The first dog that I ever had was a German Shepherd which one of my students gave me in 1970. This dog was Christy and she was a beautiful, gentle dog who was a true joy to have around. I took her to obedience classes to train her to be a proper little lady and obey the basic commands of heel, sit, stay, come, beg, etc. She had one little fault - she loved kids and when she would hear children playing in a nearby yard, over the fence she went. When they finished playing, one of the children would bring her to the front door. Really vicious, right?

At the time I had Christy in obedience class, there was a gentleman there with his German Shepherd also. This dog WAS vicious! You could not get near him or another dog could not approach him without that low growl, bared teeth and lunging on the leash. He was ready to rip anyone or anything apart. Bob, the trainer, told the owner that he would really have to work with that dog or the dog would have to be put down because society would not tolerate it. At class the next week when the gentleman came in with his dog, nobody could believe it was the same one he had had the week before. We could actually walk over to the dog and pet it.

After Christy crossed Rainbow Bridge from a heart attack, we soon got another German Shepherd from the pound. His name was Gilligan and he LOVED ice cream, which my mother would frequently serve him in the kitchen when she got some for herself. He too had a little fault - he always found a way out of the yard to play with the neighbors' children who always brought him to the door for my mother to let him in. When my nephew was rebuilding the sun deck, Gilligan delighted in grabbing an eight foot 2x4 in his teeth, trotting across the lawn with it and having Joey chasing after him.

After I had to have Gilligan put to sleep just before I retired, one on my classes gave me a little beagle mix because they thought I would need something to keep me busy. This little critter was named Dreyfus and started out as an outdoor dog but one of my cousins soon changed that and now he allows us to live in the house with him. I don't think the beagle is considered as a vicious dog but Dreyfus is the only dog I have owned that has ever bitten anyone. Two of the neighborhood children hopped our fence to take a shortcut through our yard to their home. When Dreyfus started to run toward them, they started to run also. Big mistake! He nipped their heels and they told their moms that he was out in the street and bit them. One of the moms brought her son to the house to find out if Dreyfus' shots were up to date. At this point the boy did tell his mom that he had come across the back yard and that the dog was not loose. Vicious dog? Nope - HIS territory was invaded.

I have been watching the trial of the two lawyers whose Presa Canario mauled Diane Whipple while she was trying to get into her apartment with her groceries. I CAN NOT believe their stupidity and uncaring attitude in the death of this young girl who survived cancer only to be ripped to shreds from head to toe by two 120 pound dogs belonging to lawyers who should have known better. What a HORRIBLE death! And all because these dogs were not properly trained and were left in the care of Marjorie Knoller who aparently was totally incapable of handling them. She would have done well to have tried to take one of those dogs out at a time but my God, she had two 120 pound dogs together! The attitude of these two people has been despicable. Marjorie cried at the thought of having the second dog Hera killed but not one tear for Diane! The dog that killed Diane was Bane - killer, murderer and they claim the dogs were not vicious!

These two lawyers are not totally stupid! They knew the dogs could be vicious. One of the dogs had even bitten Robert's finger almost off. A non-vicious dog does not bite the hand that feeds it! When a neighbor told him he should put a muzzle on the dog, Robert called her a bitch and told her if she didn't like the dogs she should move.

When Marjorie appeared on "Good Morning America" and was asked if she felt at all responsible for Diane's death, she calmly replied, "No, she should have closed her door - that's what I would have done." How do you close the door on two 120 pound out-of-control dogs when you are trying to get into your apartment with arms full of groceries and you are jumped by these monsters?

While discussions continued in this case, the case of the child who was mauled by three Rottweilers in Kansas was also discussed. Can you imagine a child waiting for a school bus and ending up as the object of a tug-of-war with three Rottweilers? Yep, the dogs were running loose while the owner was asleep and never heard the dogs barking, children screaming or the police gunshots which killed the dogs.

I do not believe that it is the dog that is vicious but the owners who get these dogs and either train them to be that way or just get them as a status symbol and never bother to take them to an obedience class for the proper training. To me it is sad that the animal has to pay with its life for doing what the owner has either trained it to do or allows it to do. It is time that people are held accountable for their animals and if they get a dog that is classified as "vicious" they should be forced to take it to obedience classes. There should also be laws that would limit the number of dogs that a person could own especially when they live in apartments or when the dogs are classified in the vicious category. Can you imagine living in an apartment building with two 120 pound dogs like these Presa Canarios as neighbors?

It is March 20, 2002 at 5:15pm and the verdicts are in! The jury did great! Robert Noel and Marjorie Knoller were both found guilty as owners of the two mischievous dogs. Marjorie was found guilty of manslaughter. Robert was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter. Marjorie was found guilty of murder in the second degree!

The above verdicts will not bring Diane Whipple back to life but at least these people did not get off with a slap on the wrist with a wet noodle for their arrogant, "I can do what I damn well please and the rest of you can go to hell" attitude! Hopefully it will also serve to make people think twice before obtaining a "vicious" dog and keeping it around without the proper training. To me it is unfortunate that the dog has to pay with its life for an owner's negligence and stupidity.