If you own a dog, you might want to think about this one. My neighborhood has a fair number of dogs. Thankfully, almost all of the dog owners are really good about looking after their pets. That’s good; dogs getting loose and attacking people have made headlines. But something as simple as a lack of courtesy can escalate into a very dangerous situation, both physically and legally.
I was coming back from a motorcycle ride and decided to stop by the home of another biker who lives just one street over. I wanted to see how his house had weathered Hurricane Matthew.
While chatting, he asked if I’d heard about “the incident” a few days earlier. Apparently, a recently arrived neighbor who was walking his two large dogs stopped to let them “do their business” on the lawn just a couple of houses down from Dave. No problem. Or at least it wasn’t — until the owner simply walked away, leaving two rather substantial “gifts” on the guy’s lawn.
The homeowner, who had been working in his garage, noted his failure to police up after his pets, and (according to Dave, who was also outside) said something like, “Hey, buddy, I think you forgot something.” Dave emphasized that he sounded calm, almost friendly.
The dog owner could have easily replied with a simple, “Oh, sorry man, I forgot my baggies. I’ll be back in a few minutes to take care of it.” Problem solved; community relations maintained.
But as you’ve probably surmised, anyone who cavalierly lets their dog dump on someone else’s yard without picking up after them is unlikely to be a paragon of good manners. So, no surprise, he responded, “It won’t hurt nothin’—the rain’ll wash it away anyway.” Dave said he sounded almost defiant.
The homeowner’s tone changed dramatically. “Look, a—hole,” he said, “you either pick that s—t up or you’re gonna be sorry.” The dog owner turned and started walking away, mumbling something under his breath that Dave couldn’t make out. The homeowner then trotted after the dog owner, yelling obscenities. The two men squared off, exchanging more epithets.
Now the really bad part.
According to Dave, the dog owner lifted his t-shirt, exposing a small handgun, saying, “Back off, or you’ll be the one who’s sorry.” The homeowner immediately got out his cell phone and called 911. Dave did, too. County sheriff’s deputies arrived in record time; calls about guns often speed up responses.
Well, to make a long story short, one of Dave’s friends who works at the sheriff’s office told him later that they had multiple complaints about this particular dog owner, including a case where he allegedly tried to get his dogs to attack another dog that was tied up in its yard. As of this writing, the county attorney is deciding on what charges to file, including potentially assault with a deadly weapon. Considering that the dog owner provoked the confrontation, and Dave will be a witness, he could be in deep trouble. Time will tell.
Now, I no longer own dogs myself, but I do often dog-sit for people when they leave town. And I always carry those little baggy things, which makes picking up after them pretty simple. To me, and hopefully to you, properly training and controlling our pets, including picking up after them, is just common courtesy.
Or at least it should be…
