It’s the Owners as Much as the Dogs That Need Training

So the jury found Marjorie Knoller and Robert Noel responsible for the dog-mauling death of Diane Whipple by the couple’s Presa Canario dogs. Do you think this verdict is going to make other owners of aggressive dogs more responsible? Do you think that convicting these dog owners will help cut down on the number of injuries and deaths caused by aggressive dogs in the future?

Not likely.

For a few weeks, the trial and the outcome will receive the usual commentary and public interest, but eventually we will stop listening. Our minds will archive this murder trial and conviction, just as we have almost forgotten the story about the baby who was killed by the Pomeranian in Los Angeles a couple of years ago. And dog owners will slip back into denial.

Like their aggressive dogs, owners come in all shapes and sizes. Some are caring and responsible. Others either don’t think realistically about their dogs or don’t care about the safety and well- being of other people, animals or even members of their own families.

Evidence during the trial suggested that Knoller and Noel were uncaring. Testimony indicated that they did not pay attention to the warning signs of their aggressive dogs. Records presented during the trial indicated that at least 30 incidents of aggressive behavior were attributed to the two large dogs.

Yet the owners did nothing about it.

Knoller and Noel tried to deny the fact that the dogs were dangerous. They tried to blame the victim. The jury didn’t buy that. Now the couple face the prospect of prison sentences.

Whipple’s death and the couple’s punishment could have been avoided if Knoller and Noel had taken simple steps. If, for example, the two dogs had been wearing muzzles.

Liability issues alone should make dog owners do something if their dogs exhibit aggressive behavior. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Look at the 5 million reported dog bites every year or the 800,000 emergency room visits caused by aggressive dogs. Consider that one-fifth of the home insurance payoffs in the U.S. are dog bite-related.

I’ve been working with dogs for more than 30 years. They are my life. Unfortunately I see way too many owners either in denial or uncaring.

If a dog growls, that’s a warning sign. But owners will make excuses. “He doesn’t growl all the time,” they will say. Or, “It didn’t break the skin.” Or, “It’s never happened before.” Many of these owners have infants or small children living in the same houses as these four-legged time bombs. Yet an owner will say, “My dog is protecting us.”

Aggression is not protection. Aggressive dogs are indiscriminate and unpredictable. Owners of such dogs are as dangerous as the animals themselves, perhaps more so. They fail to protect other people from their dogs.

So we put Knoller and Noel on trial. We found them guilty. We’re locking them up. We put to sleep their four-legged weapons.

But will that solve the problem of death or injury by dog in the future?

Not likely.