| Excellent questions.
I'd have to say that if it were my dog, I'd put it to sleep (then again, I very much hope no dog of mine would ever get to the stage of having a serious bite history in the first place, and if they did, odds are they wouldn't live long enough to kill another dog). Is the bite history related to humans or animals? While, as you say, it's the owner's fault, I don't think any dog with a) a serious bite history (not nipping or self defense, obviously) and b) a proven inclination to rip animals apart, is safe or belongs in a civilized society. The owner's negligence cost someone their pet (in a particularly horrible way, too), and has put yet another dent in the reputation of this great breed. There are too many nice dogs who need homes, and people shouldn't have to fear this sort of thing when walking their dogs. I'd like to see the owner prevented from having another dog at least until they've shown that they've taken steps to learn how to train and socialise a dog to make it a good citizen. Of course it makes a difference that it killed a dog and not a person, but to me, the dog's proven it's dangerous and prone to unprovoked attack, and the owner's proven they can't control and manage it safely (let alone train and socialise it properly) That's pretty much enough to indicate to me that the dog's just not safe (regardless of who's to blame for how it got that way), better to euthanise it now than wait until it does something even worse. I can't think of any reason which would justify needing a dog that untrustworthy around.  |