People and their dogs and other people

No big deal!............ Get over it!.......... Get a life!.......... Leave it be!................ Forget about it!

I am finding it very interesting to observe the reaction of individuals when it comes to certain events which may or may not result in catastrophe. No, there were no apparent, lasting consequence's following the barking dog assault. Of course, some things do not present themselves immediately but we'll assume everything is OK for now. At the risk of repeating myself, here is what happened in a nut shell: We were walking on a public sidewalk, two illegally, unrestrained, unsupervised, agitated dogs ran at us barking aggressively and acting in every way that they could and quite possibly would bite or jump on us. I jumped in between us and them and by yelling and flaying my arms defensively and kicking, scared them away. The most aggressive and most unpredictable dog had come within two or three inches of us before backing off. In my opinion this was an experience to give anyone pause as to their safety. If it had been a child or a less defensive person than I there may well have been blood drawn from the overall scenario. I found it upsetting.

The part I find interesting is how those people responsible handle the situation: Otherwise a nice guy, albeit sometimes very opinionated and outspoken, One of the offenders chooses to deny any responsibility whatsoever and shift the blame of the whole thing onto my shoulders by pointing out that he owns his home, pays taxes and as long as he does it is his right to allow his dog to roam freely on his part of the street. I knew he did and the reason it all happened is because we were walking there........?.........Now I better watch my step because he is going to watch my every action and report me to the police every time I commit an infraction. I'm still trying to work all that out. I'm am not angry you understand, I just want to understand how to prevent this sort of thing in the future. So far I think it means that I should stay clear of where he chooses to allow his dog to roam or suffer the consequences. Whatever they may be.

The other appears to ignore that it ever happened. Also a very nice, hard working and friendly person. From what I can gather the offense simply did not happen. Nope! We didn't go for a walk, we weren't confronted by her dog, there was no yelling, or barking or anything. There is no reason to talk about it. No reason to apologize. No reason to inquire if everyone is OK. I guess the reasoning behind that thought process is that: If you deny it ever happened, then it didn't and you don't have to face any responsibility of ignoring the law and the warnings and pleas of your neighbors for over 4 years. Everything will go back to normal eventually, right?

The other thing I am mulling over is the reaction of the police officer I reported this incident to. I have received no notification as to whether they contacted the dog owners or not. No one let me called to let me know. Another part is what he explained to me: You must understand that the police have no way of handling an unrestrained dog. If a confrontation happens again I need to capture the dog and call animal control. If I understood him correctly there is no law against allowing your dog to harass passers by on a public sidewalk or road. I know that to be incorrect because I received a copy of the city ordinance in the mail from someone else that obviously has a problem with this batch of free roaming, barking dogs.

I've gathered that the consensus seems to be that in some way I caused the incident by taking a walk in my own neighborhood, less than 300 feet from my own front door, on a public sidewalk, with the knowledge that some people allow their animals to run free and harass their neighbors. I should have known better. That's the attitude I seem to be getting so far. I guess I'm a real trouble making jerk here for asking folks to abide by the same laws as I do. Yeah, I should have known better. I'm starting to think I need a dog so I better understand the situation. This is all quite interesting and I'm learning a lot about people and how much they care about the health and welfare those around them compared to their dogs. Even if it is a little disappointing.