h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

This evening I was interrupted by a frantic call from a close acquaintance who 'had an emergency'. Indeed it was. . .





As some of you likely already know, my life is entwined with a person who has long suffered from clinical depression among other things. For the last three years she has been making upward progress -- three steps forward, one step back -- at least partly due to a small but devoted canine friend. This evening, this small canine friend was jumped by an unleashed large dog partly of Boxer extraction. By the time the wee friend was retrieved -- and the Boxer's owners extracted themselves from the bar, whence they had gone, leaving the Boxer unrestrained outside -- she had been quite badly injured in the thoracic area. How badly is yet to be determined by the emergency veterinary hospital doctor.

The best outcome to be expected is that this person who, thanks in part to this dog, has been on the road to living a healthy life will be stuck with a large bill she can ill afford (the cowardly owners and the cowardly Boxer ran off), a bill which will certainly force her back more than a few steps. At worst, the three years of progress and probably more will be lost. And there will still be a big bill.

So, my thought -- my question -- about certain dog owners is:


Why are they so bloody irresponsible?

and



If any dog owners read this, RESTRAIN YOUR ANIMAL. I don't care how well you think it is trained. I don't care how often you say 'She's friendly'. That thing is an animal. It is an animal that to one degree or another is the result of ten thousand years of inbreeding laid over several million years of evolution which made its ancestors joyful killers. You are *responsible*, legally and morally for an inbred killer. Restrain the thing. A moment's inattention, a moment unrestrained can literally ruin a human life.




I expect an update on the wee one's condition in the morning.

The update came sooner than expected.



It is the worst of possibilities.




The wee one is gone.

for the wee one, and for the wee one's person. I know how it feels.

Any possibility of criminal charges? I know that's little consolation, but the damn idiots with the uncontrolled dog need to be taught a lesson, and set as an example.
If it makes even one heretofore irresponsible dog owner begin restraining their animal, it may save some other wee one, someday.

~~

As you know, I have two rotweillers, two nicer, gentler animals you couldn't find, but while they are free to roam the ranch, in public places they are always either confined in a vehicle or restrained on strong leads.

I've also owned smaller dogs, and have had to defend them against larger, agressive animals. I developed the habit of carrying a heavy walking stick for that reason.

'Any possibility of criminal charges?'


doubtful. I can't imagine that there's enough evidence to do anything.

Yes, from me too for your friend.

My cat died a couple of weeks ago, and she has meant the world to me sometimes when things were tough. So I really understand how pets can be important in people's lives.

And yes I agree dogs should always be restrained, particularly if they are a breed that has to a degree, been bred for aggression. The girl next door to me, when I was a child, was badly mauled by an Alsatian one very hot day, when she was playing with a friend in a swimming pool. They were splashing and playing around with the apparently very friendly pet. The dog had never done anything like it before..but with certain breeds I suppose something may unexpectedly trigger a particular response.

The latest reports are that the offending dog was actually a Pit Bull. Off leash.

A witness has told us of the rough area where the humans involved live. Family has been proceeding as well as possible with taking this to Bylaw Enforcement, but apparently the owner has to file the report and, unfortunately, as was dreaded, the owner is a basket-case.

Any large, uncontrolled dog poses a danger to the community.

Pit Bulls in particular have been bred for agressiveness, but more significantly have an unfortunate tendency to be owned by idiots

The animal should be removed from the owners, and euthanized or hopefully adopted by some more responsible person before some little kid gets mauled.

Very sad situation

I'm writing a letter to the local paper just now. Part of it is a warning to the pet owners in that neighbourhood that there is an unrestrained aggressive dog in the area that has killed once and may again.

I'm about to hit 'send' with this:

I have a friend who has suffered from clinical depression for most of her forty-odd years. At times this medical condition has been completely disabling. Three years ago, however, things seemed to start taking a turn for the better, when she got herself a small dog as a constant, selflessly loving companion. This dog turned out to be a most important addition to the various facets of her therapy. Like a guide dog to a blind person, or any other service dog, this dog was not simply a pet: she was an integral part of a therapeutic program which was well on it's way to bringing her owner back to being a productive member of our society.

But I am not writing this letter simply to praise animal therapy: rather, I am writing to bring attention to the dangerously irresponsible behaviour which has ended this therapy for my friend and to give warning of an immediate issue of public safety.



On the evening of Wednesday, April 28th, at about 6:30 pm, while walking her three year old, seven pound therapeutic companion in the Strathearn area of the city, my friend's therapy, and her little friend's life, was brutally ended by an unrestrained dog -- witness reports say a Pit Bull. The two young women who were apparently responsible for the attacking dog fled the scene, leaving my distraught friend holding her bloodied companion. Later that night, she was alone in her home again, disabled again, three years of progress possible destroyed in a moment of violent thrashing by an unrestrained Pit Bull.

Family and friends are trying to pursue action through Bylaw Enforcement. However, Bylaw Enforcement requires that the report be filed by a witness, and at the moment the main witness is incapacitated. We have other witness reports and are spreading the word in the neighbourhood. I feel I must warn pet owners in Strathearn that there is an unrestrained and aggressive dog in their neighbourhood which has killed once and may well attack again.


To the two young women who fled the scene: my friend lives on a fixed income, suffers from a medical condition which prevents her from working, and your dog took away her therapy in a brief moment of violence. She does not have the financial resources to replace what was taken from her, and you have left her with the horrible image of her companion being torn and killed by your animal. Even if she manages somehow to find the financial and emotional resources to choose a new therapeutic companion, she will likely never be able to erase the terrible memory you have given her with your choice to leave you animal unrestrained. I hope, whether you read this or not, that you will come forward and face your responsibility as the owner of the animal which did this damage. Furthermore, I hope that you do this before your dog kills again.

I wonder if you should also mention that small children may also be at risk?

Fortunately I reread it one more time and changed the warning bit to:

'I feel I must warn pet owners and *parents of small children* in Strathearn that there is an unrestrained and aggressive dog in their neighbourhood which has killed once and may well attack again.'


Hopefully that will get someone's attention.

It's been a busy day.

As expected, the owner has had a major slide downward.

I've been on the phone with the police, with the City's Animal Control office and with the office of my City Councillor (twice). While the Councillor's office is planning to put pressure on Animal Control, it still seems to be that the burden of investigation, in a strange vigilante way, with the victim(s). Animal Control want a complaint by a witness and the address of the owners of the problem dog.


And now for the lucky twist possible good news:


The father of the owner of the wee one was driving around the neighbourhood and, just as he was about to head home, he saw a young woman fitting a description with a black pit bull. And he followed her home! (brazen septuagenarian) And he waited outside for a bit and, lo and behold, another young woman fitting the description of the other one came out of the same house!

Then he gave me the (totally wrong, but I worked it out) address and I drove around for a while with doubts in my mind because the description I'd been given of the dog was that it was light coloured, white and brown. After a time, I decided to give up for the night and started driving home. Quite some distance south of, but on the same street as the house in question what did I see but a white and brown pit bull (with a muzzle on being walked northward by a young man.

I circled around a few times, taking pictures of both the man and the dog with the camera I always have with me for painting ideas, and finally I parked right in front of the house. As the man waited to cross the street, he was obviously looking at me (no surprise there -- I made no attempt to hide myself). He came within 40 feet of the house, right across the street from it and then turned 90 degrees to walk directly away. Interestingly, he had basically nowhere to go: the house is a block from the river valley and I went down the single road that goes in that direction and there was no sign of him. Apparently, he had doubled back.

I've emailed photos of the dog to the main witness, asking her to decide whether it is *the* dog when she feels she's up to looking.


Perhaps the posse is closing in.


I'm thinking about calling the local CBC station, but I expect they would descend on someone who would have no capacity to face reporters. I'm quite certain she doesn't want publicity, which, unfortunately, is exactly what this situation requires.

I don't suppose I have to remind you to be careful.


But I will anyway.


Wish I were there as backup

I have been "offline" for a few days due to my move....

All I can say is "Get the a$$e$". I hope they charge them. Unfortunately, the laws aren't strong enough regarding dangerous animals and the fines are pitiful. What does a $500 fine mean to an animal abuser or a irresponsible dog owner? Nothing.

And when the animal "only" attacks another dog, no one really cares about the result of the injury or death of a valued and lover friend.

Anyone who knows me knows that I am not a big "dog person" but I know how much a four-legged friend means to any human being and when I hear people say "it's only a dog" or "people care more about animals than humans" it makes me livid. ANY living creature is worth our concern and care.

I am angry about something that happened in my own neighbourhood. Granted, not as dire an event as your situation, but one that has made me angry.

We have a lovely little Red Squirrel in our back area which I just discovered had made a nest in one of the utility cupboards attached to the side of my new house. It faces onto the common walkway between the rows of units. I discovered it on Friday when the Bell guy came to install my satellite dish and he opened the wooden door and the squirrel burst out in fright.

He carefully closed the door so as not to disturb the nest and I had a look at it a bit later before the squirrel went back into it.

Yesterday, my Mom and I were driving into our parking spot when I saw the mother of one of my neighbours coming around the corner carrying a board with the nesting material on it. She dropped the pile and the board on the ground between the parking bollards and the retaining wall and walked off. The daughter lives in the unit facing my side wall and the common walkway.

1) this woman doesn't even LIVE in our co-op

2) she disturbed the nest without a concern if there were babies in it (which luckily there were not) which is illegal at this time of year especially if there are babies in the nest

3) she just dumped a pile of debris in the parking lot

4) I am on the Board, now, and am going to bring this up at tonight's board meeting.

This is not the first time this woman has taken it upon herself to interfere with something going on in the co-op. She is a real "proper" type who thinks that many of the people here are "below" her and for some reason seems to think she has a right to do what she pleases here because her daughter lives here.

This poor squirrel who had a comfortable home someplace where he wasn't doing any harm now is homeless and far more likely to seek a safer home, possibly in someone's attic.

AND I am just settling into my new home and find myself upset and angry and depressed that I have to face this horrible woman. Someone who disturbs a squirrel for no reason is just as likely to harm a cat and a few years ago she and her other daughter and I got into a disagreement over my cat Benjamin.

I am hoping that the board can do something to make it clear that this woman should stop interfering and that wildlife should be dealt with through the co-op and not by anyone who just feels like it.

I don't like the idea of people disturbing animals during mating and offspring raising time either, Mudhooks. Sadly, around here due to the insane love of urban sprawl, the disturbance usually involves a few hundred acres at a time and heavy equipment.


An update on the dog situation:


The one I saw the other day and photographed has been positively identifies as *not* the perp. I fear this is heading for the cold case file.

That's too bad Anhaga. I mean in terms of not having been able, so far, to identify the dog and owners.

I feel for your friend.

I got a call yesterday afternoon from the city councilor's office. I'm to expect contact from an animal control constable and they'll see what they can do with the information we have.

As it turns out, the father of the wee dog's owner had also been harassing Animal Control and finally the let him file a report, but he forgot to give them little bits of important information, like witness names.

When I hear from the constable I'll have to get them to consolidate reports and I'll put them on track to talking to the main witness.

Now if we can just get the wee one's owner to pull her self out of her slough of despond. I confess that I'm finding the length and depth of the period of intense mourning to be a little much.

>I confess that I'm finding the length and depth of the period of intense mourning to be a little much.<

I can understand from your POV..and of course I don't know the full facts of her mourning. But it all depends on how much love she has invested in the relationship. I mean yes, it's just a pet, but emotions aren't logical. And especially thinking about the way her dog was killed.

To be honest, my cat has been dead, just over a fortnight, and every morning I go in the kitchen it hits me in my heart that she's not there miaowing and greeting me. Every time I go in the garden, near where I buried her, tears come in my eyes. I keep saying to myself..pull yourself together, she was just a cat. But it's the loss of the *relationship* I'm mourning, not the cat.

So yeah it maybe that a special relationship ended in such a manner is tough. Maybe you should just back off a bit, and let her get on with her misery. If in a month there is no change, that's the time to worry.

I'm not lecturing, cos I'm only going on what you've posted here, and don't know the person, but if she is prone to depression, it's not surprising.

But hopefully in a while she'll be thinking of getting a new puppy. I'll be getting a new kitten sometime.

Oh, believe me, I've quite happily backed off!


She's *very* prone to depression.


I, on the other hand, am compulsively disposed to always look on the bright side of life. Also (as I've told her, to her perplexity) I do a little bit of mourning every day -- I'm very conscious of the fact that death can come at any moment to anyone, so every goodbye could be the last one.