Any Dog can be Dangerous

I’m about a week behind on writing about this terrible incident. An 11 year old girl got most of her upper lip ripped off in an unexpected attack by a friend’s family dog.

I do not want, in any way, to take away from what this young girl is suffering through. I no not want to minimize her pain or her father’s. But this article provides us all with an important lesson, one the public, the press, and our local governments need to learn.

ANY dog can be dangerous. I know none of us want to think that our dog could do this. I know lots of people want to think that only some breeds attack unprovoked. I know they want to be able to legislate those breeds- Pit Bulls, Rottweilers, German Shepherds, Dobermans- whatever breed is the boogie man of the moment.

But unexplained dog attacks are not limited to specific breeds. And serious injuries caused by dog attacks are not limited to big dogs.

The dog that attacked this girl was a Bulldog/Jack Russell mix. Per the AKC website, a male Bulldog should be around 50lbs, but a Parson (Jack) Russell terrier is usually 13-17lbs. My guess is, this dog wasn’t much bigger than 35lbs, about the same size as Miss Junebug.

Maybe a dog this size can’t bite someone’s arm off, but it can still potentially kill someone, especially when that someone is a child.

These are also not breeds that anyone associates with attacks on people. I’ve personally never met a Bulldog that wouldn’t sooner sleep than anything else (and I’m including puppies). As Jack Russells are known for being terrors, and destructive, but usually to furniture, not to kids.

Any dog can be dangerous. Any dog. But when it is not a breed that is one of the usual suspects, breed information is buried in the article. It’s mentioned once here, very near the end. I’ve heard of no one petitioning for a law declaring Bulldogs or Jack Russells dangerous dogs in West Palm Beach. Because, amazingly enough, the attack had nothing to do with the dog’s breed. You see, it never does.

I feel awful for this child. I cannot imagine what her father is going through. I feel terrible for her friend and her friend’s family.

And I feel bad for the dog. But only to an extent. This dog will probably be put down. But at least it will be put down for something it actually did, unlike thousands of Pits and Pit mixes each year, who are put down for things we are afraid they might do.