I have no problem with a person using a dog as a weapon, as long as it's kept responsibly and used at appropriate times. If a highly aggressive dog is poorly kept or improperly handled it can be as dangerous to the handlers and bystanders as to a bad guy, but that's true of any weapon. Personally I prefer a naturally civil dog who's raised to be social. That way I can take him with me and have him loose when I need him. But I can also count on an aggressive reaction when unusual things happen. When I lived in Jackson MS which is a dangerous city I encouraged my bandog to go after anyone looking over my fence even the neighbors. Where I live it's much safer, I don't have many neighbors and none that are very close. Here I encourage my dogs to accept my neighbors as friends, and we all look out for each other. So I don't make judgments on someone encouraging aggression from their guard dogs without knowing their situation. As long as the dog is well contained to their property. Especially in a place like the UK where guns have been stripped from the average citizen, and their are calls to make knives illegal. People need something to protect themselves and their families with. I also think the thugs using attack dogs after loosing guns is more proof of how foolish gun control is. Guns don't make thugs into thugs. There were thugs long before their were guns. If you outlaw guns they use dogs, outlaw dogs and they use machetties, out law them they use knives, outlaw them they use bats, out law them they use blunt objects and those are hard to outlaw. You can't really require the whole population to walk around in puffy mittens and knee/elbow pad so no one can hurt anyone. So all you end up with is you guarantee the physically weak like old, crippled, etc have no way to protect themselves. I would much rather my wife or daughter get in a gun fight with a 230lbs attacker than in a knife or hand fight with him. The gun gives them a chance they wouldn't have with a knife. Of course my family lives in the US so for the moment they have the benifits of having trained protection dogs and firearms to defend themselves with if I'm not there. Shooting the bad guy is a lot easier if he's got a 130lb bandog or two hanging on his gun arm.