A Maryland resident, Valerie Silensky, wrote an opinion piece for the Gazette.net regarding the a suggestion made by police that getting a dog will help protect your family and deter crime.

I hate to be negative in the face of what overall is a helpful article ["Police warn residents of holiday crime," Nov. 26], but I do have to take issue with one of the suggestions apparently made by the police in the article. Get a dog for protection is not an appropriate suggestion.

Dogs are living beings who need to feel part of a family and a pack; those who get them for protection do not have the interest of the dogs’ well-being in their consciousness, and it usually shows. Moreover, most dogs are not appropriate for guard work. The police suggestion implies that people should just go out and get a dog so that she or he can scare would-be intruders away.

Click here to read the entire article. 

Do you agree with what Ms. Silensky wrote?