Soapbox time. Several days ago, my mother was walking her toy poodle and she and her dog were attacked by two large dogs who came out of nowhere. My mom and her dog are both okay, but only because the poodle slipped her harness and ran to a culvert to turn and defend herself. A few things should this ever happen to you, its hard to remember to do it, but thinking about it is trying to be prepared. Pick up your small dog if you can and hold it way up over your head, sometimes a dog will just be trying to get at the dog, and have enough inhibition not to turn on a person. Sometimes. My mom tried to pick her dog up, but the two were on them too fast. LET GO OF THE LEASH. Most dogs have enough sense to run somewhere safe, and you hanging on to the leash is only going to make your dog a tethered target. SCREAM A LOT. Some people carry an air horn to blast should something happen, sometimes they work, sometimes it doesnt, but it may startle the attackers enough for you and your dog to get away, and it may bring other people out to help you. I see many people walking with a walking stick, you can always use it to hit the attackers, and if so, hit them hard. HARD. On the head if you can. If something like this should happen to you, call the police immediately. Call 911. Roaming dogs attacking people or other dogs are a menace, and the police are the right people to deal with it. You cant just be thankful it wasnt worse, because if it wasnt for you, it will be for the next people the dogs attack. And there will be a next time. And it will be worse. And it could be a child, or an elderly person. Even if there is no contact, and you are just menaced, call the police. Make a full report, be willing to press charges and say so. Take your dog to the vet right away and keep a copy of your invoice, the owner of the dogs is responsible for all of your vet costs. Even if its just a slight skin wound, dog tooth punctures can get infected quickly, even if your dog has all its shots, maybe the attackers havent had theirs. And even if its a small wound, you want it looked at, you want to start antibiotics and you may want some pain meds for your dog. It was traumatic for them too. No one should live in fear of being attacked on the street while walking a dog. And those dogs who did the attacking were not playing or roughousing. Dogs who attack are a menace, and need to be removed before they seriously harm someone.It doesnt matter if the owner says it was the first time or it will never happen again. Damn straight it wont, because that is a dangerous dog and it stops now. There are countless stories after a serious mauling where the neighbors always say the same thing, Those dogs get out all the time, theyve got the whole neighborhood scared. The owner always apologizes, they seem like nice people. There are hundreds of thousands of dogs in the world who would turn in their own skin before theyd ever bite another person or another animal. The animals who threaten or actually do bite are on a path as predictable as watching water boil. They will bite again, and next time it will be worse. Zero. Tolerance. Im happy my mom and her dog are okay. Im pissed as hell it happened.
Posted on: Fri, 06 Jun 2014 02:54:58 +0000
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