So, this has a bit of a prequel.
A week or two ago, I came back from my break at work to hear that my coworker had witnessed a 'big dog' (she's a cat person) jump from a car across and attack a woman
. Turns out she was walking her small dog, so my best guess at the time was that it'd gone for the dog and redirected onto the woman.
Well, today I met the victims. Turns out the little dog was Charlie, a lovely miniature rat terrier that's just about Sam's age - I'd met him before, but not with the mother of his family, just the father and the kid. Turns out I was right - the big dog had gone for Charlie, and his owner had gotten bitten trying to kick it away. They'd both had to get rabies shots, because the instigator was from out of town and didn't have proof of vaccines. To make things worse, Charlie reacts badly to the rabies vacc, and was out of it for three days. The woman identified the dog as a pit bull. Sigh.
I just... don't know how it got to that point. Why would you be driving through a strange city, with lots of slow driving and stoplights, with your window down far enough for your unrestrained, dog reactive dog to jump out? And then how could you just SIT THERE while it goes after a woman and puppy? Thank goodness it wasn't the twelve-year-old girl in the family walking Charlie.
I want to believe that this was some fluke, and that the dog hadn't done anything like this before, but it seems kind of extreme for a first offense. And this is just the kind of incident that makes things difficult for pit owners and advocates (whether or not this dog was actually a pit - sounds like it was close enough for the sake of the media and general public).
I don't know. It sounds like this dog was grossly mismanaged, and I find it hard to see it in a light where the owner didn't drop the ball. At least Charlie and his owner are all right now - he even played-wrestled with Sam a bit.
A week or two ago, I came back from my break at work to hear that my coworker had witnessed a 'big dog' (she's a cat person) jump from a car across and attack a woman
. Turns out she was walking her small dog, so my best guess at the time was that it'd gone for the dog and redirected onto the woman.Well, today I met the victims
. Turns out the little dog was Charlie, a lovely miniature rat terrier that's just about Sam's age - I'd met him before, but not with the mother of his family, just the father and the kid. Turns out I was right - the big dog had gone for Charlie, and his owner had gotten bitten trying to kick it away. They'd both had to get rabies shots, because the instigator was from out of town and didn't have proof of vaccines. To make things worse, Charlie reacts badly to the rabies vacc, and was out of it for three days. The woman identified the dog as a pit bull. Sigh.I just... don't know how it got to that point. Why would you be driving through a strange city, with lots of slow driving and stoplights, with your window down far enough for your unrestrained, dog reactive dog to jump out? And then how could you just SIT THERE while it goes after a woman and puppy? Thank goodness it wasn't the twelve-year-old girl in the family walking Charlie.
I want to believe that this was some fluke, and that the dog hadn't done anything like this before, but it seems kind of extreme for a first offense. And this is just the kind of incident that makes things difficult for pit owners and advocates (whether or not this dog was actually a pit - sounds like it was close enough for the sake of the media and general public).
I don't know. It sounds like this dog was grossly mismanaged, and I find it hard to see it in a light where the owner didn't drop the ball. At least Charlie and his owner are all right now - he even played-wrestled with Sam a bit.
