The end result could be fatal if you don't monitor your child's behavior with a pet.
When children grow up with pets, especially dogs, they learn the meaning of compassion and kindness. It makes a world of a difference as these kids continue to become better human beings every day as they grow up into adults. But, parents and caregivers also need to take responsibility when children and pets share space with each other. It is imperative that parents guide the behavior that children display around pets, as misbehavior causing any kind of harm to the pets could end up hurting both the child and the animal.
The danger such behavior poses was highlighted by Dún Laoghaire K9 online, who revealed it's not okay for kids to treat their pets like their toys. Although the post was originally made on Facebook, it has since been deleted but the discussion of the same on Tumblr has been posted on Imgur.
The post showed a picture of a toddler stepping on a child, and it warns people that this is a prime example of what a kid should not be allowed to do to a pet, stating, "Eventually it will come to a head and the dog will have enough. This child will be injured and this dog will be labeled aggressive and rehomed or likely euthanized."
The post urges parents to stop their kids from mistreating dogs. "It's not cute. It's not funny. It's not playful. It's dangerous and stupid. The dog and child pay the consequences for the parents' lack of common sense," it states.
Some people in the comments claimed that a good dog would never hurt a child, no matter what. To which the person responded by saying that dogs don't think like humans. "Dogs. Are not. F**cking. People. They don’t operate by human logic. They don’t follow human moral codes. It has nothing to do with it being a “good dog“ or not. If you were getting hit and pulled on and punched and scratched constantly, you just might react. A dog can’t speak up and say “hey please stop that you’re hurting me“. What he can do is move, lunge, bite, etc. These actions might intentionally or unintentionally harm your child," the post adds.
"Same goes for cats and any other pet. Teach your child how to properly treat animals or don’t have any f**king animals," the post concluded.
Even Better Health Channel highlighted the importance of raising a child to treat their pet the right way. Parents are advised to never leave the kids unsupervised with animals and teach their kids to always treat animals gently and calmly and never hurt, tease, frighten, surprise or corner an animal.
According to Bored Panda, Vida Radzeviciene, an animal behavior specialist says, "Any dog can be provoked, especially when there are no adults around. That’s when a dog might decide to discipline your kid himself. Unfortunately, he can’t speak human language, nor does he know how to handle the subtleties of our communication. There are only one-way dogs discipline your ill-behaved kids, and that’s how his own mom would discipline him."
It's only natural for pets to lash out when someone inflicts pain upon them. They are non-verbal beings and this is the only way they know how to react.
References:
https://imgur.com/gallery/cuewzBx
https://ainawgsd.tumblr.com/post/190665734899/there-are-a-lot-of-absolute-idiots-in-the-comments
https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/HealthyLiving/animals-and-child-safety
Cover Image Source: Getty Images
