This happened last year and I’m STILL shaking my head about it.
I was part of a Meetup group that took their dogs for walks in various public parks. The makeup of this group was primarily white, middle-to-upper class, 30+, and female. The dogs were everything from Great Danes to Chihuahuas and every size in between. The owners ranged from good to batshit crazy.
On that day we were in a large popular park on a Saturday in the spring. There were upwards of 50 dogs, some people walking more than one, like the man with the three Great Danes.
The organizer that day was “Jane”. Jane had one dog, also a Dane, on a leash and an elderly medium sized mix in a stroller she was pushing. It was the dog in the strollers birthday. Jane is one of the batshit crazy owners.
After our hour long walk I go sit on a bench in the shade and get a front row seat to watch the insanity unfold.
Jane and the rest of the group head over to one of the pavilions scattered throughout the park. At that pavilion is a couple, their kids, their kids friends, and various relatives. It is obvious that they are going to have a party and have reserved the pavilion, heck, it was covered in kiddie party decorations.
Jane goes over to one of the tables and starts to unload stuff from the stroller as people and their dogs go to sit at the table. Some of the kids (ages looked to be from 4-10) go bug eyed at the Great Danes and run over to their parents. The dad walks over and tells Jane that he has reserved the pavilion for his child’s party and that she would she would have to leave.
I don’t remember the whole thing verbatim, and I don’t want to make a wall of text so I’ll make a list:
- Parents yelling at Jane and the others.
*Dogs barking and kids crying.
*More yelling from the adults.
*Mom declares the party is ruined as the birthday girl clings to her mother, sobbing, as the dad yells at people to stop walking their dogs through the pavilion. It was obvious the little girl was terrified.
*Jane frantically yelling at the adults that she was “almost done!”.
Luckily Jane finished cutting her dogs cake before it went any further. I declined the cake, wasn’t sure if it was meant for me or my dog, and left the group shortly after.