Why did this have to happen? I am not a fan of euthanizing animals, even when it’s the alternative to a protracted, painful death (a mercy, but I still feel bad), but an animal that’s dangerous and hasn’t been controlled by its owners shouldn’t be allowed to live.
“I don’t want people who were supportive of Congo (after last year’s landscaper mauling) to think they were supporting a bad dog,” Guy James said in an interview. He said Tuesday’s unfortunate encounter between the dogs and his mother-in-law “wasn’t an attack at all. It was dogs jumping.”
Right. He claims that his mother in law opened the back door, and the dogs were just jumping enthusiastically because they wanted to come in. They were so happy that they bit her head, chest, and forearm. Just a little innocent play. Oh, and they knocked Mrs. Ladd over, breaking her hip. Wait, that’s another place where the police report was wrong – according to James, his wife knocked her mother over trying to get between her and the dogs. Nice way to shift the blame, dude. Especially if Ladd dies or is severely disabled as a result, which is highly likely.
He’s telling the press that the dogs were euthanized because a judge would force him to do it anyway, and he didn’t want them stuck in a cage while the lawsuit went on. Nobody understands how delicate these sweet doggies really are, apparently.
I mean, after all they went through after that little incident with the landscaper, you can understand why they might be a bit nervous! (And look at the photo of Rivera – what a whiny baby!)
A google search on this dog returns more hits sympathizing with the dog than anything else. It’s sickening. What’s clear to me is that Guy James is an irresponsible pet owner. He has not trained them to behave, he has not made accommodations to protect people in lieu of training the dogs, or in response to the dogs’ propensity to attack. If you have an animal that responds violently and offensively to strangers and/or surprises, you need to train that animal. If the animal can’t be trained, then it must be restrained. If you can’t or won’t restrain the animal, you need to put it to death.
Did he train Congo? His wife claims that she commanded the dogs to stop attacking Rivera, to no avail. If that reflects their training, I’d say they were untrained or badly trained. Were they restrained? Well, if a guest can open a door to the house and get attacked, then the restraint was inadequate or nonexistent.
Two of the cats I’ve had in my life and one of the dogs were put to sleep as soon as it was clear they were dangerous. The first cat jumped on my sister while she was sitting watching TV, and his antisocial nature indicated this would happen again. He went to the vet that afternoon. The dog was from back in the days when you let the dog out to wander – we don’t know if he bit anyone else, but he bit someone who knew who he was, and he was put to sleep as well. A few years ago, one of our cats overreacted to provocation – I was willing to give him a chance, since this was the first time, and he had actually been hit on the head deliberately. When my daughter was snuggling with him and he sunk claws and teeth into her head, that was his last chance. If any animal of mine inflicted the kind of injury these dogs did, they wouldn’t have gotten that second chance. You can’t reason with them or negotiate.
I just wonder how long it’s going to take Guy James to get himself some more dogs to ruin with indulgence and excuses. Congo’s Law should include a provision restricting people from getting more animals – but by euthanizing these dogs before he could be charged under even this watered-down piece of legislation, James has nothing holding him back. Sadly, I’m pretty sure we’ll be seeing this man’s new dogs in the news somewhere down the line, too.