7 yr-old child suffers bite, dog to be killed

Fenton, MI - You may recall a recent editorial - Be their safety net.  If you missed the article, please take a moment to read the potentially life-saving advice which it includes.

One family in Fenton would have benefited from the advice - instead, they will be killing their dog and another family is dealing with bite wounds on a 7 yr-old child.

In this incident, an Australian shepherd was being walked by an 11 yr-old girl at an area park. At the same park was a 7 yr-old child who decided that he wanted to pet the dog.

The dog, unfortunately, wanted nothing to do with the child who approached. 

Tragically, when the child attempted to pet the dog, he suffered bite wounds to his face, arms and rib cage.

There are more "wrongs" with this story...the young girl who was in charge of the dog told her mother that the dog growled at the boy before he approached. 

The girl claims that she warned the boy not to pet her dog, but he did anyway.

A glaring issue in this sad scenario is the lack of adult supervision - no parent or guardian to 1) keep the dog in check and 2) keep the young boy from approaching, even if he wanted to.

Now, the family that owns the Australian shepherd has told the police that the dog will be destroyed.

The owners are being cited for owning a vicious dog and failing to control a female dog in heat (epic fail here as well).

Another tragic incident which was completely preventable - another dog who will be killed thanks to irresponsibility on the part of her owner.

A special word of caution to those individuals who feel the need to pet every dog that they encounter - if the owner requests that you do not pet the dog - please respect their wishes. 

Please take a moment to share this story - as with so many stories, there is a lesson to be taken away from this tragic incident.

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Examiner note: Just last week, a large man covered in tattoos boldly approached me - I was with my two children and my two German shepherds. As he locked eyes and walked forward - he asked "Do your dogs bite?" I responded "All dogs can bite". He paused briefly from his approach and then said "No, not all dogs bite". I replied "Any dog can bite, my dogs do not prefer the attention of strangers" - We continued on our way. I knew that if I was uncomfortable by this man's presence, (my children were frightened) there was a possibility that my dogs would not like him either. It was not worth risking my dogs' well-being for this man to have the opportunity to pet my dogs. I was their safety net.

Please note - the photo which accompanies this story is not the dog from the story. This is Shoestring, a dog available for adoption through the Madera County Animal Control. Please read Shoestring's Petfinder profile here.

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