Known aggressive dogs should not be walked on residential streets
4/20/14
Not too long after I moved into my current neighborhood, my neighbor from two blocks over was approaching me with her dog for the first time. We had met previously at our neighborhood book club and clicked, both being transplants from NY and fellow dog lovers. She told me she recently adopted a dog and I admired her for volunteering at the local shelter.
"Hey. How are you Linda? So this is LADY. Is she friendly? Can I give her a treat?"
"Yeah. She's friendly. Ugggghhhhh...oh NOOO.....this is not good....."
Leashes crossed, my six month old puppy made a yelp, and the 50 pound pitbull we just met gripped down on him with her jaw. Linda just stood there in shock, so I grabbed the harness of the pitbull, flipped her on her side onto the ground and thankfully, my puppy popped out of her mouth. The pitbull seemed dazed. I immediately left the scene quite shaken. Linda didn't call to see how my dog was doing or make any attempt at an apology, something I found to be odd, but didn't question. The next time I saw her at book club, all she said was that she thinks her dog thought my dog was a squirrel (he's small but not that small) and we should walk on opposite sides of the street if we bump into each other again while walking the dogs. I was glad she said it first because I had no intention of coming near her dog again. As a result, my dog had puncture wounds, and since has never been the same around large dogs. I didn't particularly hold it against Linda or Lady, assuming it was an isolated incident. I trusted that she would make sure something like this didn't happen again, and never considered calling animal control, a decision I would come to regret.
11/19/16
My neighbor and good friend Susan called about Lady.
"Did you hear what happened to Linda's husband Arnold?"
"No what happened."
"He was walking Lady and apparently a squirrel walked by and Arnold tried to hold her back and she dragged him down. He's in the hospital and has to have reconstructive surgery on his face. Pretty serious. She's broken away from him a couple of times in the last month chasing after cyclists. Arnold is getting up there in years and no longer has the strength to hold her back. It seems like Lady is getting more aggressive, don't you think? I heard Hanna is carrying mace around and Cindy put a pitch fork in her front yard. They both said she's barking and baring teeth like Cujo when Linda is walking her and they are out in their yard. They are afraid to let their grandchildren play in the front.
2/2/17
Susan called about Lady again.
"Did you hear?"
"Hear what?"
"About Lady?"
"No what?"
"Diesel got loose and Linda was out walking Lady. Lady pulled Linda down and got a hold of diesel and ripped him up pretty good. About 30 stitches. Diesel's owner's partially at fault because his dog got loose so animal control won't do anything. Crazy!"
10/8/17
Susan called about Lady again.
"Something has to be done. When I was riding my bike this morning, Linda couldn't hold Lady back and she chased me for two blocks before I was able to outpace her. She got close enough to the bike and was trying to bite the tires! That could have been my leg. I'm sick of this! I called animal control and they said if I wasn't bitten, they won't come out until there are at least two incidents in a 12 month period of someone being chased by the same off leash dog. They said no one else has called."
"I hear you, but what can we do until someone else picks up the phone and calls. I think you and I are not the only neighbors that have had enough. I came around the corner last week and she was right there and Lady practically pulled her down trying to get at us. The way she was barking was totally like a scene from Cujo. I almost shit my pants. I wasn't chased, so what can I say to animal control?
3/12/18
Susan called about Lady again after she bumped into our new neighbor Mike.
"It's happened again. Mike was out jogging a couple of weeks ago and Lady broke off her leash and chased him nipping at his ankles. He was finally able to get her off of him by acting aggressively when Linda caught up to them and was able to subdue her. He said he didn't know about all the other incidents and would have called animal control if he knew. He was pretty shook up but said he'd hate to see an animal be put down. For Christ's sake, he could have been ripped up. Why is she still walking the dog? Someone else has to call. Everyone that walks, bikes or jogs is looking around every corner. It's just getting out of control and it's really strange that she's still walking the dog, especially after what happened to her husband and how many times is she gonna get pulled down before she winds up in the hospital. So strange."
"I think I know what's going on. They've never had kids and they love that dog like it's their child. They are like the parent that doesn't believe the teacher at parent conference night when they say their little Johnny is acting out in class. Total denial. Excuse after excuse. She told me at one of our HOA meetings that all dogs need walks, and made it sound like her husband's hospitalization was no big deal. So freakin weird. I just said nothing. How can you respond to stupidity? I just really hope and pray our next call to animal control won't be over something more serious.
5/28/18
Susan called about Lady, fortunately for the last time.
"Holy shit! Cindy just called me. Cindy's grandchildren are down here and one of the girls was riding her bike in the driveway and Lady broke loose from Linda and jumped on the bike knocking her down. She hit her head and broke her arm in two places. She's in the hospital. Thank God Linda got to Lady before she bit one of the kids. Cindy is pressing charges and animal control is finally on it. If Lady isn't put down, she'll have to be fenced and muzzled at all times when outside and they'll need a 100K insurance policy on her. So sad it had to come to this. I hope Cindy's grandaughter is going to be okay.