15/03/2024
So, Quick update on Dice & Ringo. They are both completely healed and they are fine. I am not!
When my dogs were attacked on Christmas day something changed in my mind.
Occasionally I will do a very quick walk around the block with them but I have to be extremely careful because literally on every block there is a chance of a loose dog! I have seen them and heard about them from other dog owning friends. :(
Some are loose by accident while others it is on purpose. Just let them out in the yard with no fence. Maybe they won't charge at you and your dog when you walk by their house, maybe not.
So, it is a gamble.
Most of the time I drive down to the cemetery to do a very quick walk with the van nearby.
It helps me to know that I can get to the van.
The house across the street from the cemetery occasionally has a very large loose dog that comes over to the cemetery.
I have walked in my neighborhood and the cemetery for 24 years with my dogs. I have never been afraid of anything!!!
Now I am afraid of altercations. Is it any wonder.
We have not received one dime towards the $1853 vet bill from the previous encounter with a loose dangerous dog. Plus It seems like I cannot walk anywhere without encountering a loose dog.
One owner the other day pulled into the cemetery about 100 yards from me and just let his dog out loose.
I changed directions, I guess that man and his dog were more important than we were. I hope the man at least picks up his dogs p**p! I did notice that man at least carried a leash unlike some other people we have observed.
When did we become such an entitled population? I know, stupid question......
I would like to walk in my neighborhood and not be afraid of oncoming traffic from loose dogs.
Am I not entitled to walk in the cemetery where my relatives are buried without being afraid of loose dogs?
Then I learn that one of our local trainers is training people and their dogs to walk without leashes.
Just beautiful. I hope that she at least trains the humans to pick up after their dogs when they p**p!!!! That is one of my biggest pet peeves. No one should ever have to step in a dogs p**p when they visit their loved one in a cemetery. That is just ignorance and laziness on the part of the owners. It is a cemetery, have some respect for the gravesites.
One guy I met walks his dog with a shock collar. Told me that his dog was trained to walk with a shock collar. Okay. I should have asked if he picks up his dogs p**p. LOL!!!!
How about just having a leash to put on just in case you need it! Oh, wait..... We don't have a leash law in our county, we have and I will quote him, "We have a control law"
I guess no one else matters. Just you.
That man also told me if something happened it would be my dogs fault. I just mentioned to him that I was just in court for a case with a loose dog, did he really want to find out.
Fact of the matter is when you are 100 - 200 yards away from someone that is approaching, you really cannot see very well. All I know is that the dog is loose and they are going to cross paths with me. Some loose dogs will start to run towards other dogs when they notice them. My heart rate rises, I need my exit, change direction, get to the van.
I think that Pearson Park has a leash ordinance. I need to check. Maybe I will just change the place that I go.
Such a shame because the cemetery is right here.
I really wish the City of New Castle would draft some type of leash law. I also wish that the New Castle News and local news sites would do more stories on responsibilities of dog owners. The owner of the dog that attacked both of my dogs had absolutely NO idea that she was at fault for that attack. She actually plead not guilty. I really hope that had she have been better informed then maybe she wouldn't have been so negligent when it came to her dog getting loose thru a faulty back door that wouldn't latch properly.
I do carry mace now and also have a stun gun that looks like a flashlight.
I pray that I get over this fear! It is completely terrible. Nothing ever bothered me before but now it does. So we pray for it to somehow subside and we pray for the strength to just keep getting out there even if it is a short quick walk. Truthfully the dogs don't care about the length of their walk, they care about the quality of their walk.
My rant is over. Thank you for listening.
**ppickup
