A Dog Bite: Whose Fault is it Really?

A plane heading to Phoenix had to make an emergency landing on Monday, December 6 because a dog was let out of its carrier case and bit two people.  The report on this may have been short, but the implications are somewhat larger.

First, a reader can assume the dog was a small one because it was in a carrying case.  Now, I know a lot of people would disagree with me, but in my experience, the little dogs seem to have more... how shall I put it... dominance issues? problems with anger management? attitude?  Either way, this dog was probably already on edge from being locked up and going through security.  Airlines have been changing their rules to more strict ones over the past few years, and most certainly do not allow dogs to be let out.

That being said, when my father went to get both my dogs, the flight attendents were so taken with their puppy-ness that they let them sit on my father's lap.  But then, if the puppy isn't crying or making a mess, they usually don't go around biting people.

Fergus, one of two, at eight weeks old.

Who can't resist that face?

The owner probably knew beforehand that the dog had a tendency toward drama, and should never, EVER have let the little thing out of its mesh enclosure.  Airplanes are no places for dogs.  Driving, which is longer, isn't as stressful on them, especially the larger ones who would have to be in the cargo hold on a plane.  The point of this story is that even though the dog should not have bitten anyone, the owner was truly at fault.  A dog that small could have been held, but the more likely scenario was that the owner put him down on the ground to get something and he escaped and went on a rampage.  That rampage, for the record, was completely the owner's fault for not teaching the dog earlier who was in charge and who wasn't.