It was after the dog bit their one-year-old son
Youtuber Nikki Phillippi has been criticised for having her and her husband’s dog put down.
The 33-year-old made the announcement on her YouTube and Instagram, saying that they had made the decision to have their ‘aggressive’ bull terrier Bowser put down after he bit their one-year-old son Logan.
Phillippi’s husband Dan said that the incident “wasn’t that bad” with their son being left with a “little mark” after trying to steal some food from Bowser. However the couple said that they were waiting for the bull terrier to “cross the line” when Logan got older.
In a video titled ‘We have some really sad news’ the couple said that Bowser had been attacked as a puppy, and his personality then changed and he “seriously injured a couple different dogs.”
They said that they had considered putting the dog down for the past few years and that “rehoming was not an option” because Bowser had been with the family most of his life and they could not pass on the responsibility of looking after him.
The YouTuber also shared the news on her Instagram. Whilst she had turned the comments off on the YouTube video, people were able to share their views under the Instagram post, and a number were critical of the decision to have the bull terrier put down, arguing that there were other far less extreme solutions they could have come to.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CObE9U-nJq5/?utm_source=ig_embed
One person commented: “Not sure what is more upsetting to me… the fact that you killed your dog instead of training him, re-homing him or creating boundaries with your small child likely being all over him… OR The fact that you are dangling a carrot like this to upset people and then using it to MONETIZE your YouTube video.”
Another comment read: “So you knew about the aggression issues before a child was brought into the home? What were you guys thinking . Clearly not about the dog or child just money, clicks and views.”
Others were angry at Nikki for not doing enough to try and teach Bowser how to behave around children.
One comment read: “This is so sad. It’s so sad that dogs often pay the consequences for us humans not being responsible enough to create boundaries for them and teach them how to behave around humans as well as teach our humans especially children how to behave around dogs.
“I know this wasn’t an easy decision for you to make as a family but if Bowser already had an aggressive side, why didn’t you advocate for him and protect him so that he wouldn’t make a mistake like this eventually and have to pay the consequences?”
Some also took issue with the fact that the YouTuber had seemingly carried out an emotional photoshoot with the dog before its death, and Dan’s claim in the YouTube video that he had considered euthanizing Bowser like in the film Old Yeller.
