This is Woody, a Parson Russell terrier friend of ours. He's usually a bright, friendly little chap, stuck close to his person, quiet and happy.
He came to visit today, however, and he was in quite a state. Yesterday, while walking on-leash along Echo Bay Road, down Fox Point, he was attacked by an off-leash dog. That dog, walking with his two people, was described as big, thick-coated, brown, and perhaps a Shepherd/Husky type of cross. It was a bit of a blur for Woody's 'Mom', who was in a panic trying to get Woody away from his attacker. In doing so, she finally managed to yank him up by the leash, into her arms. She is lucky -- the dog attacking did not continue to attack while she was holding her wounded dog.
We love dogs. No, let me correct that, because it isn't true. We love well-behaved, well-trained dogs with responsible owners. Sadly, over many years, we have been forced to adopt a No Pets policy at the resort, because we can't 'interview' the dogs and their owners before hand. While many are wonderful, both the dog and the people, it only takes one incident... and if we are going to permit one dog to come, then we really have to permit everyone's dog to come... so that is why we recommend putting dogs in a kennel while you vacation.
Woody visited Dr. Stock, who spent considerable time stitching him back together, inserting a drainage tube, and venting his anger that anyone would allow that to happen. The vet's opinion was that this was an attack by a dog intending to kill. The injury was big, ripping up over the terrier's shoulder, leaving a gaping hole in his side. Woody was still scared today, still shaking, definitely still hurting. We sat on the floor together and listened to what he had to say, and it took me immediately back to some years ago when my beloved poodle Holly was attacked by a pack of Cairn terriers who were visiting at the next door property. She had innocently wandered down by their cottage -- which was not surprising, since we had been managing that cottage for the owners for three years by then and were over there ourselves all the time. The dogs ripped her up very badly.
We, however, knew where to find the owners. We knew where to take the vet bill. The property owner paid for half the costs. The owners of the dogs refused. They were professional dog trainers from Toronto, according to the sign on their car, and they felt that our dog was entirely to blame for her injuries. "What," my brother asked, "if that had been a child who wandered onto your property?"
Woody's vet bill, by the way, was close to $650.00. (That could easily be a cost that would be out of reach of many people, leaving a chocie between vet care and rent payments...) But it isn't about the cost of the vet bill, it's about the trauma Woody suffered, the trauma his owners underwent, the principal of the incident -- you MUST have your dog under control. When you see another dog approaching, you MUST take full responsibility for having your own dog in safe custody. You are responsible for the actions your dog takes -- be that as minor as scooping up poop, or as major as this, where the dog attacked with deadly intention.
Mind you, if you know who belonged to that dog, to that car... and they would like to do the right thing, they can get in touch with me, and I'll put them in touch with Woody's family.
What, we ask, if the dog attacking Woody had continued to attack when he was in his owner's arms? What if Woody had been walking with a small child instead of an adult? Why ask that? Because the owners of the attacking dog didn't stop. Didn't offer to help. Didn't take the time to check if Woody was alright. Didn't have a leash to put on their dog...
It's possible that they belonged to the white BMW parked near the junction of Sugarbush and Echo Bay. That car was gone when Woody's owner got home. Maybe they'd just come to walk along the lovely backroad, enjoy the fall colours, walk the Ronville Path... but they give dog owners a bad rap. Worse, they give dogs a bad rap.
We're extremely upset about this. Not just because it happened to a lovely little dog who is a personal friend, but because of the What Ifs? That is a quiet road. A lot of people walk it. Children ride bikes on it. There is a wildlife everywhere. There's a whole lot of things that can go wrong with an uncontrolled dog that is proven willing to attack another dog...
So who does that? Who just 'hits and runs' from an incident like this?
Through the power of the media, the owners of the dog involved in this attack were able to track us down (my credit was on the photo) and tell us their side of the story. First, they were really upset. They had not realized Woody was hurt, let alone that badly. They were shocked because their dog has no record of violence towards other dogs, or people. They were about as shell shocked as Woody's person... they hurried their dog around the corner, away from Woody... And they say that once there, they did put a leash on the dog. And they did go back (at least the gentleman did, his wife stayed with the dog) to see if could help, but Woody had already been whisked away. They further say that they took their dog to the vet, to see if there was something out of the ordinary that might have provoked the dog out of its normal behaviour, and in fact, the vet did find a skin condition that was probably making the dog very irritable. And they have offered to meet with Woody's people and make at least partial restitution...
ReplyDeleteWhich is great news. It is possible, given the type of wound Woody suffered, that it wasn't obvious at a quick glance, particularly if the dog was held close to a person's chest. There is no debating the fact that Woody was badly injured. Both sides of the incident were shell-shocked by the attack, neither thought to ask names, both were concerned with removing their respective dogs to safe places... But hopefully there will be an amicable outcome to this, and I think it's very commendable that they have stepped forward. They read about the attack in the local newspaper -- so here's to the media, and here's to people doing the right thing.