YouTuber and lifestyle influencer Nikki Phillippi is facing backlash after she revealed she euthanized her family’s dog, Bowser, after he bit her son Logan. Phillippi announced her decision to put Bowser down Monday, saying the dog had an “aggressive side that reared its ugly head a few times” over the years.
“After a lot of counsel, we decided it was time for Bowser to pass peacefully on,” she captioned a series of photos with the dog. “We didn’t want to make this decision…as I’m sure you can imagine. I’m not kidding when I say this was one of the saddest days of my life. …We will miss you forever Bowser.” In a YouTube video, the influencer shared that Logan had taken food from Bowser, which prompted the dog to bite him in the face. While there was a “little mark” from the bite, Phillippi and her husband said the injury “wasn’t bad.”
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Phillippi’s announcement garnered thousands of comments from people shocked she did not try to rehome the dog before deciding to euthanize him. “Some dogs can’t live with kids but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be allowed to live,” one person commented. Another added, “Woah… what about adoption? At the LEAST. Not a judgmental person here but wow, this saddens my heart and truly rubs me the wrong way.”
“Not sure what is more upsetting to me… the fact that you killed your dog instead of training him, re-homing him or creating boundaries with your small child likely being all over him…” one of Phillippi’s followers added. “OR The fact that you are dangling a carrot like this to upset people and then using it to MONETIZE your YouTube video. Very sad and very disappointing from a long-time viewer.”
Phillippi and her husband defended the decision to euthanize Bowser further, saying that he had been attacked as a puppy and had a number of incidents over the past few years in which he injured other dogs. “In some ways, it’s been anticipated for a really long time, and in others, it was completely shocking,” she said,” claiming that after “getting counsel from multiple professionals who are with dogs all the time,” all of them agreed she should put Bowser down. Phillippi ended her video by listing a number of things she would miss about Bowser, getting emotional as she remembered things like “the soft spot on his nose,” and the way he smelled.
