When a small girl abruptly entered the examination room as the veterinarian was going to put a service dog down for attacking a police officer, an unexpected incident occurred
Dr. Ben was still standing near the metal table, staring at the enormous reddish dog, even though the clinic should have been closed by now. The evening seemed to drag on forever, and it was raining heavily outside. Titan was the name of the dog. He had been a service dog up until recently; he was clever, strong, and had an exceptional record, but that day he had been brought in as a threat.
Beside him stood Mark, a man in military. He had a cold expression on his face and his arm was wrapped. He grasped the leash awkwardly and proceeded to say the same thing: Titan had abruptly and without cause attacked him while he was on duty.
The decision had been made, the paperwork had been signed, and the dog had been brought in because it was judged that he was too unpredictable and dangerous to be left alive.
Ben listened to all of this in quiet despite the weight he felt inside. Titan had seen plenty enraged animals, but he did not look like the monsters brought in after real attacks.
The dog laid gently, without resisting or growling, yet his whole body was taut.
Mark urged him to move swiftly, arguing that there was no time to pause, that the dog had already proved his threat, and that he might attack a child tomorrow after attacking a man today. Ben nodded because he had to follow by the rules, but just then, the examination room door gently opened.
A seven-year-old girl entered. Her hair was disheveled, she was wearing a yellow sweater, and she was soaking from the rain. It was the policeman’s daughter, Lily.
“Remain in the car, I told you!” Mark shouted.
However, the girl ignored it. She could only see the table and the dog.
Ben did not foresee what happened when Titan saw her. The dog flinched and, with his last remaining effort, turned to cover the girl with his body, letting out a soft, pitying whimper.
He didn’t try to bite, he didn’t lunge, and he didn’t act in any way violent. He just stretched out and pressed against her, as though he was striving to protect her from everything.
Lily ran to him, wrapped her arms around his neck, and pressed her face into his skull. As she sobbed, she kept claiming that Titan was good, that he was protecting her, and that he didn’t want to hurt anyone.
Ben held up his hand and stopped Mark as he attempted to take the girl away, insisting that the dog was dangerous and that this was just how he tricked everyone by acting composed.
At that particular moment, Ben saw something behind the thick fur that he had never seen before and stopped the procedure right once
A cotton strap that was unmistakably a child’s was placed underneath the collar, and there were evidence of earlier injuries that were expertly camouflaged behind the fur. Titan was holding the girl the way one holds someone they are willing to be answerable for till the very end, not merely staring at her. This child was liked by the dog.
Ben firmly proclaimed that the surgery was being stopped as he slowly straightened up. He continued by saying that the dog in front of him was not an aggressive dog but rather one that decided at the last minute to defend rather than attack, and that dangerous behavior does not always correlate to guilt.
It became obvious that Titan had not initiated the original attack once the security camera tape was examined and the events were replayed. When Mark grabbed Lily violently and yelled loudly that day, the dog responded as he had been trained for years: he put himself between the child and the danger.
The arm was struck, yet it was a defensive rather than an attacking blow.
The euthanasia ruling was overturned. Titan remained alive.
