in answere to anne uk she came in as a stray on a bank holiday from a friend known by the rescue center,not a personal friend,i think a friend of a friend,thats how we was able to go bk and check her history the owner of the rescue trusted her without asking questions,his mistake cost the little child dearly x

Completely agree, well said

Yes but she was still what the rescue thought was a stray, doesn't matter who brought her in. They knew nothing of her history and then after only a month rehome her with children

Good-on you dollyknockers :smt001

Iron bar! - she was very lucky to survive

yes i know that and im sure people make mistakes even when it puts people at risk, needless to say i no longer work there, there are lots of things they done i never agreed with,i got a cat outta there he had been so badly scalded with hot water from his previous owners,and i took him to work ith me in the racing yard,he hated men and whenever any man came to the door he would jump out from under the mobile home and tear there legs to shreds if i didnt get him off in time,he hated living in and slept in the litter box and crapped on the floor,in the summer he moved to the barn,and was a good ratter,imagine that cat in a house situation,he would have been a real danger to kids he was a nasty cat,but i loved him

Bless him, sounds like you gave him a good life :smt001

Moobli - you've started a really interesting thread here!

My honest answer is - I just don't know.

It interests me that many people are saying that dog aggressive dogs should be not be pts but human aggressive dogs should.

The reason I say this is that to a certain extent you have less control over what dogs approach your dog than humans. It's all very well to be a responsible owner with a dog aggressive dog and keep it on a lead whenever it is out of your property, but it can be difficult when a loose dog comes bounding across the park, owner calls - dog ignores. How do you avoid a confrontation in that situation? Admittedly there are the foolish humans who still try and pat a dog, despite the owners warnings, but I think this happens more with dogs than with humans. Therefore I think the risk may be higher of a dog aggressive dog biting a dog than a human aggressive dog biting a human.

For the record I don't think that dog aggressive dogs should be pts but I don't think that every human aggressive dog should be pts. (By this I am talking a snap / bite - not savaging).

Personally I don't think that a dog should be expected to tolerate abuse from a human without finally snapping. If someone was harrasing me in a place I couldn't get away from, say on a train for example. I move away - they follow, I ask them to stop - they don't, I shout at them to stop - they don't. I hit them - they are shocked and back away and leave me alone. Why should a pet be expected to tolerate abuse that we should not.

My own dog Max is a rescue and it was a private rehoming. For the record he has never bitten a person (I don't know about before we had him - but I doubt it) but he was very fear agressive when we had him, this has improved through hard work over the time we have had him.

Despite him being a non-biter of people I still think it is unlikely that he would have been rehomed if he had gone into a rescue centre as his behaviour would be described as aggressive. He is a very large dog and he barks at strangers quite forcefully to get them to back away from him if they come too close. I personally think he would have been considered too much of a liability, particularly given his size. I think that he would have been pts if he had gone into certain rescues and that saddens me.

He has a safe home with us. Our home has been dog-proofed so that he cannot get out. Our only visitors are family and friends. We walk him on lead in rural areas. He will never know the feeling of running free in a park where there are lots of other dogs playing. People will never stop to pat him in the street and tell him what a good dog he is and that does sadden me. But I know what his destiney would have been if he had not met us and I know that he has a better quality of life with us than many dogs have.

So I think, as others have said, each case should be taken on merit. A dog that has snapped at his owners before going into rescue should not always have to pay with his life because of human failings.

Sadly, as with most things in life though, it comes down to money and can a rescue afford to try and rehabilitate a dog with a lots of issues when there are a dozen dogs who could be rehomed comparitively easily.

Sorry - I have gone on a lot here as well!

I think its hard, some people would say that a dog who has had a snap is human aggressive, to me a snap is a warning, its a threat that does not make contact with a human, to some folk it means something else, a nip/bite to me is a one off, nip or bite, connecting with the person but not breaking skin, more of a sore bruised thing, to some it means diff, and human aggressive dog to me is one that goes in for a bite, breaks skin, then goes back in for another one, keeping it up untill its chased who ever far enough or they manage to escape the dog, I guess its down to what your definition of human aggressive dog is,

know what gets on my nerves is these idiots who say i can trust my dog with anything or anyone.BULL,all dogs are unpredictable. I believe some kids are worse behaved than the dogs and when it all goes pear shaped its the dogs fault. I agree a dog is entitled to a quality life the only time i would consider having a dog pts is rage in cockers it drives them crazy. Having visited the pdsa kennels some time ago i would prefer to see a dog have some kind of life than none at all. So theres worse things in life than an aggressive dog and like shona says in the correct hands its amazing to see the progress they can make when re-homed.

As with human aggression, dog on dog aggression I think is entirely dependent on the trainability of the dog and the severity of the aggression.
The majority of dog aggressive dogs can be managed if they can't be cured. A secure garden and experienced owner is essential. The dog can still be given the freedom to exercise off lead with a muzzle and 100ft long-line. If the dog cannot be walked this way safely even after intensive training and socialising and are still intent on attacking any dog they see, then imo I think the safest and kindest thing to do is have him/her put to sleep.