This Is Not A Vicious Dog

"A rescue dog bit off part of an Ohio prison inmate’s nose after the prisoner tripped while chasing a ball during recreation and fell on the dog... Thor was taken back to a shelter after the incident, the report said. The dog’s status and the inmate’s current condition weren’t immediately available today"

Years ago, back when I lived in Seattle, there was a dog bite incident at a kid's ballgame. A family had brought their Labrador Retriever watch the game. Near the dog, some young kids were goofing around. One of the boys tripped and fell on top of the dog, and the dog mauled the kid. This was an otherwise friendly dog.

The dog owner was sued, the dog was put to death, and the story was used by the media to whip up the legislators to pass a stricter dog bite law.

This was a travesty. This was an innocent dog that was provoked to bite. Any animal will defend itself, and this was clearly a provoked bite. The kids were acting stupidly, no parent apparently intervened, and an accident happened. This dog defended itself. It wasn't vicious.

I wonder now what has happened to the dog in the story above. Hopefully, someone who understands dog behavior won't condemn this dog to death for the accident of this prisoner. In this case, the dog was the victim.