YouTuber Nikki Phillippi criticised for putting down ‘aggressive’ family dog

YouTuber Nikki Phillippi has been criticised for putting down her ‘aggressive’ family dog.

The 33-year-old announced on YouTube and Instagram that she and her husband Dan had made the decision to euthanise their bull terrier Bowser, who they had for nearly 10 years, after he bit their son.

Dan said that the incident ‘wasn’t that bad’, with their one-year-old son Logan being left with a ‘little mark’ after trying to steal food from Bowser, but the couple claimed that they were ‘waiting’ for Bowser to ‘cross that line’ when Logan got older.

In a video titled ‘We have some really sad news’, Nikki said that Bowser was attacked as a puppy, when his personality ‘changed’, and ‘seriously injured a couple different dogs’.

She also said that their son recently grabbed Bowser’s ear and gave him a ‘cauliflower ear’.

Claiming that they had considered putting Bowser down over the past few years, Nikki said that ‘rehoming was not an option’ as Bowser had been with the family for almost all of his life, and they could not pass on the perceived liability.

Describing the day they euthanised Bowser, having a professional do it at their home, Dan called it the ‘worst day’, while Nikki said: ‘It was amazing, because everything comes to an end, and if you have to have an end, which everything does, it was a beautiful perfect ending, in our living room, in our arms.’

Dan said at the end of the video that bull terriers are his favourite animal, before his wife started crying as she read out a list of things she loved most about Bowser.

Nikki turned the comments off on YouTube, but over on Instagram, she left comments on beneath a series of pictures of her hugging Bowser prior to him being put to sleep.

The vlogger wrote: ‘We have some really sad news. McTrowsen, I’m so grateful for our time with you. You were a mini horse, a shark, a bear, a mouse, a dinosaur and Dans best friend all in one. You made me laugh… you made me cry… you destroyed our property… and you also kept it safe. lol You kept ME feeling safe… Bowser was the ultimate cuddle bug, but you wouldn’t necessarily know that if you just dropped by our house…he just acted crazy. Well.

‘Bowser had an aggressive side that reared it’s ugly head a few times over the years… and recently he bit Logan….after a lot of counsel, we decided it was time for Bowser to pass peacefully on. I know a lot of you will be shocked to hear this… my brain is still shocked.

‘McTrowsen has been part of our life and content HIS entire life…and for the last 9 years of our marriage…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. That being said, I’m so grateful we got to hold him and kiss him in our home while he passed…I will be uploading a video tonight with more of the story if you want to know….We will miss you forever Bowser.’

Nikki was widely criticised for her decision, with followers arguing that a solution should have been found to keep Bowser alive.

One person commented: ‘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… OR The fact that you are dangling a carrot like this to upset people and then using it to MONETIZE your YouTube video.’

Another comment read: ‘So you knew about the aggression issues before a child was brought into the home? What were you guys thinking . Clearly not about the dog or child just money, clicks and views.’

Others accused Nikki of not doing enough to train Bowser how to behave around children when they welcomed their son, with a comment reading: ‘This is so sad. It’s so sad that dogs often pay the consequences for us humans not being responsible enough to create boundaries for them and teach them how to behave around humans as well as teach our humans especially children how to behave around dogs.

‘I know this wasn’t an easy decision for you to make as a family but if Bowser already had an aggressive side, why didn’t you advocate for him and protect him so that he wouldn’t make a mistake like this eventually and have to pay the consequences?’

The YouTuber was also called out over the emotional shoot she seemingly carried out with Bowser before his death to upload to Instagram.

On social media, there was also criticism of Dan’s claim on the YouTube video that he considered euthanising Bowser himself like in the film Old Yeller, with many people pointing out that the dog in the classic film had rabies and his owner had no choice.

Other fans of Nikki defended her, however, citing news articles about violent attacks from dogs.

Nikki, who has 1.29 million subscribers on YouTube, and Dan also have a Yorkshire terrier called Zoe, who they got in 2012.

The family is based in Nashville, Tennessee.

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