I generally don’t get fired up over something on the news, but a recent string of news articles on WTAE only strengthens my belief that the world we live in is bass ackwards.
Huskies, particularly Siberian Huskies, are probably the most beautiful dogs I have ever seen. Just don’t tell my dog Lucy, she’s sensitive.
http://www.wtae.com/news/30473251/detail.html
http://www.wtae.com/news/30518805/detail.html
*WTAE spells the dog’s name as both Niko and Nikko…I went with the latter since that name was used in the later news story.
To sum up the news stories, an eighteen month old husky (Nikko) was removed from a home after biting and killing a two-year old baby. Animal control removed both Nikko and another dog (the news was sure to mention it was a pit bull) from the home.
No charges were brought against the mother who was in the other room at the time. However, it has been undecided if the dog will be put down. At the time this occurred, the dog had a broken leg and had a makeshift cast on. The owner claimed they had taken the dog to a vet but was unable to provide proof.
The pit bull has since been placed back into the same home and now the waiting begins on what will become of Nikko.
Now for my comments…
What the hell is wrong with our court system? According to the news stories, the owner had been cited before for the condition of the dogs and for having too many dogs in one household at a time.
The owner left a two-year old baby around a husky that was injured and “at the bottom of the food chain.” Most huskies are high energy dogs that need a lot of room to run and exercise. Most huskies are also very protective of their space. Are they good around kids? Honestly, that answer lies with how they are raised and how responsible the owners are.
Nikko was in the care of an owner previously cited for neglect and abuse. What irks me the most is that despite this, they allowed the pit bull to come back to live in the home. Would CYS place a child back into a home with abusive parents or terrible living conditions? No. So why then should any animal be allowed to move back into that home? It makes no sense.
People are calling it a tragic accident. Bull. The owner committed murder, plain and simple. Had the two-year old found a loaded gun in the home that the parent had left lying around and…well…you get the idea…the parent would have been charged with a number of serious crimes. Allowing a situation to get to the point where an animal attacks a child is just as inexcusable as leaving a dangerous weapon around for a child to find.
So now because the owner is irresponsible and shouldn’t have had dogs in the first place, she gets off scot-free while the dog may possibly be euthanized? How is THAT fair? It is the owner’s responsibility to take care of any animal under their roof…animals being dogs, cats, and children alike.
I’m sorry for the dog. I’m sorry for the young child that was bitten and killed. I’m not sorry for the owner who failed to step up to their responsibilities.
Don’t adopt an animal until you are educated and responsible enough to know what the hell you are doing. It’s not fair to the animal, and it’s not fair to the other people in the house, especially if something like this happens.
My thoughts and wishes go out to both Nikko and the child, who were both victims in this situation.