Dog may be killed

In recent years, the pendulum has swung too far: People are so worried about nebulous concerns of the collective that basic nature is denied.

That's what all this "danger to yourself or others" bushwa in the nation's "mental hygiene" laws is about. There's a whole system that's so concerned about the convenience of a few that it's willing to gut someone's basic human rights without even any due process.

I think the same concept is at work now in Wake County, North Carolina. Now a dog that reportedly bit a jogger has been seized by the county from her owners over this incident and may be killed by the county.

One thing is for sure: Killing the dog is unconscionable to me. And 30 years ago, the dog would have probably been safe from this fate. But not these days.

In modern America, a man who intentionally almost burned his own son to death walks free. An athlete who gnaws his opponent's ear off faces almost no penalty. A maniac who runs over participants in an antiwar rally with his truck suffers no punishment other than being fined a few dollars.

But a dog bites someone, and it's over.

I don't know the dog's owners, so I have no idea whether they'd been mistreating the dog. I don't know the bite victim, so I have no idea whether she provoked the dog. But make no mistake about it: When dogs feel threatened, they can bite. Dogs will be dogs.

I was biking in northern Kentucky about a year ago and had a confrontation with a scary dog. This was the most frightening dog I'd ever seen. If I had been bitten, I feel that would have been the fault of the dog's owners - not a reason to kill the dog.

I'd rather save a dog than worry about the convenience of the human population.

(Source: http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/1463526.html)