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‘We think it may be legal to hunt burglars with dogs.’

From the spectator http://www.spectator.co.uk/newdesign/cartoons.php

A new twist to the fox hunting debate ? Instead of pensioning off horses and dogs use them to hunt down burglars instead. John Giffard is chief constable of Staffordshire. His family has always had the hunt on the estate they own since 800 years ago. His father allows the hunt but does not participate, though he would be very sad to see a ban. The son will follow the law to the letter if hunting foxes becomes unlawful. And burglars ?
Legal wranglings, mayhem on the streets

I posted this at the JavaRanch in reply to a question about the rights of dogs fighting off burglars:
Keeping dogs to fight off burglars (what dogs were bred to do for centuries) is on par with keeping dogs to contain fox numbers or shooting deer. When the breed of dog gets a particularly bad name, especially by mauling kids playing in parks, owners start to be treated as criminals and they shun their pets. The pets suffer severe neglect. It happened with the Rottweiler.Once fox hunting is removed no one will really want the fox hounds. They probably won't make good pets on a one to one basis anyway. And the breed will die out.

As it is, German Shepherds make nice pets and people are wary of them. But to encourage dogs to attack people is insane. By all means put up a sign saying "Here lives a German Shepherd - Enter at your own risk." Or a picture of a big scary dog at the gate has worked reasonably well, so far.
A dog may not have helped the Chelsea millionaire stabbed on his doorstep by a group of men dressed as postmen. A dog over time would learn to tolerate people dressed as postmen.