Letters to the Editor: With proper intervention, dog aggression doesn’t ‘always’ escalate

Feb. 5, 2026 8 AM PT

To the editor: There are very few occurrences in life that are “always” true.

While the Los Angeles Times hasn’t labeled me a dog bite “expert” as it did with Ron Berman, my decades-long relationship with dogs leads me to dispute his contention that dog “aggression always escalates” (“L.A. shelter didn’t disclose a dog’s bite history. That cost the city $3.25 million,” Jan. 30).

Personal experience has shown me that with training, professional intervention, patience, love and possibly medication, aggressive dog behavior can be arrested and essentially conquered, at least in some instances.

Exaggeration never leads to better outcomes. Precision, however, often does.

Ray McKown, Torrance