Cat Rescues Toddler from Dog Attack

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The dog's family surrendered him to county animal control the day of the attack, probably as a legal damage control step. The dog, a lab/chow mix, will be quarantined for 10 days then euthanized. Animal control can't adopt him out after this because of the obvious liabilities with this particular dog. The whole thing could have been avoided had they socialised the dog, and I'm guessing they didn't.

/\That, too, but a well socialised dog is a helluva lot less likely to attack out of the blue like that. I'd rather have a dog that's okay with people and/or other dogs that I don't have to watch like a hawk every single second. If they do get loose (it happens) it's enough to worry about them getting hit by a car, let alone worry about them eating the neighbors.

What if . . and here I can be very idealistic . . the parents of the toddler say to the family next door, it's just a dog, it's not good for our son if the dog is killed, what if we try and make some kind of reconciliation?

The family next door puts up a chain link fence in the front yard (yes, fighting the homeowners association along the way). The boy slowly---with supervision!---makes friends with the dog. The dog accepts him basically as a family member, but importantly is not left unsupervised, at least not until the boy is a lot older and bigger.

From the boy's perspective, and I remember thinking as a child that an animal is almost equally important as a person, it may seem excessive that the dog is killed.

I guess the parents can tell him that the dog may hurt someone else, or whatever other age appropriate thing they feel is best.

I feel really bad that the dog is getting killed, but I sort of understand it. It's a shame we can't avoid things like this though.

That kitty was amazing though~ And such a fast thinker! I couldn't have reacted that quickly.

/\ It's a liability thing. There is now a paper trail for that dog leading back to that incident which was captured on a video that went viral. We had an Alaskan Husky at the shelter (Humane Society) where I am a volunteer that had bitten a dog handler in the back. I, as a handler, was told that if she bit anyone else she would be considered unadoptable and put down because because of the liability risks. I spent a lot of time with her taking her for walks. She'd be normal one moment and batshit crazy the next. Luckily, someone adopted her and has not brought her back so I'm hoping that everything worked out for her and her new family.

I think the problem here is not just liability, but that that dog would have killed that kid had the cat not stopped him, not to mention that the kid was all the way on the other side of the car and dog chased him down - he was in no way being provoked. So as sad as it is for the dog, how can you ever - even with a big fence - guarantee that he won't eventually kill somebody some day? It's not the dog's fault, but he's a threat to life and limb.

I remember when I was a kid, every once a while other kids and me would discuss dog safety, like the idea that if a dog was threatening you to hold out your hand in a tight fist, and that way if the dog bit, it wouldn't injure you that much. Looking back, I think a lot of this was lore and legend.

But, if his parents matter-of-factly provide him good information on dog safety, without overwhelming him or making too big a deal about it. That way, he can share information with other kids, it can be an area of competence, and at times he can be a low-key leader with other kids and this a positive thing, too.

I have seen the video. If the cat had not come to the rescue that dog could have within a second gone for the boys neck puncturing one of the main arteries in his neck making him bleed to death, and/or breaking his neck and killing him. Often when the neck is broken the throat swells and the person cannot breathe and suffocates to death. When a person is rescued and a broken neck is suspected, they will force a hose down the persons throat so they can still breathe. Doing this is painful for the person but better than death.