Dogs bite: it's the animal's instinct

But they are wrong.

A three-year-old boy in southern Vietnam's An Giang Province was playing with the family's German Shepherd on Monday when the dog bit him and gashed open the child's belly. He had to be rushed to hospital with severe injuries but is now stable.

Earlier, an 82-year-old woman in Binh Duong Province, which borders HCMC, was bitten to death by the family’s pit bull.

These cases should ring alarms alerting us to the uncontrolled breeding of aggressive dogs in Vietnam.

Animals, big or small, attack when they feel threatened. Even a small cat or dog can bite or scratch its opponent, and a little bird can peck their eyes.

If parents want their children to play with the family’s pets, they should first teach the children how to interact with the animals, instead of leaving the kids to do whatever they want.

Mastiffs and pit bulls are aggressive dogs. The German shepherd is more gentle but is not supposed to be a pet dog either. Huskies are not aggressive, but they are active and need a large space. If they are kept in a small house, they can get irritated and become prone to attacking others.

I don’t think a family with children or old people should raise these dogs. They should opt for a golden retriever, which is a calmer canine. If they want a dog just to guard the house, just choose a Vietnamese dog.

People raises dogs and cats, so it’s our responsibility when they attack someone.

A dog owner is responsible for guarding their dogs. A parent is responsible for guarding their children.

We cannot ban people from keeping dogs, just like we cannot ban people from eating dogs.

Instead, we should have strict regulations about keeping dogs. For example, a person should register to own an aggressive dog. They should need to join courses on how to raise and train the dogs, maintain a healthy environment for the dogs and a safe environment for other people.