Man bites dog in unequal contest

Don Farmers latest editorial

There is an old saying in journalism that dog bites man is not a story but man bites dog is.

Well, after 40 years in the business I can finally say that unlikely scenario has become a reality.

Some git in the United States actually bit a dog while, at the same time, choking the poor canine with such force he popped one of its eyes from its socket.

By all accounts the man - if we condescend to call him that - made sure the encounter was an uneven contest, a true sign of a bully.

The dog was a small shih tzu and its 37-year-old attacker was a 2.03m high, 170kg fatty.

The Florida halfwit was taken to court and charged with felony animal cruelty and is facing a prison term.

There are times when I wish I was a court judge and this is one of them. My judgment would certainly involve a jail term but I would step outside the square at sentencing and request a rematch.

Instead of the 37-year-old being matched up against a small shih tzu he would be pitted against a fully-grown, half-starved pit bull terrier or its equivalent.

Apparently the man's mother told deputies her son had been drinking and had been teasing the dog, at least she appears to have given an honest account of his behaviour but I hope she was not suggesting it was excusable because he was drunk.

Drunkenness excuses nothing either in the eyes of the law or in the judgment of any reasonable person.

It may help explain how bad behaviour occurred but it should never be used as a mitigating factor and certainly not as a reason why violence was dished out to any living creature, be it dog, human or whatever.

The end result of the Florida man-bites-dog incident was that veterinarians were able to put the little dog's damaged eye back in but it was to no avail really as the shih tzu will remain blind in that eye for the remainder of its life. It would be interesting to be in the prison exercise yard when the Florida halfwit was asked by fellow villains what his crime had been - "I bit a shih tzu" doesn't sound all that big and brave.