Canine Cruelty

So today there was an article in the headlines about a dog that was put down in Belfast. After a ruling and an appeal to a higher court, the area in Northern Ireland deemed the dog dangerous. This is not unusual really. If a dog bites somebody, it is put down. This dog, however, didn’t bite anybody. In fact, he never hurt a single person. So why did he get picked up by a warden in the first place? The answer disgusts me. The dog was picked up because he looked like a Pit bull. Owning a Pit bull is against the law in the United Kingdom, which I also find ridiculous. Lennox, the dog that was just put down, was not a Pit bull. According to his owners, he has never bitten anybody and even wears a muzzle when around strangers. Although Lennox looks like a Pit bull because of his flat nose, he is not a member of the breed. The ruling was protested by animal rights groups everywhere, and the story was blasted all over the internet. A woman living in the U.S. even offered to adopt him so he wouldn’t have to die. The courts ignored it all and euthanized the dog today. The owners were not allowed to say goodbye and can’t even have the body to bury him. Although I have not owned a dog, or even a pet, in many years, I am appalled by this news. A person’s pet is like a member of their family. To take him away without letting them even say goodbye is just cruel. Yet this isn’t the first time Pit bulls have been mistreated. There have been stories of the breed being shot and abandoned. Often people will get a puppy and abandon it because they don’t know how to handle it as a full grown dog. Pit bulls get a reputation for being mean or vicious dogs. It is the same for Rottweilers and German Shepherds. The truth is that these dogs are only mean when they are mistreated or trained to be that way. I think there should be more of a process to adopt a dog. If a person wants to adopt a child, they must be checked, inspected, and tested before they can be approved. To adopt a puppy, you just have to walk into a pet store and hand over the money. I think there should be some kind of screening process in order to get a dog. I understand there is a significant difference between a child and a puppy. Yet there are great deals of similarities too. A puppy needs to be fed, bathed, and trained. It needs a great deal of attention and love. I once read a story about a woman who had over fifteen Pit bull puppies in her house. Eventually animal control was called and she admitted that she could not handle them all. It is sad how many people don’t ever admit that they can’t handle raising a dog. When that happens, it gets neglected and abandoned. With Pit bulls, all of these things happen more than most. Thus they are left to fend for themselves and get their vicious reputation. It isn’t fair to the dogs and it sure as hell isn’t right. It is our fault the dogs end up the way they do, and it won’t stop until we stop it.