" Killer dogs " maul young women to death

American Justice ^ | 9-9-03 | Kurtis

[Esther Blume]

The San Francisco Dog Mauling

On January 26th, 2001, 33-year-old Diane Whipple was mauled to death by her neighbors’ dogs in the hallway of her San Francisco apartment building. The brutal attack shocked residents of the city, and Whipple, young, prosperous and gay, quickly captured the public’s sympathy. But what was first seen as a tragic accident soon took on a more sinister tone. The dogs’ owners, Marjorie Knoller and Robert Noel, husband-and-wife attorneys, began making statements that seemed to suggest Whipple herself might have been to blame for the attack. And when information surfaced that the couple’s dogs had a history of violent behavior, the public – and prosecutors – began clamoring for justice, culminating in criminal charges against Knoller and Noel.

AMERICAN JUSTICE: THE SAN FRANCISCO DOG MAULING reports that following a dramatic five-week trial, both Knoller and Noel were found guilty of manslaughter and owning an animal that kills. But it was the last verdict, against Marjorie Knoller, that was the most stunning: guilty of second-degree murder for the death of Diane Whipple. Then, in a final twist to the sensational story, that verdict was thrown out by the presiding judge, raising questions on both sides of the aisle about the fairness of American Justice in the midst of today’s media frenzy. TV PG

[Iconoclast2]

People should be accountable for harm caused to others. The challenge is how to structure a government that achieves that without the loss of freedom. Old-fashioned courts did best.

[norton]

I am comparing intentional aggression against a neighbor with my opinion of reasonable response...
you probably don't want to hear any more than that.
And you don't want to poison my dog either.

[netmilsmom]

>>I am comparing intentional aggression against a neighbor with my opinion of reasonable response...
you probably don't want to hear any more than that. <<

Actually, I find it really facinating that you put a piece of chattel (dog) on the same level as a human life. That you feel that it is a reasonable response to an act of aggression against a piece of your property, to be the killing of, not the aggressor but rather his innocent child.


>>And you don't want to poison my dog either.<<
No I do not, never did! I would poison any animal for the stupidity of it's owner. My response was that you were willing to kill a child over the insanity of his parent. It's a real PETA like action. Now if you had said that you would take out the person doing the poisoning, no problem. We all have to stand for our actions, but their child? Hmm.

[norton]

Then I appologize:
The ORIGINAL post, prior to the one to which I replied, included the assertion that that person would poison or kill any pit bull & on sight - based on the breed alone.
That is an attack not just on chattel, but on any social order, and on the 'owner' of the animal itself.

The response to THAT post was something like "and I could poison your noisy kids..."

To which: "That's over the edge.."

Finally, my: "Did you expect any different.." (than a comparable escalation in avoidable hostility) the poster HAD stated that he would toss poisoned hamburger onto the other's property - an assault calling for either police response (not likely to happen) or retribution (quite human and quite biblical).

I did not notice that your entry was a new poster.

That said:
I'd neither poison a dog or someone's kids but that's the kind of chain that is established when someone threatens or actually does assault his neighbor (property or person)

(PS children WERE chattel for a long stretch of history and there are real parallels in raising kids and dogs; but as I said, even I can't put them on the same bias. And, MY response to finding questionable 'burger would be very, very, personal if and when I id'd the coward responsible.)

[netmilsmom]

>>PS children WERE chattel for a long stretch of history and there are real parallels in raising kids and dogs; but as I said, even I can't put them on the same bias. And, MY response to finding questionable 'burger would be very, very, personal if and when I id'd the coward responsible.<<

Well potty training a three year old and housebreaking a puppy is very similar, except the puppy gets the idea sooner! ;-).

[biblewonk]

They should all be killed.

[Protagoras]

Good point; however, these weren't pit bulls

Which is a distinction without a difference.

[The Coopster]

Very true......end result is the same.