Dog owners need to be held responsible

LAST MONTH, Key Peninsula veterinarian Lisa Woods lost the last of her farm animals, a goat and a sheep, to two dogs that breached the fence that surrounds her pasture while they chased a wild deer. Two other goats, owned by one of Woods’ staff members, also were killed. The animals were considered pets.

It was the second time in less than two years that free-roaming dogs made their way onto Woods’ property and killed her pets. Although at least one of the dogs involved in the first incident was a mixed breed that bore the ever-crucified pit bull genes, Woods said any dog could go on a similar attack under certain circumstances.

The two dogs involved in the latest attack were a mixed-breed St. Bernard, dogs used to rescue people in the snow, and an Australian shepherd, one of man’s long-time useful workers on farms. The fact remains, dogs have millions of years of evolution that include a pack mentality, which we haven’t extinguished by domesticating them.

Humans are hardly one to look down our noses at violence in others. We have serial killers, rapists, terrorists, mass murderers and stark-raving lunatics in our gene pool. We are prone to a pack mentality ourselves: Remember how you felt after 9/11?

Woods said she’s read message boards that blame her for not fortifying her fence well enough to protect her animals. Yet the dogs dug under the fence and probably would have been able to dig under an electric fence, as well.

We use locks on our homes and cars as increased safety measures. We keep prized possessions in safes, and we have alarm systems installed both at home and at our businesses. But are we properly fortified?

The bottom line is responsibility. Woods compared the dogs’ pack mentality to that of youth gangs who run around at night and terrorize society. Are the parents of those children responsible when their kids commit crimes? The law says they are — at least until they’re 18.

And when someone’s child does something horrendous, it’s easy to say they were running with the wrong crowd, influenced by someone else’s bad kid. It’s hard to accept that your own children could be doing something awful.

The problem is, there are a whole bunch of “someone else’s kids” — in this case, unsecured animals who are prone to a pack mentality — running around and doing terrible things. Cities with perpetual gang problems are cracking down, with civic groups demanding that gang members’ parents do time for their children’s actions. The same must be true with a pet.

When you bring a pet into your home, it should be treated as one of the family. And part of that treatment is being responsible for its welfare and safety. Dogs that are allowed to run loose are in danger of being struck by cars or attacked by another animal. And if they do something wrong while they’re out, the owner should take responsibility.

The dogs involved in last month’s attack were euthanized. Their owners, who didn’t want to carry a hefty insurance policy or deal with the potential liability of keeping dangerous dogs — part of Pierce County’s crackdown — handed them over to authorities.

Unfortunately, this incident is not isolated. It’s happened twice on one person’s property, but once was too many.