Bruce Evans shot and killed his wife's and daughter's pit bulls on February 16, 2009, at his home in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. The dogs were fighting each other and had bitten the wife and the daughter too. No charges are pending. (Read the article.)
It is difficult to understand the purpose of owning dogs that suddenly decide to kill each other, bite their owners and, in this case, force someone to do something very dangerous. When ordinary citizens have to shoot animals in and around our homes, bystanders can get hurt. Why should the community be forced to live in fear of similar incidents in the future?
I believe that either we control the bad dogs and bad owners, or we ban all dogs that present unreasonable risk. I prefer the former approach but, if lawmakers, animal control authorities and the dog lobby don't have the backbone to pass and enforce the necessary laws, then I recognize that we will have to ban the dogs themselves. For more, see Model Dog Bite Laws.
It is difficult to understand the purpose of owning dogs that suddenly decide to kill each other, bite their owners and, in this case, force someone to do something very dangerous. When ordinary citizens have to shoot animals in and around our homes, bystanders can get hurt. Why should the community be forced to live in fear of similar incidents in the future?
I believe that either we control the bad dogs and bad owners, or we ban all dogs that present unreasonable risk. I prefer the former approach but, if lawmakers, animal control authorities and the dog lobby don't have the backbone to pass and enforce the necessary laws, then I recognize that we will have to ban the dogs themselves. For more, see Model Dog Bite Laws.
