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Letter: Lesson to be learned from dogs' deaths

Chilliwack families mourning loss of dogs after tragic attack during lunch hour walk
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Snoopy the dog has been put down by his owners voluntarily after he attacked a smaller dog on his daily lunch hour run downtown Chilliwack.

My wife and I are the owners of the dog that killed one of the three dogs. His name was Snoopy. He was seven years old and has never been an aggressive dog. It is unfortunate that they immediately assumed my dog was a pit bull.

People need to realize not all put bulls are dangerous and hey, not that it matters, but Snoopy has no pit bull in him at all. Snoopy was a Jack Russell and Swiss mountain cross. Snoopy was treated like a king and loved and was loved by everyone that knew him. I believe this was a horrible accident and the instinct to protect was greater than common sense. We need to all realize that dogs are not human and instincts play the largest role whether we like it or not.

That horrible day my wife took our dogs on their daily run like she did every day. As she came around the corner of a trailer on the street they were all surprised by the three dogs on a leash. The one came towards Millie (our smaller dog) and my wife and we believe Snoopy was caught off guard and his instinct went into play and the horrific happened. My wife and I are devastated for the poor small dog and their owners. If this was reversed and happened to my Snoopy or Millie I would fight to have that dog put down and I would not stop until it happened. My wife and I decided to do just that. My beloved Snoopy is gone and the chance of that can never happen again. Snoopy was my best friend.

If there is anything I have learned in this is exactly what Rita said in the article. All large dogs and I don't care how well behaved or mannered you THINK your dog is, in public should be muzzled. I also believe that no one should be walking three dogs at once either as that is just to hard to control as well. We live in a world with so much population now, that leisure walks are just not possible anymore. Anything can happen.

We are sorry for your loss, Rita. And we are sorry for ours as well.

Sam Roberge