I work for the Police and had a call this evening from a chap who was desperately trying to get contact details for a dog warden because their dog had bitten his wife so they wanted to get rid of him. He said they have had the dog for 5 years and he has always been placid and lovely but today while his wife was hoovering he bit her for no apparent reason and she had to go to hospital for stitches so they were either going to get rid of him or have him put down. I know I should have been non judgemental and just given him the numbers but I found myself launching into a million questions and trying to convince him to look at why it had happened before he put him down. Am I a meanie? I just think if my dog went for me I would try to work out why, especially if it was so out of character. But now I feel a bit mean for having a go at him and thus I am sat here typing at 3:45 am....crazy I hear you say? I can understand his wife was petrified but they wanted to get rid of the dog tonight - tomorrow was too late and I wonder if given a bit of time she might feel differently. Any opinions?

If I was your employer I would be saying do your job, it is not your business but as a fellow dog owner I too would have wanted to point out that the dog was probable ill, to go for 5 years with no problems to bite that badly would be for some reason and that they were reacting to what must have been a huge shock. Think I would have suggested that their vet was called and an appointment made to take a look at the dog, they could then take it from there.

It doesn't make you a bad person because you tryed to save the dog's life by asking all them questions.I feel really sorry for you for feeling guilty when you done the best you could for the dog it's not your fault.
Kirsty

Well done Charlie !!!!!!!!

Thanks I feel a bit better now! I thought the dog was maybe poorly too but the man wasn't having any of it. Hope they managed to rehome him but somehow I doubt it. It's funny how I take calls about all sorts of things but only get worked up when they involve animals!!

I think uou did an admirable thing - like you say the man may have just been exhibiting a panic reaction, and may see reason in the light of day, and visit the vet.
However, makes you wonder if the reason he was being so closed to alternatives is because he wasnt giving you a full story?  Just a thought.
I work for a rescue that has a kennelling contract for strays, and i know that dog wardens work 9-5pm, Mon-Fri only.
Also, the role as laid down by the Environmental Protection Act (1992, I think), states that all councils should employ (either directly or sub-contracted) a dog warden whose role is only to pick up 'straying' dogs from the street. It doesnt oblige them to be a 'collection agency' for people's pet dogs, so unless he could have persuaded the particular dog warden personally, I doubt if they would have got involved anyway - especially if a private company. Round my way for example, the companies that have been employed for this service have been a security company, and Cannon Hygiene! (whose main business is toilets and rat control). They are paid for each stray picked up from the streets, and the council would not reimburse them in this case (unless they changed the story, of course!). The council in turn either provides their own kennels (very rare) or hires a boarding kennels or rescue centre for their purposes.
In London, the Met police have one contract with Battersea dogs home -
if a dog is picked up off the streets by a constable or member of the public, they will ring ring one of Batterseas drivers to pick it up (they work round the clock). The station will probably have a small holding kennel round the back. These people would have been lucky also if the police agreed to be a "collection service" for them.
Kiwi 

I think uou did an admirable thing - like you say the man may have just been exhibiting a panic reaction, and may see reason in the light of day, and visit the vet.
However, makes you wonder if the reason he was being so closed to alternatives is because he wasnt giving you a full story?  Just a thought.
I work for a rescue that has a kennelling contract for strays, and i know that dog wardens work 9-5pm, Mon-Fri only.
Also, the role as laid down by the Environmental Protection Act (1992, I think), states that all councils should employ (either directly or sub-contracted) a dog warden whose role is only to pick up 'straying' dogs from the street. It doesnt oblige them to be a 'collection agency' for people's pet dogs, so unless he could have persuaded the particular dog warden personally, I doubt if they would have got involved anyway - especially if a private company. Round my way for example, the companies that have been employed for this service have been a security company, and Cannon Hygiene! (whose main business is toilets and rat control). They are paid for each stray picked up from the streets, and the council would not reimburse them in this case (unless they changed the story, of course!). The council in turn either provides their own kennels (very rare) or hires a boarding kennels or rescue centre for their purposes.
In London, the Met police have one contract with Battersea dogs home -
if a dog is picked up off the streets by a constable or member of the public, they will ring ring one of Batterseas drivers to pick it up (they work round the clock). The station will probably have a small holding kennel round the back - you'd know better, but I suspect that the police dont have the time to deal with non-stray issues either?

Sorry about the double post Charlie. I dont know why but only on this forum when i press post it doesnt show up so i press post again, and it comes up twice. Ive had this problem before, but please refer to my second post anyway, as i forgot you are a police employee, so my first post may have been inappropriate as it was telling you about police procedure! Hence my changing it to a question in my second post!
Cheers, kiwi

Well Done Charlie, I would expect a very good reason for placid dog to bite for no reason. I have labs and ESP now, but years ago when my daughters were very young 4 & 7 I had an Old English Sheepdog, who bit my youngest daughter on her face, I was not in the room and had never had any reason to worry about leaving child and dog alone together, I help dog yelp and daughter scream, I ran into livingroom where dog was cowering in the corner and daughter was lying on floor screaming and blood running from her, I calmed daughter and dog down, child stopped crying but dog did not understand what had happened, he knew he had done something wrong and huddled in a corner but came out to check on my daughter, and kept licking her, her wounds were not too bad as she had instinctively turned her face away and he caught her head, ear and neck, I asked her what she had done to make the dog bite and she had said she had not done anything, I believed her, I aslo knew that my dog would not bite without justification. So I asked my daughter to do exactly what she was doing when the soots bit her, soots was sitting on the floor and she was kneeling beside him, at this point dog was taller than daughter, she cuddled him putting one arm over shoulders and one arm under his neck, at this point he turned to bite then pulled away.  I removed my daughter and started to do the same thing, he didnt bother but stiffened, I check his shoulders, neck and chest and discovered and large painful cyst on his chest, at exactly the point where her elbow came in contact.  My daughter had unwittingly hurt him very painfully and he did what any animal would do, this includes humans, he defended himself.  Unless a dog is prone to biting their is ALWAYS a reason, and I commend you on trying to find it.  I told people about my daughter and soots, and a couple of people could not understand why I still kept the dog and did not have it put down, What can I say, my daughter and soots lived happily together until soots passed away four years later from a brain heamorage. That was the one and only time he ever tried to bite,
PS my daughters injuries were minimal and she forgave Soots immediately, even at four years old she understood dogs, guess where my priorities lie in my household.
Anyway Good for you

Kay

Kiwi - I agree, don't believe I was given all the details! You obviously know what you're talking about and you are right, the police can't really get involved when the dog isn't a stray. I think the man thought he would get a different answer if he kept phoning, he spoke to me twice (although didn't realise) and most of my colleagues too!
Kayc - if only he had been as knowledgeable and methodical as you that poor doggy might be alright. I hope if he did end up taking him to the vets they tried to make some sense of it before putting him down.