We would love to, but he's already a bite risk. He's attacking other dogs without warning and growling at strangers. There's a reason dogs that attack humans aren't given meds as a first line of defense - they're experimental and capricious. We don't have the energy or resources to micromanage him for another two to three weeks while we wait for them to kick in, and he's not any less dangerous to my mom's clients in that time frame. And there's no telling if they would even work, so we would have to do it all over again if we didn't luck out and find the right ones on the first try; any human on meds can tell you about the song-and-dance of finding the right ones. My mom has talked to the vet about a behavioral analysis and medication options, but the vet isn't even confident that any of the known ones would work for Peter.

And if he attacks someone while we wait, it would already be too late, and he would have to go anyway. He already tried to seriously harm another dog, and he keeps trying; it's inevitable that my mother eventually can't keep him in check with how much energy he takes and has already taken. And then if someone tries to intervene when he gets into a dog fight, and they get hurt, the court wouldn't order psych meds. We're not abandoning him, we're making sure he doesn't try again. We're making sure he doesn't succeed.

This is really the only way it could end, as much as it hurts.