Comments on: Who let the dogs out?

By: Anne Lindenfeld

Anne Lindenfeld — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 13:47:03 +0000

Well, I’m sure the Dog Defender was one of those people who I run into every few months in the grocery store line or somebody’s BBQ who wastes their breath trying to assure me that their pit bull mix terrier is really just misunderstood. PULEEZ.

If only these dogs weren’t abused, overbred, etc., etc. They have an instinct to attack and kill small critters, people! That’s what they were bred to do for many years, and they do it well. Just like pointers point and retrievers retrieve and shepherds shepherd and guarding dogs guard.

I lived in the country as a kid, where everyone’s dogs ran around. Funny, I never saw a pit out there in central VA, where any animal that ate the small animals of others (e.g. chickens) did not last very long.

By: The truth about cats and dogs

The truth about cats and dogs — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 19:14:14 +0000

Listerv update: The “owner” of the cat informs the list that the cat, Pearl, is actually not his cat but belongs to a friend of his.

By: Eric

Eric — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 14:36:50 +0000

Our cat, Otis (as in “Otis! My man! Otis *loves* us!”), has always stayed indoors and I agree with the concept. Otherwise, apparently, he would tease dogs to the point of violence.

Yeesh. Spaying and neutering, indeed.

By: Springvale Roader

Springvale Roader — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 14:23:22 +0000

That dog is dangerous and needs to be caught. If the dog has a home, his owner needs to be read the Riot Act, fined, and forced to take the dog to obedience school. This dog can and should be rehabilitated (assuming he’s not rabid!).

As someone with a number of cats, I would use whatever force is necessary to protect them from whatever or whoever was attacking them. That said, CATS NEED TO BE KEPT INDOORS OR CLOSELY MONITORED WHEN OUTDOORS! This world is full of not only dangerous dogs, but sadistic adults and children, dogfighters who steal smaller animals to use as training material, creeps to steal and sell pets to laboratories, cars and trucks, other cats who may have diseases, and wildlife. Not to mention that your cat can get lost. We rescued a cat who had been lost for 10 weeks — his family turned out to live 5 minutes away by car, but this cat was completely lost and malnourished when we found him. (He’s okay now. It was a happy reunion).

Spaying and Neutering: It’s always necessary for pets, and it should be applied to irresponsible pet owners, too.

By: Eric

Eric — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 14:20:39 +0000

David: All I could think of was Jodie Foster in The Accused when I read that. Sad, disturbing, and difficult to watch – sort of like that last response on the listserv.

By: Bonifant more sinister than Thayer

Bonifant more sinister than Thayer — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 13:10:01 +0000

You know, the only reason the dog was aggressive is because he’s been so anxious recently about how the Purple Line will cut down on the number of vehicles he has to chase, and how the Moose Lodge might displace the scrap of grass where he usually relieves himself.

By: David

David — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 12:59:10 +0000

As I was reading the fifty million emails on the loose dog this morning, I was thinking, “I hope Eric writes about this!”

Gotta hand it to our neighborhood–we’ll argue both sides of any item.

I found that last email sited above espescially partisan, especially since the emailer was not an eyewitness to the incident. It’s an interesting theory that the cat provoked the dog, but is that what happened? Was the cat “asking for it?” Had he/she had too much to drink and was wearing a skimpy outfit and the dog could not hold himself back?