Oh come ON!

To generalize that dogs ought to be banned because a kid got
his arm bit and is now scarred (as if that isn't a badge of
courage forever) is just ridiculous.

At the Mystic Sea Music Festival, a couple brought their brace
of two pit bulls (the USA's mythical "devil dog") to the
concerts each year.

Like most of these banned-in-Dade-county breed, these two were
complete love-magnets and their affections contributed not in
the least to my own experience of the event.

Then again, I know how to properly approach a dog; something
parents ought to teach their children.

They were properly restrained by harness-collars; they could
have bitten; I knew the risk I took when I approached them,
properly and passively.

On the other hand, I've been bitten more severely by my 16-pound
orange Maine coon-cat tabby cross. And by the 850-pound California
sea-lion whose part-time trainer I was. (THAT scar, alas, has faded
to the point of non-existence and certainly isn't braggable.)

Frankly, the emotional scars I've received at the hands of humans
are far deeper and long-lasting than the many I've received from
the animal kingdom.

Those latter scars, however, have on balance been healed in far
greater measure than the depth of the physical scars by the self-
same animals who've occasionally sunk their teeth into me.

Not to make light of it--- babies are on occasion killed by
canines. But the odd dog-bite pales in comparison to the richness
that the genus gives to us by their very presence. Owners need to
make sure that there is no more than the occasional unfortunate
inconvenience.

We need the beasties.

Keep them around.