Service Dog Killed on Portland Bus

bus.jpg

Late last month, a Pomeranian service dog was attacked and killed by a 50-lb mixed-breed dog as the large dog and its owner were about to exit the bus.

The dog apparently showed no signs of aggression before attacking the Pomeranian, whose neck was broken in the attack.

While the Pomeranian was a service dog and allowed to ride the bus under TriMet rules, the attacking dog was not supposed to be on the bus.

The owner of the dog was not arrested, but was barred from riding TriMet trains and buses for 30 days.

Multnomah County Animal Services will be reviewing a copy of the surveillance tape from the bus.

Source: The Associated Press

K9 Commentary:

It wasn’t clear in the original article whether the dog was taken away from the owner, but I hope they did take the dog away.

As a dog owner, if you have any shred of belief that your dog might attack another dog, then you just have to understand that the last thing you need to be doing is putting your dog in a situation where an attack might happen. A cramped and crowded bus definitely qualifies as being a stressful situation for a dog.

I’m outraged that the only punishment the dog’s owner was given was a 30-day banishment from public transportation. Does that even qualify as a slap on the wrist?

Do you trust this headline?

Based on recent headline ratings, 50% of this readership currently trusts the local media, which has an average score of 86% regionally and is currently trending negative.

50%

Media Trust Score50%

In