The attack-dog syndrome is a dead giveaway

In the first, and main, article about a phenomenon that I think of as the attack-dog syndrome, I described how I was the object of strong criticism when I spoke out against the notorious Jimmy Savile long before his actions became public knowledge. 

I found some old notes about attack dogs recently, including something involving Jimmy Savile that I think came from someone else's post on an old, closed forum:

"I think I've already lost a very good friend through this. She works for a related organisation within the BBC and my very polite and reasonable request to find out how many times Jimmy Savile had appeared on CiN (Children in Need) was met with a tirade of abuse. Completely disproportionate to my question. She lied to me and when the truth was printed in the paper the next week she texted to say that I'd gone crazy and was sounding like a vigilante! It cheered me up because it confirmed my suspicions that everyone at CiN knew the score."

This is a typical example of an aggressive response; it confirms what I have said in the past: such reactions are a dead giveaway that an enquirer or accuser is on the right track. The person who was attacked obviously understood this very well. 

The expressions used to describe the response to the request could be applied to many other cases where the attack dog is triggered: 'tirade of abuse' is a common reaction to an awkward question or an allegation, and 'completely disproportionate' is exactly what such reactions are. 

A milder example from Harry Potter
As described in an article about the future Lord Voldemort, Tom Riddle responds to allegations with counter-accusations of envy, spite and lies. 

This is standard practice. Anyone who makes allegations is routinely accused of being crazy, stupid, malicious, envious, a criminal, an enemy, a liar or a traitor.

As might be expected, the allegations about Tom Riddle and his activities are all true. 

Prince Charles and Jimmy Savile
What makes the Tom Riddle case especially interesting is that there is a similar example involving a member of the royal family.

Long before the allegations against Jimmy Savile became generally known, members of the public who knew that Savile was close to some of the royals wrote to the then Prince Charles expressing concern about some of Savile’s activities. 

According to a senior aide, Prince Charles immediately dismissed the allegations; he said that the people who made them were jealous and mad.

Same game, different players.

The attack-dog syndrome really is a dead giveaway; it is often a sign that something evil is at work.