“This was not a dog for a family with a 4 year old to adopt”
Agreed.
“There was a reason it was in the pound for 2 months. “
Many, I am sure.
“Probably other more dog-experienced people had passed on it because they saw subtle behaviors she had not picked up on.”
Yes, the Humane Society Shelter workers would have known the dog’s propensities.
Here it comes . . .
” It’s a shame that it will probably be killed because of this woman’s stupidity.”
You have now shifted all blame to the child’s mother. And your concern is not for the child, but a dangerous dog. In addition, you have placed no blame at the feet of the Humane Society Shelter.
The shelter personnel also had a large stake in this sad case because they should have been quite aware of the dog’s disposition and yet apparently were not. I don’t know if I believe the mother’s statement that they told her to just pick out any dog she liked. I’ve never been to a shelter which operated like that.
It’s also true that any dog of any breed needs some adjustment time before people, particularly children, make any gestures toward the dog which violate its space before it has learned to trust and love them. It might be that the kid went to hug or pet the dog and it merely saw a rapid movement in its near vicinity and moved to defend itself. The dog could very well have been abused in its former life.
I am very glad the little girl was not injured badly, but this whole scenario was rather set up for failure-—failure being that the dog behaved aggressively and was in the wrong place for its particular disposition.