“The other thing is a chained dog is often a dangerous dog.”
Yes— very much so. It’s hard to tell from the story if this was a dog who was always chained, or only being chained while the couple was taking care of it for their nephew.
Chaining certainly can escalate aggression. And if the dog was food aggressive, on the chain, not well trained/socialized— you end up with a “perfect storm” for an attack.
Very sad for all involved.
As a kid I grew up next door to people who had a GSD named “Bozo”.
He was always chained, barking and growling and everyone was afraid of him.
I think I was about 11 when I went over to where he was chained and he instantly sat down, shut up and let me pet him.
That was when I saw that the chain “collar” he’d worn all those years was virtually invisible, the skin having grown almost completely over it.
No wonder he raged all the time.
His “owner” just had her brother come over and cut the collar out himself.
It was horrible.
After he healed up and got a new collar, he never barked or snarled again.