Dog owners have the worst case of perception. For that reason, I have found employment in the animal control field for over thirty years. Neighbors, on the other hand have finely tuned perception. There is nothing worse than a dog owner maintaining one or more aggressive dogs behind a flimsy fence. Commonsense would dictate that the dog owner would want to keep his neighbors safe. My career has been founded on the lack of commonsense that is found in many dog owners.
The problem with perception is the legal aspects associated with whether a person’s perception is real or imagined. Until the aggressive dogs break through the fence and mauls a neighborhood child, the perception is imagined. It is most unfortunate that a child has to suffer to prove the perception real.
People who choose to own aggressive dogs are evidence of a fracture of our society in which these folks believe their rights are greater than the risk they place on their neighbors. I have witnessed neighborhoods in which owners of (perceived) aggressive dogs are turned loose. I have seen the same neighbors begin to carry means of protection from the dogs.
The problem with pet ownership is that there is no examination that proves a person fitness to be a pet owner. The fact that people like myself have made careers in this field is evidence that we live in a world of unfit pet owners.
Parents should constantly watch their children because they are usually the litmus test when determining the intent of a dog’s actions.