It was Friday night in Penha, eastern São Paulo. A taxi driver’s family was returning from the market when three armed men surrounded them in the street.
The taxi driver refused to hand over the keys because his young son was still strapped into the seat inside the car. Seeing the scene from the entrance of the house, his wife ran inside and came back with the family’s pit bull. She let it loose in front of the assailants, who ended up fleeing with a bag and two cell phones, but without the vehicle.
Some applaud the reaction as an instinctive act of courage to protect their loved ones. Others believe that exposing the animal and the family to more violence was an unnecessary risk that could have ended much worse. What would you have done in their place?