Who let the dogs out, again?
At approximately 6:35 pm, notice went out on the listserv that the infamous dog of Thursday night’s post was on the loose. Again. But thanks to the proprietor of a one-on-one dog training service and her expert (non-eyewitness) opinion, we can rest assured that the dog is not vicious. Again, from the listserv:
…The big point to take home here is that *despite* the fact that you were whaling on him and taking something he considered his out of his mouth *he did not bite you.* He’s a big dog, he could have easily overpowered you, and he didn’t.
This is evidence that he’s not vicious.
He is clearly dangerous to small animals, but if he were dangerous to humans in an ordinary situation he’d have surely chomped on you in this one. I’m really coming down on this point because it will really help everyone to just keep to the facts, which, bad as they are, don’t seem to suggest a menace to humans out on the street in the neighborhood.
Keen insight, no? Not vicious, but dangerous to small animals. Sounds to me like natural selection. You know what else sounds like natural selection? Whaling on a dog that’s attacking an innocent cat. Oh, wait – the cat could have been teasing the dog, in which case the cat deserved it. Forgot about that one. And how dare someone snatch what the dog thought was his out of the jaws of victory.
Lock up the kitties and bust out a couple thousand CCs of thorazine for the tranqulizer gun.
NOTE: As of yesterday, the cat was injured and moving very slowly but alive and eating. Hope that continues.
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The Thursday post noted that “the dog did not appear to be wearing a collar.” Was that ever verified?
No collar, no owner. I say do what you have to and let God sort it out.
All dogs do not naturally have an instinct to go after cats and other small animals.
I have a big dog too. His best friend was our cat, who passed away last year. They napped together during the day and shared table scraps very politely after dinner.
Our cat loved to tease the dog and visa versa. Sometimes they argued about the Democratic political strategy into the night, which was annoying. They both hated “Hard Ball.”
We buried the old cat in our back garden, and our dog lay on the grave for two days until I couldn’t stand it anymore and planted a nice Nippon daisy on top of the final feline resting place.
I can see how Chris Matthew’s voice could grate on the most docile of pets. Unless he’s screaming at Rush Limbaugh or Karl Rove and using the word “idiot,” I tend to turn the channel.
Really, the blame for these incidents is on the owner of the dogs. Here is the account from the owner of the cat that was attacked:
“The dog’s owner could not produce a license or a rabies shot record for this dog according to Officer Williams (240-773-5948) of the Montgomery County Police Animal Services Division when he visited this morning (Jun 22nd.). The owner has been cited for failure to register the dog and for letting it run loose. The owner claims she has the license and shot records but can’t find them.
Ofc. Williams also told me this morning that this owner has had previous dog taken away by the county because that one was deemed to be dangerous.”
Yeah, I’ll be the owner just can’t remember where she put the records. If you can get your driver’s license suspended or revoked for traffic violations, can you loose your right to own a dog if it is proven that you have been negligent with dogs in the past?
A judge can rule that a person be prohibited from owning animals, but that’s usually in response to cases involving severe neglect or cruelty. Unfortunately, in MoCo and the rest of the nation, cruelty to animals is not taken seriously; the fact that MoCo is more progressive than many other places tells you how dire the situation is for animals.
For example, a woman who deliberately starved her dog to death in Houston receive a fine of a few hundred dollars, and that was it. Even then, she screamed about the unfairness of it all.
The Burnt Mills list server flared up regarding a cat issue about a year ago, regarding outdoor cats destroying, among other things, certain curmudgeonly neighbors’ gardens. Long story short, apparently outdoor cats are indeed “illegal” in MoCo (unless they will answer to a call of their name) so a neighbor took it upon themselves to hand out cat traps to anyone that wanted them.
No lie, within a week, our neighborhood was littered with lost cat fliers and posters–I guess the folks not on the list serv didn’t know about the area’s pied pipers.
I can only hope that the person who trapped the cats brought them to the SPCA. If they hurt the cats, then I can only hope they were run over by a bus the next day, and suffered greatly before expiring.
The cats were being caught under the auspice of being sent to the shelter. Really, the whole thing was absurd and it was obvious the work of people that have way too much time on their hands. The neighborhood was hardly being overrun by feral cats. The whole movement was spearheaded by a neighbor that in the past has passed out fliers commenting that “new neighbors” (i.e. anyone who has lived in the neighborhood less than 20 years) need to be reminded of good neighbor rules, suchas avoiding anything to make your house appear to be lived in.
Some people just hate cats, and some people need to get over their obsession with perfect yards.
I’ve had numerous cats come into my yard; it doesn’t take long to figure out who has a home, and who is lost or homeless. If they have a home, then the sane and mature thing to do is let them be. If they’re homeless or lost, you help them.
Why is that so hard for some people to understand?
Cats who run loose face dangers. When I adopted two cats from PAW, they strongly recommended that I keep them indoors or in a protected outdoor area at all times. I do.
I also agree that dog owners should face fines/punishment for not producing a dog’s papers when asked by a POLICE officer.
I don’t mind cats however I prefer them to stay inside homes. I’ve dealt with my dogs dragging up dead animal carcasses left by one particular neighbors cats that roam loose. My dogs are too inbred to catch a damn thing on their own but seem to delight in playing with the dead birds/rodents. Hate it.
My idea – buy a bunch of animal costumes and when a cat comes into the yard, catch them, dress them up and release them.. That or try out some new dog/cat hair dyes I’ve seen at groomers(pink,orange, etc) and go to town… If they’re going to be wandering about might as well make them noticeable for the birds/rodents and have fun with it!