The Vicious Doberman owner

I found this article on the Rocky Mountain News website:  Knife that killed pit bull finds way to owner’s heart.  In a nutshell, a little Pit Bull gets into a fight with a Doberman at the dog park.  The Doberman’s owner runs over with a knife and stabs the Pit Bull five times.  He also slices the dog’s throat twice.  The Pit Bull bleeds to death on the way to the Vet.  Geez!  Whatever happened to dumping a bucket of water on the dueling dogs?  Why was this guy bringing a knife to the dog park in the first place?  It was unclear which dog attacked first, but clearly the Doberman owner has a screw or three loose somewhere.

I can somewhat imagine the adrenaline rush the guy must have experienced seeing his dog in a fight — I had a similar experience several years ago.  I was walking my dog on her leash around the block when another dog got out of her yard and came after us.  My dog was a 50-pound Shepherd/Beagle mix and the attacker was a 150-pound Rottweiller.  She ran right up to my dog and bit her on the rump, nearly severing her tail.  With no time to think what to do, and scared out of my mind, I chased the Rottie away, screaming and jumping and waving my arms around like a maniac.  This worked for a moment, but then she came back.  I got in between her and my dog and started flailing about, all the while screaming at the top of my lungs.  I was aware of the possibility of getting myself hurt by getting between them, but my instinct to protect my dog overruled common sense.  And it was obvious the Rottie wanted to attack my dog more than me.  Just when I was about all out of scream, the Rottie’s owner came out and got hold of his dog.

I still don’t know what I would have done next, had he not come out when he did.  However, if I had a stick or a club, I like to think I would have used it to separate the dogs, and subdue the attacker, not beat her to death.  How did the Doberman owner manage to repeatedly stab only the Pit Bull and slice its neck twice if the two dogs were still entangled?  He would have to have a pretty good aim.  I wonder if he’s had a lot of practice with that.

One person commented on the story saying, “Dobermans and Pit Bulls do not belong in the dog park.”  That is so absurd!  Regardless of their breed, dogs who are not socialized with other dogs are the ones that do not belong.  And neither do their owners.