"No" means "no," even in dog language

A Florida woman was mauled to death by her Presa Canario (that's a breed of dog, for the benefit of the uninformed) while trying to bathe the beast. Police arriving on the scene were compelled to shoot and kill the dog to avoid being attacked themselves. The woman's nine-year-old daughter watched the proceedings in horror.

There's a lesson here: When a Presa Canario tells you he doesn't want a bath, he doesn't want a bath.



This is the same breed of dog, by the way, two specimens of which fatally mauled a San Francisco woman to death five years ago, in a nationally infamous case. As much as I love dogs — and I've been a dog fancier all my life — some types simply don't belong in civilized society.

I know I'll hear from the Presa Canario fans (translated: vicious dog wackos) on this, but so be it. Not to sound unsympathetic toward this unfortunate woman in Florida or her surviving loved ones, but you people and your Cujos (yes, I know Cujo was a St. Bernard — I'm speaking metaphorically) deserve each other.

Suppose it had been that nine-year-old girl the dog got angry with?