What To Do If Your Dog Bites?

I received a comment on our guest post "Dogs and the Law in Israel". Before publishing it or accepting it, I decided to do some fact finding. The truth is that the comment requires more than a one or two line answer and hence I am making a post about it.

Here is the comment sent in by an anonymous reader of our blog:
 "Our dog has a history of biting strangers. Our dog has been quarentiened 2 times now because of it. Today he bit someone and the police got involved. Will the police put him down like they do in America? Hes a border collie so he isn't a harmful breed. He only attacks when he feels threatened and only to strangers. We don't know what to do anymore."

After doing some fact finding, I still don't have all the answers but here are a few:

1) A dog who bites people is a dangerous dog no matter what the breed is. As a result in answer to your comment that your dog is a border collie, that is irrelevant. The fact remains that your dog is dangerous and you need to take steps to protect others and your dog.

2) Taking care of a dog is both a responsibility and an expense. If you lack the expense to properly care for your dog, then it is best for all concerned to find another home for the dog. If you do have the funds, then it is your responsibility to do whatever it takes to make sure that your dog will not bite anyone, including strangers. Firstly this means that whenever you walk your dog, it is your responsibility to put a muzzle on the dog. Secondly, you need to take your dog to dog training lessons which may or may not help. You can ask the dog trainers for further advise regarding this problem.

3) Owning a dog that is dangerous is a problem in Israel both by Torah law and by secular law and the responsibility is on you to remedy the situation. 

4) If your dog has bitten already, the chances are that things will only get worse, meaning the dog will bite again unless you take steps to remedy the situation.

5) In a legal group I networked in to try to find some answers, there was some consensus that it is irresponsible that the dog has bitten more than once. 

I am not a lawyer and can not answer what will happen with your dog. I can say that a dog bit is very painful and can be harmful. Dogs have strong teeth and powerful jaws. I would recommend turning to an organization such as the Israeli SPCA or your vet. Also find legal assistance.

For anyone else reading this blog post, please be aware that having a pet is a responsibility and up to you to take care of your pet in the best possible way to ensure health and safety both for your pet and for others.

I trust you take the appropriate measures to take care of your dog or other pet.