I don't, for the life of me, understand why a grown man is afraid of any type of animal smaller than he is.
I also don't understand the idea that we need to give animals "rights". Let me tell you one of my dog stories. (BTW - i have personally put down a few animals - doesn't bother me one single bit - because they are animals, not people. And the ones that I took out of this world deserved to be taken out. Except for the game animals that I shoot. They are just super tasty.) Anyways...
My daughter was about 3 years old and we were at my In-laws. My father in law had a Husky/Chow mix named Bear. Bear was an outside dog, and we had never had any problems with him in the past. My sister in law was holding my daughter, and Bear got jealous for some reason (at least I think that was his motivation). He began to growl, circled away, then charged and leaped at my 3 year old daughter. My response was not to cringe, or think about whether the animal had rights. I literally grabbed the 90 lb. dog out of mid-air by its throat, choke slammed it into the ground, and then snapped it's neck. It took about 8 seconds all in all. And i'd do it again, and again, and again if necessary.
Of course, if I'm being honest, if a human launches itself at any of my kids with intent to maim or kill, I'll probably do the exact same thing.