the dog did it once, what's going to stop it from possibly attacking again, sorry but it sounds like it HAS to be put down.

Honestly, I wouldn't put down the dog either.

If no one else would take care of it, at best i would make sure the Dog and child had no further contact. None of it was actually the problem of the dogs... mostly just the parenting.

It's not the dog that needs to change, but the owners.


If it was for example a 10 year old doing the same thing, I wouldn't put down the dog either, it was 10 year olds fault. If you provoke an animal you general get what's coming to you... just because your niece is young it doesn't shift blame to the dog, just the parents. Punishing the dog for the parents mistake would be wrong and generaly immoral.

As for the droopy eyelid. Hopefully it won't be that bad. I had a similar condition due to being born premature, hardly ever got noticed unless i pointed it out.

It's not the dog's fault, he doesn't know better and was the victim.

It's not the child's fault, she doesn't know better and was the victim.

It's your sister's fault for allowing this to happen. You should call the social services instead and give your niece a parent that truly watches over her.

Come on, why the hell didn't your sister stop the kid from hurting the dog?! She's a BAD parent and doesn't deserve to have kids.

I wouldn't go that far...

unless it happens again.

However it's a more justified solution then punishing the dog.  I'd agree with that.

Shut up, then if it were up to you every pet should be killed.

All pets will attack you if you stress them enough. Even humans will do the same (try poking a stick at some random guy for a while and see what happens).

The parent of the child is the only guilty part here, for allowing this to happen.

It's okay if I hit the animal.

It's not okay for others. That's just animal abuse.

I completely agree.

Don't punish a normal dog with a perfectly normal reaction to only defend himself.

Monitor your small kids playing with your dog and interfere when necessary. If you can't then you shouldn't be a dog owner.

If someone was hitting me in the face with a stick I might bite them too.

I have to agree as well, I think the law is far to harsh on dogs when biting, if they're antagonised, and the owner does NOTHING what is the dog suppose to do? It doesn't deserve to be put down ...

Although I think that's slightly too harsh .......

The story is cool because they kept the dog, like they should. Sorry about the girl though.