“a man stabbed the pit bull, Clara, after it slipped out of its collar and began tugging on the ear of his dog, a Westie Terrier.”
Translation. The pit bull was going to kill his Westie, as pitbulls are wont to do.
Pit bulls are monsters and I can’t say I totally blame the guy for defending his dog.
Never let it be said that you are encumbered by the facts. Even the miniscule number of them in this mostly worthless "article".
I gather that you know little (first hand) about dogs in general, and even less about pit bull mixes.
Many of the dog owners at these functions are morons and know nothing about how dogs interact, or how to deal with them.
As an aside, this being Atlanta, it would be interesting to know what the "demographic makeup" of the dog owners present was. That is not a "racist" remark, there is a point in asking.