If the goal of the ad was to convince public opinion to ban dogs, to neuter them before such an enormity could happen, it succeeded well.
It was as though it was written specifically to feed the OP’s paranoia about vicious dogs on leashes.
I just got a puppy a month ago. He is 80 pounds and is a Bulldog/Lab mix. The dog is massive and his head is gigantic. The dog is very intimidating. However, he was also abused and will drop like a fly if you so much as raise your hand near him.
If I walk both my dogs in public (and I do, plenty) the new puppy has a tendency to walk towards strangers. In fact he will strain at the leash and even though I am fairly strong, sometimes he gets closer than I would like. In response to this I started using a martingale collar which allows better restraint of the dog in these situations. Problem solved.
Keep in mind this puppy had already attacked two people; the first one got 3 or 4 licks from the dog (which she happily accepted and traded for a treat), the second he got close enough to sniff and the person raised their hand to strike, to which the dog dropped on the ground. The person realized they were over reacting and looked near tears and apologized. In both cases I was trying my damndest to walk around the people but they have a habit of taking up and space I give up.
Also; fair warning for anyone shooting a dog. If you shoot my dog and it isn’t actually attacking you, there is a decent chance I will lose control of my emotions and assault you. My dogs are a member of my family. If you don’t have the compassion to consider that, at least have rational fear.
It may not be your responsibility, but sometimes it’s not a bad idea. Here’s another example. You come to an intersection and see another car about to run a red light. It’s not your responsibility to stop, but maybe you should just stop at the green light and let them blow their red light instead of having to learn how to walk again.
So let me ask you this. You said you’ve always had a dog, I assume at some point in your life one of your dogs has barked at someone at some point, right, I mean, dogs do that. How would you feel if one of those people pulled out a gun and pointed it at your dog (while your dog was on a leash that you were holding), because that’s what some of these posters are suggesting is an okay thing to do.
Keep in mind, all I’m saying is that it’s not okay to point a gun at a dog that’s barking at you while the owner is holding it’s leash. I’m trying not get defensive here but this topic keeps wandering.
There’s a fatal flaw in this plan.
If you are saying it is a poor plan to assault someone because they shot your dog; maybe so, but it is an emotional response.
If you are saying it is foolish to attack someone who has a gun - I’d argue that, slightly. If the person is unstable enough to shoot your dog, while they are not attacking the person, it may be that they will attack you next. Or become so zealous in their defense that they accidentally shoot you. Combining the fear, stress, anger, and of course grief of the situation may overwhelm me to the point that I do attack the gun wielder. Considering that the person was close enough to you that they considered the dog a threat, they are at grappling range. I am not saying that means it is a giveaway - but the odds are better than if they are 15 yards away.
I’m glad I cannot get into the mind of a dog hater. I cannot understand the reasoning or lack thereof. I wish, instead, that dog haters would look to minimizing the terrible impact bad owners have.
If you don’t like dogs - I get it. I don’t like it, but I get it. But at least have the compassion to understand that dog owners do love their dogs and respect that.
My mom and aunt both got bit by dogs while walking. It’s not dogs we hate, it is terrible dog owners. I don’t care if it is a 15 pound dog, take that thing to obedience school and train its ass. I like dogs ok but if I wanted to be jumped on or slobbered on I’d buy my own. Your dog should not be straining at the leash, jumping on people, barking for 17 minutes straight. It should have leash discipline. There is such a thing and if you don’t train your dog you are being lazy and a bad citizen.
And clean up their goddamn poop. Last year someone let their dog poop directly in front of my mailbox. When I stepped in it it did not make me happy towards dog owners or think they were being friendly neighbors at all.
I swear, bad dog owners do more to make people hate dogs than any dog ever could. Even little 15 pound mitsy can bite hard enough to require stitches.
The OP has been banned as probably a returning troll. So there is that.
This is true of literally anything you can name.
You know, I really don’t give a shit if they’re “just being nice” or “just want to be friends” or “they can be controlled if I choke the leash up real tight.”
Train your goddamn dogs. I am so tired of the untrained dog of the lady across the street that just about strangles itself to death whenever she takes it outside. It’s loud, it’s obnoxious, it’s a pain in the ass that I have to cross the street whenever I see it coming because no, NO, I do NOT want it jumping on me and getting mud all over me, I do NOT want it licking me all over, I do NOT want it barking in my face and potentially pissing everywhere in its excitement. It is simply disgusting and obnoxious. The barking can be heard for more than a block in our neighborhood for some damn reason so I can hear the stupid thing the whole time it’s outside, even when I’m indoors with the windows closed.
Train.
Your.
Dogs.
I wouldn’t pull a gun on a dog, that’s stupid. But I’ve had it up to here with dimwits who think that they don’t need to train their dogs because “oh it’s so cute when it jumps up on you, see it just wants to be friends my cuddlykinsoooooh!!! It doesn’t bite so everything else it does is OK!” No. I don’t want any part of your dog. I am tired of being almost knocked over by untrained dogs. I am tired of your dog barking its head of incessantly. I don’t care if it’s the size of a shoe. Train it. Your love for your dog doesn’t mean you should just let it act that way.
The leaving poop in my yard certainly does not help matters.
I’d like to add that this entire post applies for me, and especially for anyone’s kids!
I can certainly agree that there ought to be a lot more kids on choke leashes!
I can’t say I agree with kids being on choke leashes, and I don’t think my above post indicates such, it advocates training certainly, but not violence.
I think some of you have an unrealistic view of what training means. Regardless of how much training a dog gets it won’t be turned into a robot. Dogs have different personalities. No amount of training will change that. My dog has been through a lot of training. That training did not stop her from being a neurotic goofball. When she meets you she’ll either run away or think you are the greatest thing since bacon covered in bacon.
Our neighbor once moved in a girlfriend who had two rottweilers that he kept in the front yard, supposedly contained by an electric “fence.” We could not navigate our own driveway without them lunging and snarling at us, eventually crossing the “fence” and occasionally wandering our front yard and the neighborhood. Trips down the driveway to collect the mail turned into a harrowing experience for us so I called animal control. The neighbors insisted to the animal control officer that their little cuties never left the yard. A court date was set. Finally I let the neighbor know that even stupid old people like us had heard of those new fangled inventions called cameras and that we had pictures and movies of their dogs running up and down the street and on our property. They didn’t show up to court, so I’m sure their fine was substantial. He also had a couple of Akitas who roamed the neighborhood killing and mauling cats, including one of mine which was minding her own business on our back porch. One of them killed another neighbor’s cat and the other neighbor took a shotgun and killed it and carted its corpse away. I’m sure I’m the one blamed for that as well. Between the fine for the rottweilers and the missing Akita, he finally confines his dogs now. If only he had done that from the beginning. The odd part is, he blamed US for all his troubles. Go figure.
I’ve heard that excuse a lot!
“Oh but he’s only one and a half, it’s like his brain is exploding all the time and it’s just so hard for him to control himself. I’ve tried so hard but he just jumps on people and licks them because he’s so happy!”
What part of “I don’t care, train your dog or take your dog away from me” do you not understand?
The truth of the matter was with that dog it was not being properly played with enough to burn off its energy. It’s a golden retriever and a half hour of walking is not enough. Gee, I wonder why it’s tearing your house apart, going through your trash, stealing food off your plate, overweight, and not responding to training? Could it be that you’re a shitty owner that bought a dog they can’t care for?
Perhaps you are a good owner. I still have no patience for a dog that is not properly leash trained so that they aren’t lunging, jumping, or barking incessantly in the presence of other people.
What part of “I don’t care stay away from my dog” don’t you understand? See it works both ways.
Say what you will about the NRA’s slogan, at least it’s not guns don’t kill people; people kill people; except, oh, wait, actually, yeah, there’s a whole bunch of guns that decide on their own initiative to just get up and go out and start attacking, and, man, even if you’re holding on to one as best you can to keep it restrained, it has a mind of its own and will try with all its might to pull away from you and get the win all by itself.
I think the difference here is I put myself, as a human, higher up in the heirarchy of rights than dogs.
It may not make much sense to you, it may not be enforcable or even practicable, but in my mind I have more of a right to walk where I want than a dog does. So if I’m walking down the street and an untrained dog is coming my way, I do believe the owner and dog should be the one crossing the street and being inconvenienced, not me. And only they should be suffering the sound of that dog’s barking, if they’re going to just let it bark the whole time. They’re the ones who chose to have a dog, not me.
“You live in a society and gotta deal with other people, go live out in the sticks if you feel that way, I love my dog, you need to make exceptions, yadda yadda–” Not going to change my mind that I am the one with more rights than a dog. I don’t like untrained dogs and I don’t make exceptions in this regard.
The only thing that stops a bad owner with a dog is a good owner with a dog?