If your dog kills someone while protecting you from death does it need to be put down

[Rassman]

Sorry for the extremely long title but my friends and I were having an argument over this!

Say your in your back yard and someone attackes you with intention to kill you(Motive does nto matter) he comes at you with a knife; you push him and he falls down. With the knife out of this hand your dog tears his throat and kills him. So will the country or province/state make you put your dog down?

So I personally think that this should be treated as self-defense as your dog was protecting you from dying. I think the dog does not need to be put down(Unless he tastes blood and for whatever reason starts attacking people at random). So does anyone know if there is a law in Canada or the United States that says if your dog kills someone while defending you from death needs to be put down?

[Feio]

Depends on how the dog kills the person. If it just wants to stop the person from doing whatever he/she does and accidently kills said person, it's okay. But if the dog goes at the person with the intent of killing him/her and does that in an obvious way like tearing the person's skin/arms/legs apart and not even stopping after said person dies, it's not okay. Hard to know about the dog's motives though.

[Rassman]

Depends on how the dog kills the person. If it just wants to stop the person from doing whatever he/she does and accidently kills said person, it's okay. But if the dog goes at the person with the intent of killing him/her and does that in an obvious way like tearing the person's skin/arms/legs apart and not even stopping after said person dies, it's not okay. Hard to know about the dog's motives though.

Thanks for the response and I do agree that what you said makes more sense. I do not believe dogs or any animal should be killed because they were trying to defend you. Although if the dog starts attacking people for no reason then it should be put down!

[kuukl1]

Say your in your back yard and someone attackes you with intention to kill you(Motive does nto matter) he comes at you with a knife; you push him and he falls down. With the knife out of this hand your dog tears his throat and kills him.

Wait, so you disarm the person from the weapon and THEN kill him? Pretty sure that will get you charged with a crime and your dog put down, as it should.

[Tyrven]

Sadly the reason the dog did it normally doesn't change the fact most areas would make you put the dog down. Just like in most cities or states if a dog bites somebody 2 or more times it is destroyed. Dogs might be able to sense tension but the fact they attack a person isn't exactly a good thing. Say you were playing with a friend and the dog attacked them? Its great that they saved you but hostile actions and animals are a bad combo and it opens a Pandora's box of issues. Having said all of this I have had a 110 pound Lab help me out of a jam where 4 ppl tried to break into my home thanks to him they left hurt and never came back. The dog however was a bit different after that and while I love him for helping me stay safe because of what happened it was a little less safe being around him after that.

[Rassman]

Wait, so you disarm the person from the weapon and THEN kill him? Pretty sure that will get you charged with a crime and your dog put down, as it should.

No sorry it falls out of his hand when he falls to the ground then your dog attacks him and kills him.

[Zypherz]

Would the dog get put down? Like said above, probably.

Do I agree with it? No. I hate how animals get treated nowhere the same as humans just because, well, they're dogs. He intended to kill; I fail to see what's so bad about him getting killed im the process due to a dog protecting his owner.

If it happened completely out of nowhere I may have different views, but for self defence, even if he was disarmed - A dog's life shouldn't have to end because it didn't understand that its owner was in fact safe, despite the fact that a man came at him with a knife.

[Raidou]

I don't think a dog should be put down for protecting it's owner.

I think for the dog to live they would need a lot of evidence to suggest that the person did intend to kill you and that the dog didn't just attack on the spot without a warning. If your dog had a history of agression it more thank likely wouldn't do the dog any favours.

I'm not actually sure of the law here in the UK but pretty sure we're not allowed to kill on our own property even if it's for self defence, unless it was some kind of accidental killing.

but yeah it depends on the evidence i think.

I've thought about this question myself since my dogs are particuarly protective of my family, sometimes too much, I wouldn't want them put down for protecting us

[Rassman]

Sadly the reason the dog did it normally doesn't change the fact most areas would make you put the dog down. Just like in most cities or states if a dog bites somebody 2 or more times it is destroyed. Dogs might be able to sense tension but the fact they attack a person isn't exactly a good thing. Say you were playing with a friend and the dog attacked them? Its great that they saved you but hostile actions and animals are a bad combo and it opens a Pandora's box of issues. Having said all of this I have had a 110 pound Lab help me out of a jam where 4 ppl tried to break into my home thanks to him they left hurt and never came back. The dog however was a bit different after that and while I love him for helping me stay safe because of what happened it was a little less safe being around him after that.

Interesting storey; I also thought that after a dog killed/attacked someone they acted differently!

[Combooticus]

in some states the dog would prolly be hailed a hero but in others it would be put down in a heart beat

I guess it just depends doesnt it like how did the attacker/intruder die did he die of injurys or did the dog tear him apart

if its the lata then i would definately not feel safe around the dog and would prolly have to get rid of it incase it attacks and kills a innocent child or the postman

[Arog]

I think the answer is going to differ depending on state/country and there won't be any one answer. MY OPINION, the dog is protecting his territory and his master, that's what they do. If I were a judge and had final say then the dog did right by me.

[ngc2440]

I don't know, I think my dog might get away with it. What with having a bad leg, no teeth except a couple in the back and being a chihuahua the little guy might get a medal.

[Shon237]

Besides animal cruelty dogs do not have a lobbyist working for them in Washington or state level. They do not not many rights. Maybe a good attorney could argue "self defense" if home invasion and dog attacked and killed a criminal. Highly unlikely even if you and your dog are 99.9999% in the right.

[Judge Malthred]

To answer the title of your thread; no. Hell no. If they try to put my dog down for killing someone in my self defense they will have to kill me first.

[Arog]

Additionally I think the dog should get a medal for his loyalty.

[jazen]

Dog deserves a medal.

[Friendlychap]

My father is a police officer in the dog-squad, has been for over 20 years now. I've grown up around police dogs. This is what he says.

A dog that is follower (properly trained) will not defend you. A dog that defends you thinks it is the alpha/boss. A dog wouldn't defend you because it "loves you" a dog will defend you if it considers you it's property. Another case is the dog guarding it's own territory...which again falls back onto the owner being at fault. A follower dog will not defend it's territory from strangers, that's where you as the alpha come in.

Police dogs are different, those dogs think it is a game...they're trained to go into that "mode". If these dogs weren't properly trained they would be attacking everything around them when at jobs...and that wouldn't go so well for fellow officers. A police dog can go from tearing your ass off to licking you the next minute.

That is why dogs are put down for that....because follower dogs do not attack threats unless the dog itself feels threatened. A follower well trained dog will stay out of the way. An untrained dog that isn't a follower is considered a dangerous dog, a dog that assumes it's in the alpha roll (which involves attacking/defending it's property) is automatically placed into the "dangerous dog" section.

[Prokne]

Sorry for the extremely long title but my friends and I were having an argument over this!

Say your in your back yard and someone attackes you with intention to kill you(Motive does nto matter) he comes at you with a knife; you push him and he falls down. With the knife out of this hand your dog tears his throat and kills him. So will the country or province/state make you put your dog down?

So I personally think that this should be treated as self-defense as your dog was protecting you from dying. I think the dog does not need to be put down(Unless he tastes blood and for whatever reason starts attacking people at random). So does anyone know if there is a law in Canada or the United States that says if your dog kills someone while defending you from death needs to be put down?

If the dog kills someone while protecting you from death I dont really see any difference if another person killed the guy attacking you. The government would prosecute a person for aiding another person in this way and probably wouldnt punish a dog either. I dont know any laws that says when you have to put down animals that attack people though. I know they exist but I dont know what they say.

[Carlucill]

What if the dog was a wolf and the guy it attacked was a prince?

[Hanto]

In my opinion, I think the dog should be allowed to live. Even if the guy had been disarmed by falling to the ground, the dog does not possess the rational thinking to understand that the guy may or may no longer be a threat. He was protecting his owner when the owner was faced with deadly harm.

Dog walks free imo.