……….
To the lovely ranger who came and spent an hour with me this afternoon.
Thank you.
……….
For anyone who follows my Twitter, you’ll know I got attacked by a dog last week.
I wasn’t sure quite how to blog it to be honest. Because the blocky-headed dog that charged onto the footpath, fully intending to rip the dog I was walking to shreds, was the kind so often targeted by the hysterical masses. And when you spend a couple of years defending the rights of these dogs to live without undeserved persecution, how then do you express that you experienced the absolute worst of one of them without tarnishing them all unfairly?
But here’s the thing; when I was punching and screaming and kicking that dog off us, defending my pack as if my life depended on it, I had a bit of a breakthrough.
We don’t have the LUXURY of making this about dog breed. It’s about large animal management. ANY big, heavy animal with large teeth who hasn’t learnt how to conduct itself in a safe manner is a danger, especially so when it has an owner who chooses not to protect it.
Herder, defender or working breed – the result would have been the same that day. Any undersocialised animal, being allowed to wander would have presented a danger.
A licencing scheme for owners is just a bucket of bunk; this guy lives in a nice house on a nice street and isn’t illiterate – he’d be able to guess that the answer to the question, When should you let your dog stand on your lawn without restraint and savage passers by is c) never . And yet here he is; washing his car while I kick his dog in the face and scream bloody murder.
After speaking to the nice ranger today, in the spirit of neighbourhood harmony we have decided to make an informal complaint, rather than put in a statement. Because that’s the other problem with a ‘legal’ solution to community problems; this guy lives literally two doors down – if we go to court and he gets fined $10,000 and they take his dog, you can bet he’ll be over my place causing havoc with my own. It’s scary.
The solution isn’t stronger laws; it’s incremental enforcement of the laws we already have. We have to equip enforcement officers with enough powers to prosecute this twat gently and then, should he not get the message, to be able to take more of your ‘scorched earth’ approach.
WA has $10,000 fines or imprisonment for the owner of a dog who rushes or attacks; easily strong enough to handle any anti-social dog behaviour. Animal control must maintain a ‘if you don’t bother anyone, we don’t bother you’ approach. That way the ranger that came to see me today (who no doubt is already overworked), spends his time chasing baddies; not the owners of dogs who’ve never done anything except have a square head.
I would happily live near my cross-street neighbour with any dog he desire to have, should he be considerate enough to keep it from knocking me over on the footpath. And if I can say that one week out from the most terrifying thing that I’ve ever experienced, a dog attack two blocks from home, then I know I truly believe it.
These kinds of episodes are very frightening. The one fear I have is walking our dog and getting aggression from a dog in its’ own front yard, unrestrained. I’m really sorry for you Shel and might I say how brave you were! and what a terrifying ordeal you went through.
Problem is as you witnessed, mostly it’s the people. Our big dog was attacked by a terrier who ran diagonally across the road to attack ours who was being walked. He did not immediately respond because he was surprised at what was happening. My husband was tripped over by the lead and fell in the gravel and our dog started to fight by picking the small dog up and shaking it. Whilst this was happening the owners were sitting in their car laughing…they thought their dog was playing.
Their dog was badly hurt. Later they told us that they rang the council and the council said it was our fault. I asked them how their dog got out and the woman replied ‘No!! that is his territory!’ (the whole street). She wouldn’t believe me that it wasn’t! I rang the council and reported it and after the council woman had stopped smirking about their small dog attacking our big dog she saw my point when I said their dog was badly hurt. ‘Was your dog on a lead the whole time’ Yes he was. Then it was their fault and we could have made a formal complaint against them. We didn’t. We were glad the dog survived.
It was by no means the last time their dog was allowed the freedom of the street though. We stopped walking our dog, because there were others who let their dogs sit on porches and in front yards unrestrained and got aggressive at another being walked past. Once bitten, twice shy.
Thanks M! And for sharing your story – it’s so annoying!
The attack was scary, but suprising; when the dog charged there was a roar, a snarl and a murderous yelping – and it was coming from ME letting it know that we weren’t going down easy…. it must have been some powerful mamma protection instinct or the like.
Between the beating up the large dog; and the doubling back to loudly GIVE THE OWNER A PIECE OF MY NOW ADRENALINE CHARGED MIND… I’m pretty sure poor hubby is now wondering just who it is he’s hitched to!
While I do worry I’m inviting the wrath of this mouthbreather, ‘the system’ doesn’t work unless people tell the rangers about the near misses. If it gets him a bit of attention, I feel like I’ve done my bit.
Plus, as it turns out our local ranger is a bit dreamy. Glass half full and all that :D
“The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one’s time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all” H.L.Mencken
So Shel, keep doingh what you are doing. Even after a bad day at the office.