Um, well yes - well behaved dogs should be allowed to walk without a leash in appropriate areas. Any animal will protect itself wen under attack and the behaviour that PGC describes would appear to a dog to be an attack. If dog-owners should be expected to supervise their dogs and also be resonsible for the actions of their dogs - why not parents? Humans, even small ones, are more intelligent than dogs and are able to develop a better understanding of right and wrong behaviour, mostly.