Where you lead...
A dog will follow.
In public places, however, it's the lead that's important.
As some will know I have a penchant for Chocolate Labradors. As in, real Labradors which are brown in colour, as opposed to animal shaped confectionery. With three to my name it goes without saying that I pretty much love dogs. All dogs. What really irritates me, however, what really gets right up my nose and annoys the hell out of me, is dog owners themselves. Not all, you understand, just the goddamned irresponsible ones.
I'm all for dogs being off their leads; in the park, down by the river, on the moors - so long as the owners themselves can actually control their dogs. But to have a dog walking along the pavement of a very busy main road, a Staffordshire Bull Terror no less, not on a lead is just asking for trouble...
With Magus vacationing at a friends while the two bitches were in season, my good friend Erik was walking him to fetch a fish supper. As luck would have it I was at Erik's house that evening anyway, trying to fix the door on my TVR. The door switch is located (nay, hidden) underneath the door mirror on a Tuscan, and the connectors had shaken loose whilst driving hell for leather round Donington Circuit with a variety of 3-18 year olds (and a few big kids a little older) during a "Wishes 4 Kids" event. A simple enough thing to fix, but you definitely need four hands!!
Suddenly I heard Magus growling and Erik shouting from 2 streets away so I rushed round in the other car, fearing that Magus had perhaps slipped his collar. When I arrived, Magus was tethered to a post, whilst Erik was remonstrating vociferously with a dog owner on the opposite side of the road.
A very kind motorist, David, had stopped to help and was busy wiping blood, my dog's blood, from his arms. He'd had quite a shock - having had to brake his 4x4 damned hard to miss the Staffordshire Bull Terror as it ran right across the road to launch an attack on Magus. Its owner - lead in hand, but not actually attached to the dog - opined that "he's never done that before". Cold comfort for Magus as apparently the other dog had just had hold of him by the chest, the jaw and finally the ear, and only the brave intervention of Erik and David had stopped Magus' ear from being completely detached from his head.
After I'd taken her name and address, the lady (yeah, right) proceeded to release her hold on the Staffy's collar and ambled off down the pavement, the dog still not on the its sodding lead!
I could barely believe what I was seeing. Not only had Erik, David and another bystander told her in no uncertain terms that her dog should be on a lead as a minimum, if not muzzled, but I had left her in no doubt of my own thoughts on the matter.
So I called the police.
Let's be clear, I didn't and don't want the offending dog putting down, but I did want to ensure that the woman never walked her dog on a main road without first attaching a lead to its collar. At first they were less than helpful - its an "act of nature" for one dog to attack another apparently - but I managed to insist that someone contact the dog owner, not for what had been done to Magus, but because it could have been so much worse... Next time it might be a kid holding a Labrador. A kid who's not going to hang on to his own face for very long if that dog launches again. Worse still, the next time it sprints across a main road a car could swerve and take out a bunch of school kids.
As for Magus, he's currently laying in front of me, quite literally licking his wounds... which cost a hefty £450.00 to sort out. His chest has been shaved and the puncture wounds cleaned, he's on antibiotics and still, a good 20 hours afterwards, a little wobbly from the anaesthetic. To say he's feeling sorry for himself would be an understatement and he spent much of the night openly moaning, something I've never heard him do before and never want to hear again.
The police phoned today, they've spoken to the woman and told her that she must have her dog on a lead if she is walking it on the road. Apparently she was apologetic, but let's just hope she's still feeling the same way when I ask - nay, demand - that she pay the vet's bill!
Because unlike her dog, when it comes to owners like that I'm pretty much at the end of my tether.
As some will know I have a penchant for Chocolate Labradors. As in, real Labradors which are brown in colour, as opposed to animal shaped confectionery. With three to my name it goes without saying that I pretty much love dogs. All dogs. What really irritates me, however, what really gets right up my nose and annoys the hell out of me, is dog owners themselves. Not all, you understand, just the goddamned irresponsible ones.
I'm all for dogs being off their leads; in the park, down by the river, on the moors - so long as the owners themselves can actually control their dogs. But to have a dog walking along the pavement of a very busy main road, a Staffordshire Bull Terror no less, not on a lead is just asking for trouble...
With Magus vacationing at a friends while the two bitches were in season, my good friend Erik was walking him to fetch a fish supper. As luck would have it I was at Erik's house that evening anyway, trying to fix the door on my TVR. The door switch is located (nay, hidden) underneath the door mirror on a Tuscan, and the connectors had shaken loose whilst driving hell for leather round Donington Circuit with a variety of 3-18 year olds (and a few big kids a little older) during a "Wishes 4 Kids" event. A simple enough thing to fix, but you definitely need four hands!!
Suddenly I heard Magus growling and Erik shouting from 2 streets away so I rushed round in the other car, fearing that Magus had perhaps slipped his collar. When I arrived, Magus was tethered to a post, whilst Erik was remonstrating vociferously with a dog owner on the opposite side of the road.
A very kind motorist, David, had stopped to help and was busy wiping blood, my dog's blood, from his arms. He'd had quite a shock - having had to brake his 4x4 damned hard to miss the Staffordshire Bull Terror as it ran right across the road to launch an attack on Magus. Its owner - lead in hand, but not actually attached to the dog - opined that "he's never done that before". Cold comfort for Magus as apparently the other dog had just had hold of him by the chest, the jaw and finally the ear, and only the brave intervention of Erik and David had stopped Magus' ear from being completely detached from his head.
After I'd taken her name and address, the lady (yeah, right) proceeded to release her hold on the Staffy's collar and ambled off down the pavement, the dog still not on the its sodding lead!
I could barely believe what I was seeing. Not only had Erik, David and another bystander told her in no uncertain terms that her dog should be on a lead as a minimum, if not muzzled, but I had left her in no doubt of my own thoughts on the matter.
So I called the police.
Let's be clear, I didn't and don't want the offending dog putting down, but I did want to ensure that the woman never walked her dog on a main road without first attaching a lead to its collar. At first they were less than helpful - its an "act of nature" for one dog to attack another apparently - but I managed to insist that someone contact the dog owner, not for what had been done to Magus, but because it could have been so much worse... Next time it might be a kid holding a Labrador. A kid who's not going to hang on to his own face for very long if that dog launches again. Worse still, the next time it sprints across a main road a car could swerve and take out a bunch of school kids.
As for Magus, he's currently laying in front of me, quite literally licking his wounds... which cost a hefty £450.00 to sort out. His chest has been shaved and the puncture wounds cleaned, he's on antibiotics and still, a good 20 hours afterwards, a little wobbly from the anaesthetic. To say he's feeling sorry for himself would be an understatement and he spent much of the night openly moaning, something I've never heard him do before and never want to hear again.
The police phoned today, they've spoken to the woman and told her that she must have her dog on a lead if she is walking it on the road. Apparently she was apologetic, but let's just hope she's still feeling the same way when I ask - nay, demand - that she pay the vet's bill!
Because unlike her dog, when it comes to owners like that I'm pretty much at the end of my tether.
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