Vent: Irresponsible dog owners

[monarch64]

Just got back from a nice walk with the dogs. Everything was going fine until we were on the home stretch and noticed not one, not two, but THREE dogs loose across the street from our house. One big white dog, and two little chihuahua looking things (the female had on a pink dress), and all three had leashes. We noticed the gate on the side of the house they were in front of was open so obviously they had just escaped, but the owners were nowhere to be found. Knocked on the door, range the bell, no answer. We corraled the two females (big white dog and little bitty dress dog) back into the fenced in backyard, but the third little sh*t was enjoying his big adventure waaaay too much to let anyone near him. He ended up running down the block towards our house so I took our dogs back to our house and locked them inside our fence. Next thing you know, people are pulling over because this stupid little dog is running all over the (very busy) street looking like he is having the time of his life. Some guy pulls into our drive and says "is this your dog?" all accusingly, then DH hopped in his car with him to go chase the darn thing down. Meanwhile I go back to the neighbor''s house and sure enough, he had already circled the block and made it back there and was standing outside the fence while the other two dogs were inside barking away at him. He still would not come anywhere near me, I tried every silly voice I could think of to no avail. Then here came DH and random guy...they got out of their car and we all ended up cornering him in someone else''s yard. Argh! We couldn''t even pick him up he was so agitated, and he looked like a biter. I took his leash from DH and dragged him while DH walked behind him to get him to move forward. Finally we got him back inside his fence with the other two and went home. Quite the adventure...gee, you just never know what you''ll encounter around here I guess. So, a very average and moderate workout/walk ended up being a mad dash to save a little yapper from becoming roadkill.

Update: I just walked back over to the house to make sure the dogs hadn''t escaped again (the gate doesn''t shut securely), and there they all were still. DH says they had leashes on even though no one was with them because apparently in our village if your dog gets loose without a leash it is a steeper fine than otherwise. So for example if your dog gets loose and has its leash on, you could say it got away from you and then not be fined as much. I know, it''s ridiculous. Equally ridiculous are people like our poop-for-brains neighbors (we don''t know them, but I''m judging by this particular experience) are the kind of people who will risk a dog strangling itself with its leash and almost not even worried about them getting out. I will keep watching their house until I see someone come home this evening, and then DH and I will walk over and let them know what happened today and that next time we won''t just put the dogs back and forget about it.

I am really ticked off that this happened. Thanks for reading my rant!

 

[bee*]

I can''t believe that they''d leave their leads on for that reason-that''s crazy!! What irresponsible owners! Lucky you were around or their doggies mightn''t be alive after running into the traffic. It makes me so annoyed to hear of stories like that-ugh

 

[sunnyd]

Ugh, that sucks. My parents have a neighbor dog like that. They live on a busy road and the people let the dog out into the front yard with no fence to let it run around wherever the hell it wants...

It drives their dogs crazy when he''s out because he likes to wander over when my mom is walking them (2 giant St. Bernards).

The worst part is when stupid owners think it''s soooo funny and cute!!! Ack!!!

Nice touch keeping the leashes on too...wow.

 

[Skippy123]

Monnie, oh no, what a day!!!!! What a nice neighbor you are, seriously that was nice of your and your hubby going after them so they wouldn't get hurt!!!!! Also, reading the part about one of dogs dressed up in a pretty pink dress made me lol!! Oh boy, talk about bad neighbors leaving the leshes on them;

they must know their pups are an escape posse, gosh that is bad.

eta: not to long ago I was on a walk and found a cute little dog and saw the tag and realized the dog wasn't too far from their home. I rang the door bell and the lady started hollering at the dog and then shut the door; I was thinking geez lady, I found your dog a nice thank you would be nice. I don't know what is wrong w/people.

 

[NewEnglandLady]

I can understand if somehow the the fence wasn''t shut properly and it was a pure accident, but it sounds like the latch to their fence is broken, which is just completely irresponsible.

And what made me even MORE angry is that they leave the leashes on their dogs like that. it''s a very serious choking hazard only made worse by the fact that the owners aren''t even there! If the leash were to get wrapped around something or caught, the dogs would be in big trouble. Grumble, grumble.

It sounds like the little chihuahua has some socialization issues. People often lose sight of the fact that dogs are a serious commitment requiring daily exercise, socialization and mental stimulation--they aren''t just house or lawn ornaments. If nothing else, sounds like their dogs got all three of those things today...from you

 

[monarch64]

Bee, yup, lucky we just happened to be walking by and noticed they were all out...there were plenty of other people walking their dogs today but I guess we were the lucky ones who were in the right spot at the right time.

Sunnyd, in my hometown people let their dogs run all over the place without fencing them in--we had one neighbor who went through 7 poodles in about 7 years because she and her husband just let the dogs outside with no fence and they would get run over.

Skippy, I can't believe that lady didn't even have the tact to thank you for your good deed. People really amaze me.

NewEnglandLady, I know, DH and I were thinking the same thing about what a choking hazard it is to leave a dog on leash unattended.

Not only that, but what if these dogs DO bite and little kids or people had gotten hurt? It reminds me of Mandarine's story from a few months back when she got attacked by her neighbor's dog. The gate doesn't even latch completely shut, and it looked like they had an empty garbage container against the gate to help keep it closed. So obviously they KNEW the gate wasn't really secure, which further ticks me off. The whole thing just makes me really angry, and I am seriously contemplating getting the village involved at this point. Hopefully DH and I can go talk with these people this evening and maybe they will secure their fence properly and leave the leashes off their dogs while they're gone.
ETA: I even had the good sense to grab some treats when I ran to our house to put our dogs inside, and the little bratty one would STILL not come to me. He was very obviously not neutered, so I don't know if he had spring fever or what, methinks he was the instigator of the whole situation because the two females stayed right by the house and went right back in their yard but he just took off like an escaped con.

 

[Lynn B]

Ugh, I feel your pain. Dumb@$$ pet owners drive me INSANE, too!

Last year a friend and I were roller-blading on our local bike trail, and as we came around a curve I saw a lady yapping obliviously on her cell phone about 10 feet off the trail, while her dog (a HUGE, mean-looking black something-or-other) was actually ON THE TRAIL, apparently at the very end of his fully extended (retractable-type) leash.

I hollared to her, "Please pull back your dog!"
Her reply: "HE DON''T BITE!" (Really!)

Just then, he lunged at me, KNOCKED ME DOWN, and bit me HARD on the leg!!!

Me: "HE BIT ME!"
HER: "NO, HE DIDN''T!" (I swear this is the exact conversation!)

Meanwhile, I am on the ground, trying to quickly assess the situation and the damage, and that dang dog is a few inches from my face, straining at his leash and still snapping at me!!! I was nearly frantic. I said, "GET THE DANG DOG AWAY FROM ME!"

So she gave the leash to her THREE-YEAR OLD child, and HE held the dog away from me. Oh good grief, I am getting steamed up again just talking about it!

So I finally got my knee pads off and my pant leg pulled up and there was a nice big bleeding gash on my leg. The dumb banana says, "Oh... wow... he DID bite you...hmmmm, I didn''t think he would..." No apology, no nothing, just a big stupid blank stare.

I finally had the wherewithall to ask if the dog was properly vaccinated and she said (quite proudly), "Oh yes, I''m a very responsible pet owner!"

I said, "I want your name and number." And she says brightly, "OK! Do you have a pad and a pencil?" NOTE: I am on roller-blades in the middle of summer, wearing jeans and a tank top and protective gear ONLY... um, what you see is what there is! DO I LOOK LIKE I HAVE A PAD AND PENCIL, FOR PETE''S SAKE??!!! I said, "Um, noooooooooo, but I have my cell phone." So I got her name and number and limped back the last mile of the trail.

Later I called her vet and asked about the dog, and do you know they told me that due to the HIPAA PRIVACY ACT, they couldn''t TELL ME if the dog was vaccinated or not!!! I about blew a head gasket at that point. After I threw a mild fit, she whispered into the phone, "OK, OK! Yes, the dog is up to date on all its shots. But if you tell anyone I told you, I will have to deny it!" OY, OY, OY!!!

OK... rant and vent over, sorry to threadjack!!!

 

[NewEnglandLady]

Lynn!! I cannot BELIEVE that happened to you, that is awful!!!! I get so frustrated with oblivious, careless pet owners that I won''t even get into it because I''ll end up writing an essay. I feel that most "biters" are dogs with severe social anxiety, which always makes me wonder why the owners wait until their dogs are borderline dangerous before taking them out in public.

On top of being bit, I can''t believe there are HIPPA laws protecting dogs!! How ridiculous is that?! I''m glad the vet. tech. told you he was up-to-date, though. Did you need to go to the hospital? Did you follow up with the owner of the dog?

 

[AGBF]

I am so glad you were there, Monnie! You are such a good soul! Now what can we do to stop the neighbor from killing those poor dogs with the leashes?

Deb

 

[LegacyGirl]

What a good neighbor you are! I can''t believe people like that! There is this little yippy dog that runs around my neighborhood too but he won''t let anyone near him. I tried to bring him back to his owners but he looked like he was going to kill me. I tried to find out who owns him but no one knew. He still escapes from time to time. Annoying little thing...

 

[Lynn B]

Date: 3/13/2008 9:13:21 PM
Author: NewEnglandLady
Lynn!! I cannot BELIEVE that happened to you, that is awful!!!! I get so frustrated with oblivious, careless pet owners that I won't even get into it because I'll end up writing an essay. I feel that most 'biters' are dogs with severe social anxiety, which always makes me wonder why the owners wait until their dogs are borderline dangerous before taking them out in public.

On top of being bit, I can't believe there are HIPPA laws protecting dogs!! How ridiculous is that?! I'm glad the vet. tech. told you he was up-to-date, though. Did you need to go to the hospital? Did you follow up with the owner of the dog?

NEL,

Yes, HIPAA laws for DOGS!

Being as I work in a HOSPITAL, I find that ludicrous!

And yes, I did go to the ER and get treated (it happened on a Saturday afternoon and my doctor's office was not open.) Because it was a dog bite, there was a mandatory reporting, the dog warden was in touch with me and eventually the owner was fined (I'm not sure exactly how much? Maybe $25 or $50?) The whole experience was dreadful, exasperating, and painful. The actual dog bite itself ended up being the least of my problems...it healed up pretty fast, but my hips and lower back were sore and tender for WEEKS after the fall.

 

[Fly Girl]

Last summer the neighbor''s dogs got out and were running down the street. Another neighbor simply called the police. The police gathered up the dogs, but did not know whose yard they were from. Just then my husband and daughter came home, and helped ID the dogs. The police simply put the dogs in the neighbor''s yard, and blocked the loose gate with several boards.

After the neighbor came home, my husband told him about his dogs getting out and of their adventures. The neighbor said he had been wondering why the boards were in front of the gate. Later we heard him and his latest girlfriend arguing about the dogs.

Life in the neighborhood isn''t always like Mr Rodgers'' was!

 

[marcy]

Wow, what an adventure for you and your husband. They should be grateful you saved thier dogs from harm. You guys were sweet to work so hard to help them.

 

[Sparkalicious]

Hi Monarch - Sorry you had this experience. It sounds more like an ordeal than an adventure to me! So much for a calm and rejuvenating walk, huh?

This story really hits home for me b/c I was bitten quite badly by a Rotweiler named Spike (a beast of an evil creature who snuck up behind me and took a chunk out of my calf) just over a year ago or so. It has taken me almost this long to fully recover - physically meaning the wound (3 mos for the wound or hole in my leg to finally close) and internally, due to the damage done by all the antibiotics and various medications I had to take to recover from the serious infection caused by this wound. It was a traumatic experience all the way around and people really should be more responsible with their animals.

Believe me ... No one gets a pass anymore if they SAY that their dog doesn''t bite. Sure, may not bite you but it might find ME delicious.

Good for you for being brave enough to try to save a doggies life and thank goodness you were not injured during your efforts!

 

[AmberGretchen]

People really are astonishingly irresponsible about their pets, in all kinds of ways.

Monnie - I''m so sorry you and your DH ended up having to take responsibility for your neighbors'' negligence. Honestly if it were me, and it happened again, I''d consider calling Animal Care and Control. The owners could easily retrieve the dogs, but they''d probably have to pay a fine, and hopefully that, along with the inconvenience, would teach them a lesson about how to be more responsible. But then again I''m kind of mean like that

Lynn and Sparkalicious - I''m so sorry to hear about your experiences with dog bites, how miserable for both of you, and totally irresponsible on the owners'' parts. I work a lot with dogs as a volunteer trainer, and I can honestly say that I think that dogs who show unprovoked aggression towards humans have serious temperament problems and in many cases should be humane euthanized, and certainly not entrusted to the average (or it sounds like in Lynn''s case less than average

) dog owner.

FYI for everyone else, one of the main factors that contributes to both aggression and wandering can be unneutered/unspayed dogs. They are slaves to their hormones in many ways and thus the temptation to wander is much greater, and particularly unneutered males are FAR more likely to be aggressive - the vast majority of dog bites come from unfixed animals, especially unneutered males. It makes me steaming mad when I see people walking around with their unfixed animals when the dog is clearly not a show dog

I''m considering having a shirt made. On the front: "Real Men Have Their Own" on the back" Please Neuter Your Dog"

Anyway, sorry for the threadjack, and so sorry Monnie and Lynn and Sparkalicious for all of your negative experiences - much like bad drivers, a few bad pet owners really stand out and can ruin things for the rest of us (or at least make our lives a lot less pleasant).

 

[monarch64]

Thanks for all the responses! We really don't feel like we were doing anything outside of the usual neighborly behavior today...after all we had one of our dogs accidently escape once when our gate was frozen but unlocked and Milo, our oldest beagle, just pushed the gate open and ran across the street to a friendly neighbor's house where he was promptly put in the garage. I know these things happen. BUT, he wasn't left in the backyard with a leash on all. day. long. He was outside for maybe 2 minutes and just discovered a way out while I was washing dishes, WATCHING him through the window. When I got my snowboots on and grabbed his leash and went out the front door and started yelling for him, two gals came by in a minivan and started reading me the riot act about how he was freezing and they had found a nice neighbor who had stowed him away in his heated garage.

The dog had seriously been outside for less than five minutes. The nice neighbor actually did have the decency to keep Milo for a few minutes while I was looking for him after realizing he had gotten out, and he never ever said anything to us. Milo has never escaped since, and neither has our newest pup Daisy. Beagles are notorious for getting out and disappearing, and we are so aware of that so we always keep an eye on them even though we check the fences/two gates all the time for possible breaches.

Anyway...today was a competely different case. These people obviously knew their gate didn't work correctly and wasn't closed securely, or else they wouldn't have bothered with leaving their leads attached to all three of them. Nor would they have left a huge garbage receptacle against the gate itself so the gate maybe wouldn't get pushed open. leaving a leash attached to a dog all day? come on...it is just so obvious that they knew there was a chance the dogs could get out and they hoped they could come back and say it wasn't their fault.

DH and I did go back over there around 8 p.m. All the lights were on, dogs were nowhere to be seen outside, but no one would answer the door. We think that one of their immediate neighbors tipped them off that this happened and they didn't answer the door because they found out what happened and don't want further trouble. At least we tried. Next time this happens, believe me, the repurcussions wil be a lot more serious than a knock on the door later in the evening.

These dogs looked so well cared for, the two females were sweet and docile and obedient, and even though the male (bad a$$) was a PITA, he looked great. We don't live in a bad neighborhood, and we know most of our neighbors and their pets and/or children. This seems to be an isolated incident. I really hope the owners of these dogs got a scare when they found out about this today. Nevertheless, I will be patrolling the sidewalk every day this week at least, to make sure those dogs aren't left outside with their leads attached all day. If they are I am calling someone...I have a feeling this isn't the first time, nor the last time, this has/will happen.

Who is the best place to call? Do I call the police, or the Village, or the Humane Society? (ETA: AG, just saw your response and have taken note...also, since they would not answer their door tonight, should I just leave a note stating what happened and that the next time it happens there will be further repurcussions?)

 

[strmrdr]

if it happens again take the leashes off the dogs and use it too tie the gate shut using 500 knots

 

[monarch64]

Date: 3/14/2008 1:35:50 AM
Author: strmrdr
if it happens again take the leashes off the dogs and use it too tie the gate shut using 500 knots

Hey, I hadn''t thought of that Storm! I don''t know what you mean by 500 knots aside from boat speed, but I think DH has some knot-tying skills from boy scout days so he might be able to do some tricks, LOL!

What I''d really like to do is take the leads off and tie them around the owners'' throats. (that is assuming the owners are young enough to deal with that kind of punishment.) We''ll find out soon enough, we were just talking to another neighbor who knows them (and is two houses down from them), and wants to say something to them tomorrow when they see them after work.

I''m just still pi$$ed that I even had to vent about this here or anywhere! It''s one thing to leave your dogs out for 10 minutes while you run to the corner store for a gallon of milk, but leaving them all day long with their leads attached is quite different. Bad dog parents!!!

K, I''m done for the night with ranting.

 

[Eva17]

does an irresponsible pet owners count for cat owners too?

i get very upset when owners let their cats out and they poop on my property. i have to check my yard before i let my dogs play, and almost always, have to clean up cat poop...

i don''t get how you get fined for letting your dog poop, but it is ok to let your cat poop....


i have no doubt that my doorbell would be ringing if my dog was going on someone else''s property on a regular basis. and of course, i would expect it to

 

[Dreamer_D]

That kind of story makes me so upset! When we agree to adopt a pet then I think we owe them a safe and happy and healthy environment!

My DH and I see dogs off leash and running wild all the time in our area. Often they come charging towards us to say "hi"... well our dogs weigh 9 and 10lbs so an overly enthusiastic hello from a large dog can injure them! We ususally scoop our dogs up in our arms and give the charging dog the Cesar stink eye to make it back off. Seems to work, but we then worry about the loose dog''s safety! Can''t tell you how many times we have followed a loose dog or taken one by the collar to find its owner. People don''t seem to realize the danger that their dogs face off leash. We never let our dogs off leash ever since we were at the vet and a woman came in carrying her bleeding and crying golder retriever who slipped out the door and into the road. Broke my heart!

Good for you for taking action to help those dogs monarch, they may owe their lives to you!

DD

 

[AGBF]

I was driving on a four lane highway with a 55 mph speed limit when a Golden Retriever materialized in front of me at high speed. There was no way to avoid him. He and another, smaller, dog-maybe a small, white poodle-were running and gamboling all over the highway. I had had a Golden Retriever for 13 years before I had my Lab and she was the best dog in the world. If ever I did not want to harm a dog it would be a Golden. They are angels. There was no way not to hit this dog. I pulled over and stopped and tried to breathe. I didn't dare look out the window. I just couldn't believe it had happened. After a couple of minutes I resolved to get out of the car and see what I had done...and saw the dogs in the far distance down a field.

I was so shaken I just sat by the roadside. I was never so taken aback. I was completely helpless. Who could let a precious dog-two of them-out to play on the highway?

Deborah

 

[AmberGretchen]

Monnie - I think you would be within your rights to point out in a note that you are concerned for the dogs'' welfare and that if you see them running free again you will be forced to call animal care and control and complain. I would carefully document that they were not home when this happened though, because that certainly argues against any claim they could make that they "just got away" or whatever. Of course, people shouldn''t be leaving their dogs outside all day anyway - partly for reasons like this (most dogs are way better escape artists than we give them credit for), but also because it exposes them to the elements, and they really are meant to be indoor pets with supervised outdoor time, unless they are working dogs on a ranch or something...

 

[sunnyd]

Date: 3/14/2008 8:22:11 AM
Author: Eva17
does an irresponsible pet owners count for cat owners too?

i get very upset when owners let their cats out and they poop on my property. i have to check my yard before i let my dogs play, and almost always, have to clean up cat poop...

i don''t get how you get fined for letting your dog poop, but it is ok to let your cat poop....


i have no doubt that my doorbell would be ringing if my dog was going on someone else''s property on a regular basis. and of course, i would expect it to

My poor kitty when I was younger...we had evil evil neighbors who literally tried to kill our cat. And not just on one occasion. She liked to sit on their grass. Not doing anything, just sitting. Sometimes under a bush. So they decided to poison the bush! A couple of times I caught their brat kids throwing rocks at her.

I wanted to throw rocks at them...

We had to give her away.

 

[Eva17]

sunnyd, that is not cool...

 

[Love in Bloom]

Uggh Monarch, I''m so sorry you have irresponsible neighbors! You did the right thing by getting the doggies out of harms way though...they can''t help it their owners have poop-for-brains, if they have any at all. It would infuriate me to have other people look at you accusingly as if it were your dog

. I would ask the person in the car the same thing...