Cautionary Tale: So you think you want a Dutch Shepherd
Posted: Fri Jul 06, 2018 12:03 pm
Last night over on the DSF Facebook page an angry gentlemen posted a rant about the Dutch Shepherd Breed and the dumbass people who are not professionals who would have them as pets. He subsequently removed his own post about 20 minutes later.
Apparently while walking his Maltese in his quiet neighborhood, he was attacked out of nowhere by a Dutch Shepherd and a Lab. His dog suffered severe life threatening injuries including a mutilated face and a ripped open stomach. He stated that the owner of the DS and Lab had accidentally let the dogs loose.
I was actually on Facebook when it was posted, and I immediately was angry and defensive. I knew I had to digest everything he said before responding (or determining if I would respond or delete his post).
I also remembered this news item from April regarding another attack by a Dutch Shepherd.
Thought 1
I am only seeing one side of the story.
Thought 2
Did he go on any Labrador Retriever pages to rant about the stupid Lab owners?
Thought 3
What can of worms am I opening up by allowing this post to remain?
Thought 4
What was he doing that he didn't notice two large dogs coming towards him?
Thought 5
I started empathizing with his suffering dog.
Thought 6
Why was the DS/Lab owner so irresponsible?
Thought 7
Is it possible that this guy did something to provoke the situation?
...
On-and-on, back and forth, I kept wondering how to handle the post. By the time I sat down on my PC to respond, the post was removed. Let me be clear that I did not remove his post.
My biggest problem with the whole situation was singling out the Dutch Shepherd breed. Heck, a woman was mauled to death by Dachshunds last month.
The bottom line is how important it is to be vigilant and responsible owners, discourage back yard and unscrupulous breeders, support DS rescue organizations, and educate people who think they want to own one.
That is all.