And, just to clarify - if someone genuinely does have a pathological fear of all canines, small golden retriever puppies included, I will absolutely try to help them out if they’re not abusive about it. Say to me “I’m sorry, but I had a really bad experience as a kid, and now I’m afraid of all dogs” and I’ll do what I can to accomodate you. Shout “Put your dog on a fucking leash!” and I won’t. I know my dog won’t harm you; your psychosis stops being my worry at the second you become aggressive. I’m not obliged to accomodate false beliefs.
While I’d agree anybody actually worrying about DIEING from a dog attack needs to find something better to worry about, the run of the mill dog bite is another story.
Its gonna hurt. Its going to probably ruin the clothes you were wearing. Its gonna be scary. Its going to be a royal pain in ass because you’ll need to go the ER if its anything more than a scratch.
Here is some interesting reading and possible facts from a bunch of ambulance chasing lawyers who probably vacation in Tuscany due to dog bites.
Among other things it looks like about 1 in 15 dogs bites someone PER year.
Sure is nice you “know” :rolleyes:
Just like all those other owners that thought the same thing right before sweet little Spot bite someone.
So you are also in agreement with the fact that profanity and abuse is warranted towards to people who have dogs that have done nothing? That a foot-long puppy trotting past you is perfectly reasonable grounds for screeching at someone?
Just trying to clarify. That IS the situation we’re describing here. I want to make sure that my objection to being subjected to that abuse is what you’re arguing against with rolleye smilies. You feel that I deserve that abuse by mere virtue of owning a small golden retriever puppy which is in your vicinity?
But sweet liitle Spot didn’t bite someone.
I’m not sure where you’re getting this idea from, but dogs don’t go round biting people. I don’t know anyone who has (a) been atatcked by a dog or (b) who has owned a dog who attacked someone.
I DO know three people who have been raped. If you’re gonna direct preemptive asusmptive abuse at someone, make it all the people you see. They are far more likely to harm you.
I’d like to show you what a golden retriever puppy looks like:
http://www.dooziedog.com/dog_breeds/images/full/Golden-Retriever-Puppy-6.jpg
Now, if that fills you with fear to the extent that you have to scream abuse at someone - and you feel that is, indeed warranted and necessary - I submit that your remedy is medical.
You might wanna go visit that website I provided. Statistics suggest your life experiences are a statistical anomaly.
OK, you wanna reason it on statistics?
1000 Americans? They’re considerably lower than automobile injuries or human-human injuries. Do you screech at the sight of a car or another human being? Must be hard work.
1000 Americans is negligible. It supports my position that it simply doesn’t really happen in everyday life. Acting like it does is unreasonable, and slightly insane.
Human violent crime (in the US, since most people here seem to be American): 3977 crimes per 100,000 residents. What that is in a country of 400M people I can’t be bothered to work out, but it’s a hundred or more times the dog-based offences.
So we#ve established you believe it’s reaonsable to screech abuse at owners of a dog which comes near you; that’s fine. I think you’re mad, but we’ll take that as our baseline.
On that basis, given the statistics, do you believe it’s OK to scream abuse at any human who comes near you? You’re 100 times more likely to be harmed by them. Or do you agree that the dog statistics are negligible? Or is it just that dogs are an easy target and can’t defend themselves?
Still wanna base it on statistics?
Where in the world do you get a measly 1000?
That site says there are 4.7 million bites per year.
And over 20 percent are people bitten by dogs that are NOT dogs owned by friends or family.
So, over a lifetime, a person has about a 1 in 10 chance of being bitten by some strangers dog, if their numbers are right and my math is right.
And, BTW, I’d say a person has an infinitly great chance of being physically harmed by ANY random dog than somebody yelling the word fuck in their general direction…
34 fatal dog attacks versus 14,000 fatal human attacks and 97,000 fatal automobile incidents.
Violent attacks by people: 10.5 million. In the US, that’s one in every 35 people.
I understand that you feel it’s OK to screech abuse at every dog owner who comes within sight of you; I don’t understand why you don’t screech abuse at every human who comes in sight of you? Is it because the human will hit back?
What about the cars? They’re friggin’ deadly. Screeching abuse at every car you see must make for a really sore throat.
OK, I’m being silly there. My question is this: why do you think is it OK to screech abuse at dog owners whose dogs have done no harm to you, and not people and cars?
Why do you think the only dog attacks that matter are fatalities?
Yet on the other hand somebody yelling at you to keep your dog on a leash is “screeching abuse”.
You sure seem to be minimizing one and maximizing the other.
Yeah, the guy may have been rude. You may have a legal right to not have the dog on a leash. But there is a big difference between rude and “abuse”.
Why do you think on-fatal human attacks like rape don’t matter?
Look, we can play this stupid game all day. Let’s not, eh? What’s the best we’ll get out of it other than an intranets “victory” (and that’s not going to happen, because there’s no such thing).
At least we agree he was being rude. Maybe there is some chance of comomn ground here?
I do characterise profanity as abuse. But, honestly, that’s semantics. That’s not discussing the issue.
The situation - all hyperbole aside - was a small puppy trotting past five feet away. Did that warrant what you would term as rudeness? If not - what are we arguing about?
Well, from my point of view, besides your OP, your latest posts come off as the stereotypical dog owner apologist. Its all the stuff bad owners with bad dogs trot out to defend themselves. Maybe you aren’t one and maybe your dog isnt. But that doesnt mean the arguements arent baloney even if you are one of the good guys so quite using them.
Well, at least you admit your prejudice. You’re reacting against a stereotype in your mind, not the actual argument presented.
What imaginary acts do you feel I’m apologising for (other than the one in the OP)?
“knowing” your dog won’t bite someone is the stereotypical classic. And usually about as factual as a politician’s promise.
That’s not the answer to my question. My dog hasn’t bitten someone. You haven’t murdered someone. Etc. I am not going to apologise for something that has not happened, and to expect me to is, frankly, a mark of insanity.
So the question, again: what acts do you believe I’m apologising for, other than the instance described in the OP? You said I was being an apologist for something. If so, what am I being an apologist for? Not dog attacks, which I condemn (despite their statisticl rarity as I’ve made clear). I’m really curious as to what you think I’m being an apologist for.
I live in the US and Candyman74, you did nothing wrong. The woman who yelled at you was being a rude bitch.
:rolleyes: You can never “know” 100% the future behavior of any creature, dog or human. I don’t “know” that my next-door neighbors will never kill anyone. I guess I should be terrified of them.
Yeah, how did we get from a puppy walking near someone to the dog jumping, charging and attacking people?
I really have no idea!
Guy seemed like a jerk, and completely in the wrong.
People in the US can often times be quite uptight about dogs.