if a child taunts and teases a dog and that animal attacks,who is to be blame?

This happened a couple of years ago with my brother in laws dog. It was kept in an enclosed pen in the back yard, and a 4 year old along with some other kids were throwing rocks and sticks at it. A little while later my 9 year nephew went out to feed the dog, and while it was trying to eat the 4 year old reached into the pen and got bit. The police were involved, and said it was the 4 year old kids fault for harassing the dog. Even so, the law still said that when a dog bites anyone, it has to be removed from the town limits or be destroyed. So the dog was moved outside of town. We wound up keeping the dog for a while, and it was not a vicious dog at all. In the meantime, the police and Family Services paid a visit to the child's parents to discuss a matter of Child Neglect, and did have to go to family court over it. So it normally is the child and parents fault, although it would vary according to circumstances.

My dogs are kept up in the backyard (my backyard is in 2 levels) - they're very placid & older but i'm sure if provoked & antagonised long enough, they would get a bit snappy. If a child does something to provoke a dog to get snappy then it's the child's fault - you cant always blame the parents, some kids are good until they are with friends, then they like to show off. You CANT blame the dog's owner either - a dog is like a person with the fact, you can only take so much from someone before you snap. Parents just have to make sure their kids know not to go near other dogs & not to throw things or anything, dog owners know they need to raise the dog to be tolerant as kids do silly things & Kids need to know there are always consequences to not being responsible. Does that make sense? Plus - with you saying the dog owner is to blame - if i had no kids, my dog was secure in the yard & was antagonised by some little kid showing off - it's not my fault i cant make my dog like all kids especially ones who cant behave - i also cant make him be more tolerant just because it's a kid annoying him & not an adult.

Well the dog owner ISNT the FIRST to blame, But there is blame there. The child is the first to blame, Teasing and taunting an animal emcompasses many things. Throwing rocks and sticks is abusing the animal and different, but shouting and screaming. Well there is a fine line there between what an animal should be taught to deal with and what not to. The childs parents are at fault, for teaching their child that its ok to do that, or not teaching them that they shouldent. The dogs owners are to blame, because they didnt teach the animal to deal with outside aggravations. What if the dog consideres a baby crying an agravation and attacks? Is the baby responsible? That being said as an owner of a large dog who is old and unable to deal with my toddler. We keep them very seperated, and if the dog EVER showed ANY signs of becoming agressive to my child, it would be put down, period. Any animal that attacks a person agravated or not, would be put down in my area, and in my home. We simply do not tolorate that. We teach our animals to deal with aggravations and annoyances. There are simply too many children in my life and family, and we wont risk one of them getting hurt. The children are taught to respect the animals ,they they are our friends, to be nice. But they arent always, toddlers cant be expected to be responsible around an animal, so we teach our animals too. Like i said, if the animal showed signs of being agressive. Its gone. Our kids are more importaint.

Every dog has the potential to attack if antagonized, it is an animal without the reasoning ability to contemplate consequences. However not every dog will just because it has that potential, some dogs are just more tolerant than others. I think it's the parent's responsibility to teach their children that dog's can be dangerous if tormented, and if a child is teasing a dog to begin with, why weren't they taught that that is inappriopriate behavior?

In my opinion, the blame should be on the parents, they should be looking after their children every second every minute and every hour. the second blame may be directed to the dog owner, if the dog is not in the cage or leashed he should be blamed . you cannot blame the child or the dog, because the child is easily amused to movements. and first reaction of the dog is to bite.

The kids' parents are to be blame. You can't blame a dog. The dog's instinct is to protect itself. You never see dogs attacking peopel for no reason. You can't keep blaming the dog's owner. Maybe the dog's owner tied up the dog and the kid tresspasses into their lawn to taunt the dog. Children should be taught to respect everything around them. How can one expect respect if one doesn't give respect? As parents, they should give the child good upbringing. Imagine what kind of person the child will grow up to be. Lets say the parents never took action to teach their child. Eventually the child gets older and starts taunting children. Then he goes to high school, he starts beating kids up because he can. He gets into the work force, he start discrimitating, etc etc....

For me no doubt about it it should be that child's parents. They should teach their child of not being around with dogs that they think is not safe or they should be with the child whenever they let him play with a dog. I dont think and never will that it would be the dog's fault.. just think about it who has the ability to learn fast.. its us humans.

depending on where it happened ..does it happened outside the house of the owner?? having pets is a great responsibility since if neglected it can harm human..how old is the child? children can be also taught by parents not to agitate animals especially dogs...maybe partially a child could be blame also..but its greater on the owner itself..

The dog owner is most Definitely NOT TO BLAME We had a dog destoyed for the same reason Our fault Not at all. the kids in the apartment downstairs would throw sticks, stones, rocks and kick him EVERY day. Our dog was great He was raised with kids (had 3 of my own) plus half neighbour hood kids playing with him Yes he attacked but hte little buggers had no respect nor cared for other life whether it was their's or anyone else's We lost a good friend and part of family Blame the rugrats of today and yesterday Wendy

I would blame the child, the parents of the child so long as the owner of the dog has made sure the animal is secure and properly treated. As a dog owner i make sure mine is well looked after and treated well and if i catch peopel teasing her i set them straight. Peopel have to be resonsible for there actiosn if you tease another person and they react by punching them to blame the person that punched or the person that teased?

i also think the dog should not be blamed for this as sometimes children are also not to blame ,i guess parents are supposed to tell the children how to behave either with human or animal.

Well i see it several different ways because of some first hand experiences. If you have a cross dog and you know that and dont take the precautions and it bites i blame the owner and myself i would not own a dog like that. Our laws state it someone gets bit by your dog the dog is put down and to me in all cases that is not fair. I had a very kind and sweet black lab she wouldnt hurt a flea let alone a child. There was a couple of children that would go by and tease her and then they started coming in our yard and started hitting her with a stick and they were hurting her so she tryed to protect herself and did bite. I lost my dog and those kids never got in any trouble nor did they learn a lesson if anything they learned we can do this to others and they have too. That to me is not fair.

Well this is areally interesting question. Children are very young to understand between right and wrong. Whatever they are taught usually comes from their parents or the society. Maybe the child has watched someone carry out the same behavior and thinks "if he/she can do it, why can't I?" So it is not the dog to blame or the child. It's the parents and society's responsibility to spread the message of treating animals with respect. After all, they are living beings too!

in my oppinion child's parents are the first to blame!

First I would blame the child's parents for not stopping the children from taunting the dog. I don't think its the dog's fault for sure. It's only protecting itself.

in my oppinion the childs parent is the first one to blame firzt for not teaching the child not to do this second for allowing it and not stepping in and stopping him!

this all depends on what type of taunting or teasing you are talking about. If the child is just saying things to the dog or just plain old taunting with no physical contact then it is no doubt the dogs fault. The dog has no idea what the child means or is actually saying so to him it is just like an adult saying good dog. Now if the child was physically teasing the day, like hitting it or something like that then the child is the one to blame. Some may say the parent, but I have never heard of a parent who specifically says don't hit a dog. Parents tell you not to hit anything, which dog qualifies in the category of anything.

This is really touchy. My initial reaction is to blame the child. I had a dog a few years ago that really loved children. His biggest danger was to accidentilly knock them over because he loved them so much. But, some kids started taunting him with holding food just out of his reach and threatenning him with sticks when he tried to reach. I caught them at it a few times, and I was not forgiving of them. The result? My dog turned mean. He started to nip at any child that came near. In the end, we had to put him down. This hurt me, as I still couldn't really blame my dog.

Both the kids parents and the dogs owners are to blame. The parents of the child need to have some responsibility as it is NOT ok for the kid to tease the dog, but the dog owners need to be able to keep the dog under control at all times, that is part of being a responsible dog owner.

In my oppinion dog´s owner is the first one to blame.