he has to determine as the owner of the pet and father of the child. What I did say was that dogs are liabilities, they just are, and if you aren't going to put in the work to train it to behave well, or if you don't have the capacity to keep it from biting again, then you should take action. If the attack was egregious enough, putting the dog down is the right thing to do. I guess it depends on the definition of "large gash" and what the kid did to make the dog respond. As the pet owner, he needs to be responsible for that decision. Human safety always comes first.

We also know a lot about dog behavior, and we know that if a dog has bitten once, there is a very good chance it will bite again. Yes, many are jumping too quickly to the conclusion that he should shoot it, but if that is the conclusion he comes to, it's his choice and part of the responsibility of pet ownership. A shot with a gun is very humane, though understandably evicts strong emotions in a lot of people. I remember sobbing when I had to put down one of our dogs when it was dying from cancer. It's not fun, but it's commonplace outside big cities and is often the quickest way people have to euthanize their pets when needed.