Owning a pet means that you are responsible for what they do.

Cuddling with your furry friend, feeding, and training him aren’t the only duties you have when you’re a pet owner.

When you bring an animal to your home, you need to take the responsibility of socializing him to teach him how to behave around other people, children, and animals.

However, no matter how hard you try, bad things happen sometimes.

In this blog post, I would like to share my personal experience and the story of my dog, Johnny.

Your Pet is an Animal, After all

We love our furry friends to death and treat them like our family members.

However, you need to realize that they still have animalistic instincts that drive them.

My Pitbull, Johnny, went through a glass window (which is an uncontrollable act) to confront a Yorkshire Terrier and a child. The Terrier was injured during the accident and had to be put down.

As for me, I was left to face the legal consequences.

The Psychological Responsibilities of Owning a Pet

Since the incident was so severe, I had to decide to put my dog down.

That’s not a decision that one can take lightly.

It was not easy for me to come to this decision, but it was something that had to be done. I never thought I would find myself in such a tough situation, but, I knew what my dog was capable of and that it wasn’t safe for people to be around him after the incident.

 Putting down your own pet is one of the toughest decisions that you might have to take.

So, you need to understand that pets aren’t toys or cute, cuddly things.

Bad things were also said about me having raised a dog that attacked another dog. People assumed that I was responsible for my dog’s aggression.

But, dogs are animals. You cannot teach them how to act around people, but you cannot fully control their actions.

The Legal Consequences

As hard as it was to put my dog down, there were also the legal consequences that I had to face.

I had to pay the fees to the plaintiff, which were about $1,000.

But that wasn’t all.

I was also given a “threatening and menacing charge” along with an unknown criminal record. The latter adjudicated after six years.

Pets Aren’t Toys

I shared my personal experience with you to help you realize that pets aren’t accessories or toys.

When you decide to bring an animal into your life, you’re legally liable for any damages that they cause.

This is something you need to think of before getting a pet.

Do you have questions? Leave them in the comments.