I didn’t write about this one back when it happened three weeks ago because I didn’t want to, honestly. It’s a horrible story and I figured the service dog world would explode over it, plenty of others would say something, anyway, and I wouldn’t need to.

But, while there has been a little discussion (most interestingly here and here), I haven’t really seen that happen, so I’m gonna add my little voice and mention it because this story simply cannot just vanish.

“Ky. boy, 6, dies after being attacked by dog”

“6 Year Old Killed By Service Dog That Attacked”

“UPDATE: Oak Grove, Ky. Boy Dies After Being Attacked by Dog”

“Dog That Killed Six-Year-Old Boy Euthanized”

Not sure why it hasn’t gotten much attention. I mean, think about it – when’s the last time you heard about an assistance dog killing somebody?

Normally it seems to be just the opposite – the worse the story is, the more you hear – especially if it’s even remotely got that sensationalist “crazed veteran with PTSD” angle the media loves to push. Based on my experience over the last few years, though, it seems to be exactly the opposite whenever it’s a service dog story associated with a veteran with post-traumatic stress, like nobody wants to say anything bad.

I assume there’s still an ongoing investigation (plus, as was noted, everybody involved is either in the military or a dependent), and that may account for much of the silence, but there are a bunch of real obvious questions that have to be answered here. Was it really a service dog? Or did the guy just call it a service dog? Was the dog trained at all? By who? To do exactly what? Who recommended that he get the dog? And so on…

Bottom line is this is another story that doesn’t just go away, like so many seem to do after the initial hoopla, with no follow-up. Whatever the truth is – if the media got it right, got it wrong, whatever – we have to know exactly what happened here for the big obvious reason – so it never happens again.

Definitely something to keep your eye on – I know I will be.