Muzzled dog attack

Article about attack by muzzled dog.
By Laure-Anne Viselé, July 2010

Aggressive German Shepherd bullet

Today, I took my 10-month old kid and my dog (fox terrier mix) to a park where offleash dogs are tolerated. I was walking with a group of friends and their own dogs when we saw this German Shepherd bolting towards us displaying all the possible signs of aggression (raised heckles, tail held high, ears pointing rigidly forward, and a hard stare). All the dogs in the group got agitated and started barking, growling, and posturing.

He darted straight for my dog, and repeatedly tried to bite through its muzzle, repeatedly ‘head-butting’ Roger (my dog) violently with his muzzle. My dog was in a complete panick and kept making distress yelps, but the other dog would not let him get away. Thankfully, the muzzle held on and my dog didn’t get bitten.  I could not do anything, as I had to stay close to my kid in case that dog decided to go for the pram too.

The owner taking his time…

It took the owner a while to eventually get to us, approaching the scene at an infuriatingly casual pace. When he eventually got there, he just smiled and muttered to noone in particular ‘such drama’ as I was screaming at him to get his dog under control. The man made absolutely no attempt at restraining his dog, and made no mystery of his opinion of my outrage.

I wonder where his lack of manners, courtesy and empathy would stop. Would he brandish a blank gun in my face, and just say: “Such drama It’s not even loaded”?

I am still seething and, what compounds my frustration is that I regularly meet equally anti-social and irresponsible dog owners, and that there doesn’t ever seem to be any repercussions. One such encounters even ended up with repeat visits to the vet’s for bite wounds.

So here I am, once again, with my utopian vision of a world where dog owners are so considerate that offleash dogs are welcome everywhere, and that I can go out without fearing for my dog’s and my kid’s safety. In the meantime, would it be too much to ask that owners of out-of-control dogs at least pretend to apologise?

Further reading

Dogs and society

• Dogs: my philosophical position – Canis bonus position statement on disputed professional dog issues
• Hot dogs – Quick poll on hotly debated dog issues

Dogs in the news

• Dog attacks 2 year old… – News review of owner of criminal dog demanding his pug is out for Christmas
• The man who hates dogs – Comments on journalist’s proposal to ban dogs

Responsible dog ownership

• You’re under arrest (short version) – Photo report about police dog trail
• Thinking of getting a dog? Reality check – Article about duties and chores of dog ownership
• The Hague and dogs: the rules – Article about the dog rules and regulations in The Hague
• Dogs as ambassadors – Article about impact of ill-behaved dogs
• Does your large dog scare people? – Article about responsible large dog ownership

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