Hello; I understand your point, I just do not agree with it. The rules are somewhat different for animals than people, but perhaps only in degree. There are consequences for humans that attack other humans. Humans usually get more protections under our various legal systems in terms of a right to trials and such. Humans can talk and explain an action that may be justified. Should a human attack another person and get caught there will be a price paid, sometimes up to and including death.
In this particular situation the dog was in a cage and the boy apparently was not in a position to hurt the animal. Nor is there, so far, any indication that the boy was trying to hurt the dog. The dog was safe and likely not being threatened. The dog made a bad judgment choice and for some reason decided to bite a finger off and swallow it. Even had the dog not been killed right away we could not ask it why. Once an animal makes such a bad judgment call, it can only be suspected that similar bad judgments may happen again. This is a reason why an animal that attacks a person should be put down.
I suspect that over the thousands of years that it took for dogs to be domesticated, a lot of dogs with bad judgment were culled. A dog that would attack a person was likely put down and the ones that got along well were kept. That practice is, for the most part, the way people see it still. I do not want a dog that bites/attacks around my home and hope that my neighbors do not keep such dogs.
We, people, made the rules because we can. The moral indignation is an interesting point of view but not very practical in day to day living. Some animals refused to be domesticated and are not kept as pets. They remain wild. Dogs made a deal with us over a period of time by allowing themselves to be domesticated. Part of the deal was that they not bite, attack or eat our fingers. Cattle made the same deal and some will likely say they did not make as good a deal as the dogs did. Biting breaks the deal for the most part.
Some dogs are somewhat free to bite such as those trained by the police and the military. They can bite and attack within the parameters of their training.
I taught biology/ecology classes for several decades and also understand what you are saying about how people treat the environment. That does not apply to pet dogs. Our pet dogs/cats are no longer wild animals; they have become an extension/accessory to our way of life. How much wild life is impacted by our dogs and especially our cats. I spent the last few days breaking up the new nest that a pair of robbins have been trying to build in my car port. The car port makes a great nesting place as it is protected from the weather. Last year robbins nested there and had young raised to near ready to leave the nest. The cat prints on my truck windshield and roof told the story. I found the feathers of the robbins around the yard. I hope that the birds find a better place to raise a family. I know the cat will be back around at some point.
