Newspaper article implying woman is a 'dog'

The West Australian Newspaper published a story on Saturday 28/01/2012 associating the previous girlfriend of a bikie with a 'dog' because she had become a police informant.

The article reports that 'There is an old proverb which says: 'As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.''

The next line states, 'Tammy Kingdon's folly was to return to Troy Mercanti on more than a dozen occasions ...'  The article then describes that as far as the underworld is concerned, she became a 'dog' - a police informant.  The article finishes off with the heavily implied '[Mercanti's] not the type to let sleeping dogs lie.' 

I believe it is unacceptable to imply Tammy Kingdon is a 'dog', whether it is criminal lingo for a police informant, or not.

This woman is in a very vulnerable position and in police protection - and she deserves respect and protection from any form of violence.  A mainstream newspaper implying that she is a 'dog' reinforces criminals' feelings of violence towards her and puts her in a more dangerous position. It also reduces her to a one-dimensional character in a 'gangland war saga' that the newspaper is seeking to exploit.

I have written a letter to the editor of the West Australian protesting their objectification of this woman, and lack of respect shown for her in associating her with a dog throughout the article.

I'm interested in hearing what other people have to say about this too.  Please add your comments to this discussion.