13/04/2022
When a dog kills a human, we are all left stunned and confused. These animals are integrated in our homes, our community, and they sleep in our beds. To hear about one killing a human is unsettling.
Fatal dog attacks to humans occur rarely. There are 1-2 per year in Canada and 25-40 per year in the US. There are certain risk factors for these incidents –included absence of an able-bodied person to intervene , incidental or no familiar relationship of victims with dogs, owner failure to neuter dogs, compromised ability of victims to interact appropriately with dogs, dogs kept isolated from regular positive human interactions versus family dogs, owners' prior mismanagement of dogs and owners' history of abuse or neglect of dogs.
One risk factor that we are seeing more of is the individual genetics of the dogs. Aggression can be genetic. It can be set in place by genes at the time of conception, or during pregnancy. This predisposition can be made better or worse by intervention after birth, but if fear, anxiety or aggression is hard-wired it will be very difficult to eliminate completely.
When dogs attack, most people assume – and desperately want to believe – that the dog was abused or neglected. That someone else was responsible for this tragedy. It allows us to feel like we have some control and this would never happen to us.
But this is denial and as advocates it doesn’t help our cause. In previous Canadian dog bite fatalities people have come up with all kinds of explanations, even saying that one of the victims was murdered and the dog was framed.
Take for instance the dog bite related fatality in Nova Scotia. The dog was from a high-profile breeder in BC who charges thousands of dollars for their puppies. These dogs are not bred to standard and bred for size and appearance. This same breeder has provided stud services to breeders who operate all over North America. The breeder shipped littermates across the country, which tells us they were interested in profit and not setting his dogs up for success.
By all accounts the owner was an animal lover. A vegan who worked at a wildlife rescue. Everyone who knows her said she loved her dogs. She worked with a trainer and she posted photos of them on comfy beds on her social media. There are multiple accounts showing at least one dog had a history of aggression – she walked the dogs separately and one in a muzzle. We can’t know everything but we feel comfortable assuming the dogs were ‘raised right’.
And one of them killed. Since this incident more information about this litter has also come forward. Another dog in the litter had killed a dog and redirected on a human with a fairly bad bite this dog was euthanized for showing human aggression but not before breeding it back to back. Social media information suggested that this dog attacked a few other people but we are unable to confirm this.
In the United States a well known American Bully named Kimbo and his productions have left an incredibly sad path of fatalities and attacks.
If we can’t accept this as proof of genetic aggression, we are in denial. We need to use this tragedy to hold breeders to a higher standard and hold them accountable for temperament and safety in the dogs they put into the world.
Individual owners need to be accountable for safely managing their dogs.
Municipalities need to have bylaws in place and enforce them, which includes penalties and ultimately, seizure of the dog if public safety is at risk.
Breeders and rescues need to be accountable for placing safe dogs in our community.
Image credit to Canva.
