Canine aggression is the leading cause of dog relinquishment and euthanasia in shelters — understanding its welfare dimensions for both the dog and people affected is essential for humane solutions.
Canine aggression creates welfare concerns for the dog as well as the people affected. Aggressive behavior frequently reflects anxiety, fear, or pain in the dog — chronic internal states that are themselves welfare problems. A dog who bites because it is chronically anxious is suffering regardless of the behavior it produces. Shelter euthanasia for aggression that could be prevented through behavioral treatment represents both a welfare failure for the individual dog and a public health failure. Understanding aggression as a symptom of underlying welfare problems — anxiety, pain, inadequate socialization — rather than as an inherent character trait opens better treatment pathways.