Re: [pyrnet] A long story

[darrell goolsbee <dgoolsbee@ev1.net>]

<< Whoops - sorry Darrell !>>

No problem, Geraldine.

I do want to clarify a point I was trying to make. I was trying to point
out that for a city dweller, the options for such a dog are extremely
limited.

Most cities/suburbs have extremely tight laws regarding the keeping of
"dangerous" dogs. And insurance companies are maybe even tougher in this
regard than city ordinances.

Unless there were a place to send the dog, the owner likely would have
to euthanize out of necessity, even if the owner thought he might
otherwise be able to keep the dog out of a high-risk situation.

Of course, this situation sounds like it was more than just a bite. Dogs
have had the "dangerous" label slapped on them for things considerably
less serious than this.

Whether this dog is truly dangerous is up to people closer to the scene
to determine. But I would bet authorities would consider it to be.

Certainly this kind of behavior is unusual in Pyrs, but it does happen.
We had a dog in Texas not long ago that was a *very* dangerous Pyr. He
was picked up by a shelter in the area. He got out of his kennel at the
shelter and pounced on a female attendant, pinning her to the floor
while snarling and attacking her. Needless to say, this dog was not
taken in by rescue. The only mystery to me was why he wasn't euthanized
immediately. The shelter held onto him for a while before putting him
down. Perhaps there were legal issues, but surely the shelter would not
have just given this dog back to his owner, even if the owner had showed
up. 


Darrell Goolsbee
Fort Worth, TX