim that the odd dog fight starts when an someone brings a bag of treats into the park and tries to distribute them evenly among the dogs.

Saying this week’s fatal incident is the fault of the big dog because it was big, or because it was a pit bull, takes the onus away from the owner and puts it onto the dog. That’s as silly as saying the dogs fighting over treats are at fault for not understanding fractions and the concept of equal share.

Dogs are dogs. It’s a simple statement, but one that too many dog owners forget.

Dogs don’t reason, think of consequences or liabilities before making a decision. That’s what owners are supposed to do. Some assume the dog should know better and that can sometimes be a fatal mistake.

Unfortunately, while this was the first incident of its kind at the city’s off-leash dog park, it wasn’t the first time a dog has killed. It’s more unfortunate that this will likely not be the last fatal dog attack we hear about.

Blaming this incident, or others like it, on a dog’s size and breed is a get out of jail free card that no dog owner is entitled to.