Throwaway obvi. My dad had a dog that recently passed away. It was a bad dog; it had bitten more than one person and while my mom was sick prior to her passing away a few years ago, it terrorized her and her caretakers.
My dad refused to get rid of it. He tried every type of training or technique that was supposed to keep the dog from snapping at people (namely my mom) but none of it worked. Eventually, the family resorted to locking the dog away if people visited.
Since my mom passed, my dad developed severe orthopedic issues that left him with leg weakness that made mobility difficult. He had surgery a couple years ago that resolved some of the pain and weakness but he still walks with a walker, cannot drive and requires a caretaker for most tasks. We've had family willing to help with much of this work caretaking for him. He can prepare meals for himself, go to the bathroom by himself and shower by himself but grocery shopping, cleaning and anything else that requires a decent walk or stairs are still impossible for him.
I have a toddler and I bring my kid over there about 2-3 times a month, I try to make it once a week but I'd be lying if I said it was that much. When the dog was alive, we would lock the dog away for fear it would attack my kid. This was a huge issue for me and my wife and it took a lot of negotiating and planning (and test visits with only me) before we would agree to bring my toddler over there.
I've been calling almost daily to check up on my dad and today he mentioned he had scheduled a videoconference tour of his house to adopt another dog. I told him I thought this was a bad idea and I outlined how incapable he was of taking care of a dog independently. A family member texted me a little bit ago that it sounds like he went through with it and many of us are understandably upset. I'm not sure how an adoption center could find him to be qualified to adopt a pet, I've been completely uninvolved with this process for obvious reasons.
I'm considering just cutting ties between my son and that house. There's a not so small part of me that wants to do it out of principle, to try and teach my dad a lesson about building a logical decision making process but more importantly, I don't trust my dad to train this dog. We don't know it's past and my dad has proved incapable of caring for a dog by himself in the past. I completely understand he's alone and it's been very difficult for him but I believe there are other ways to address those issues. We're not estranged, if anything I'd hope our relationship would get better now that this mean dog isn't making everyone nervous.
He's going to be angry if I make this decision but I'm not really interested in putting my kid in that kind of danger. I feel like he's made a decision for himself and now I have to make mine. WIBTA if I keep my kid from visiting?