There was another dog related death the week before the incident in San Antonio. A pit bull killed another child in Luling that’s just up the road. Two deaths in one week. Texas leads the nation in such fatalities. There was TV coverage in San Antonio about the two dogs killing the seven month old. Neighbors had reported they were terrorized by these dogs on many occasions and one had already been reported as biting another person on the face. I’d hate to have to live in any neigborhood where my child might die if I lived next door to such an animal. And unfortunately, many people do. I also wonder how many people are intimidated and in fact are afraid to report vicious dogs for fear of retaliation. And please no more bullshit about it’s the owner’s fault. That’s scant consolation after your child’s face has been eaten off.
So are you saying the owner has no responsibility? Just blame it all on the dog? If that is the case what will keep the owner from simply getting another dog, handling it in the same way with the same end result? I have seen idiots train all breeds of dogs to be dangerous stupidly thinking they are training them to be watch dogs. The most dangerous dog I have personally been around was an Australian Shepard that was trained by such an idiot; he actually had people hit and kick his dog so she would not like anyone but him from the time it was a puppy. I'd rather outlaw idiot owners than any specific breed of dog.
The reason I say the owner is responsible is because if the owner gets in serious trouble for not containing their animals to begin with, and gets in very serious trouble if they do cause harm to others then that owner is less likely to repeat the bad behavior of having a dog, any dog and then not being responsible for that animal.
To me this is more of not taking personal responsiblity or expecting others to do so that has caused so many problems in our society- we are so quick to place blame on the wrong party. If we are so quick to blame the dog and especially certain breeds of dogs we are missing the fact that the dog owner needs to be held responsible.
Of course viscious dogs of any breed need to be put down, but if the owner is not held totally accountable for the actions of that dog then that is not a real solution. It is not a consolation to blame the owner- it is where the ultimate blame needs to be placed.