Dogs and self defence

Some of you may feel this is a bit of a daft question, but say if I was walking my dog and an attacker decides to attack me. If my dog was to protect me and attack the attacker, would this be classed as part of self defence or would the dog have to be put down?

thats not a daft question at all, in fact its a damn good question. ill look forward to seeing an answer on this one.

Haven't got a clue

However, I guess alot of things would be taken into account such as, was the dog on a lead?
Was the dog of a legal breed?
Did you command the dog to attack or did it do this of it's own free will?
What level of threat we you under?
What were your actions when you realised your dog was attacking the attacker? - Did you try to pull the dog off or keep dangling bits of meat around the attackers neck to entice the dog on further (that last bit was my mixed up mind - but quite like the idea of it)

It's all down to whether you as an individual have acted in a way which is seen as responsible and reasonable under the circumstances.
Which can mean that if the circumstances were such that any ordinary individual could be forgiven for being frozen with fear and completely scared out of their wits - then doing nothing to stop the dog MAY still be seen as a reasonable response.

The law does recognise that in the heat of the moment, and when under extreme levels of fear and personal threat, we are not expected to be able to deduce what the minimum level of force required to eliminate the immediate threat would be.

Not sure if that answers the question - I guess we need a member of the Police force, CPS or Legal system to help out here

Nice post Al good call.

I wonder if hong kong phooey had this kinda grief and debate,
he was one VERY HARD POOCH.....

hahaha.lol

Knowing my dog, he'd probs just lickem to death.lol

Hong Kong Phooey was fine - cos he was just a mild mannered janiter - but also faster than the human eye

A bit like me running away from a confrontation.

Im quick i tells ya, quick. and ill proves it to any man who wants to argue with me.

Now you sounds like Popeye

Erg Erg Erg

Like i said....

I am not arguing, I ams what I am and thats all that I am....