It seems people are saying that Holly would attack if she was eating. I am pretty sure it means if you got near her while she was eating which is still a very bad situation, dog get PTS for less than that. But Boxergirl is spot on the money. CM provoked that dog into attacking. The posture and poking the dog in the neck was meant to cause an attack.
Devils advocate thought. This would be the same activity a young child would be doing to a family dog while it was eating.
Regardless, I don't like his methods.
Your Devil's Advocate comment is sharp and to the point! I've got 27 stitches in my head that stands as testimony. I nearly lost an eye, I have visible scars across my right ear. I was three, my hand touched the dog's head while it was begging for scraps. It wasn't intentional, I was just running my hand across a bush and my hand fell and touched his head. He ran me down in the street...I Remember This Vividly! I remember the owner dragging the dog off and running with me to my house. I remember them holding cloths to my head and them pulling them away blood soaked. Thankfully, I passed out and I was kept out for the rest.
I never blamed the dog. Could the dog have been trained better, you bet! Did I or anyone else ever trust this dog again around food? No. Would the dog have been put down in today's world, yes. Back then the adage was that a dog got one bite free, after that death.
And here's where the rubber meets the road: This could have happened to that child!
One further thought, if CM had challenged the dog and the dog hadn't presented the way the owner's had described, but had only been confused, backed off and growled, then the dog, I suggest, would have been rehabilitated, but that's not what happened, the dog red-zoned, went into battle mode. It finally, backed away, but never really backed down. With a child it would have been a mauling. This dog would never have been suitable for a young family. How would you ever know this without attempting to produce the response? You Wouldn't.
27 stitches, the scars run from my right eye up through my scalp, down behind my ear and across my ear lobe which was re-attached. No anthropomorphism here, reality bites and so does this dog.