Two dogs (part pitbulls from the looks of them) live or visit a couple of doors down from us. I have seen them out and about loose a few times, and they’re quite aggressive but not exactly confrontational. (i.e. they bark - LOUDLY - but they back away and seem to mind their own business).
A few weeks ago our front door was open for some fresh air, and one of them tried to come into the house but I startled him/her and it left.
Today I was walking our new dog at lunchtime, and these dogs came out of NOWHERE and charged at us - they were about 3 inches away when their owner heard them barking and called them off. I was in a panic.
My dog still had to ‘go’ so I yelled out to the neighbours asking them if they were going to lock the dogs up. No response, so after a few minutes, we carried on and didn’t hear a peep or see them at all.
After I finished shaking, I called Animal Control and reported them. They promised to stop by and give the owner a warning. A) I have no idea if this will help or make things worse. (B) The dogs may not even live there.
Do you think I did the right thing? What would you have done in my shoes?
It was SO scary. There is no way either my dog or I could have protected ourselves if the dogs had chosen to ignore their owner, or if the owner hadn’t been listening.
Much better to call and report them if they are aggressive. There’s no excuse for letting dogs run around unsupervised and threaten people. It’s better for the owner, the dogs, and people in the neighborhood if your neighbor gets a short talking to and realizes things need to change.
I believe the modern approach now would be to declare the dogs evil and attack before Animal Control has a chance to deal with the situation
I would have talked to the owner/habitant first before calling AC.
Greenback I figured calling out to them to see if they were going to lock their dogs up, was one way to start a dialogue, but they didn’t even have the courtesy to answer me.
There is no way I’m going to approach a house with 2 vicious dogs, to have a chat with people I don’t know.
I’m really hoping the warning will do some good. Even if it annoys them and these unknown people are angry with me, at least maybe it will make them think twice about letting their dogs run around loose, now that they know I will not hesitate to call Animal Control again.
(Note - they’re only getting a warning, not a fine or anything). This time.
I’m actually still a bit shakey. One woman plus one frightened little border collie against two pit-bull crosses?!?! Guess who would have lost THAT one!
Still, I do hate to be a troublemaker. Oh well, I guess someone had to do it. Now I’m afraid to walk on my own street because of these dogs.
