Dog Shoots Owner: Again?

Yet another dog has shot his owner. Gregory Dale Lanier, 35, of Sebring, Florida, was driving in his truck Friday night when his dog helpfully kicked the 9 millimeter pistol and blasted his owner in the leg, according to Jay Meisel reporting for Highlands Today.

Steve Carr, the Sebring Police Commander, ascertained that the shooting was an accident and didn’t detain the dog. He commented that he had never heard of a case like this one.

Well, we certainly have. It isn’t even the first case in Florida. Jack Phillips for the Epoch Times noted that a 78-year-old Florida man was also shot in the leg by his dog in December 2011. Here are a couple more cases of trigger-happy pooches shooting their owners.

Last fall, a 55-year-old French duck hunter lost his hand when his Blue Gascony Basset Hound somehow pulled the trigger on his shotgun.

In late 2011, a Utah hunter was shot from behind and in the behind — which I think we’d all agree wasn’t the most sporting behavior from the unnamed hunting breed in question. The dog jumped onto his 12 gauge shotgun and delivered 27 pellets of birdshot to the 46-year-old dog owner’s rear end.

In case you think it couldn’t have happened to you, County Sheriff Deputy Kevin Potter is reported to have said, “I don’t know if the safety device was on. It’s not impossible the dog could have taken it off safety.”

Now there’s a thought that will help every gun owner with a pet dog sleep better at night. If that doesn’t make you double-check the lock on your gun cabinet, nothing will.

In the good old days, editors like early 20th century New York Sun’s John B. Bogart used to say: “Dog bites man is not news, because it happens so often. Man bites dog is news.”

Well, I say that if dogs keep shooting their owners, “dog shoots man” will no longer be news. Take a second look. Your cuddly pet might just be armed and dangerous.