Canby Dog Owner Blames Victim For Attack
Let’s get one thing straight. I LOVE dogs. I’ve always told folks that I like most dogs better than I like most people. In fact I’m enjoying being a dog owner again for the first time since I was in college. But this is reprehensible.
According to the Canby Herald, 13-year-old Cheyenne Johnson was riding bikes with her younger sister last Saturday, and stopped to talk to a 14-year-old girl walking her family’s 4-year-old pit bull. When the dog began moving toward her sister, Cheyenne stepped between them.
For following her protective impulse, Cheyenne got jumped by the pit bull. After clamping her jaws on the girl’s leg, the dog dragged her off her bike and shook her like a rag doll. She suffered some pretty serious injuries (check out the gruesome picture at the Herald) and needed 20 stitches.
This was understandably traumatic for the Cheyenne, so much so that her own family is considering getting rid of their own dogs.
What about the dog’s owners? Well, aside from the poor judgment of letting a child walk a dog that she couldn’t control, here’s their reaction:
As far as I’m concerned, they were antagonizing the dog by riding their bikes up and down that street, … They were my daughter’s friends, but I don’t want them down here — they have no right to be down here on this end of the street.
OK, are you clear on that? Those children have no right to ride their bikes down to her end of the (presumably) public street.
Pit bull owners immediately jump to their breed’s defense whenever there is a pit bull attack, claiming that pit bulls can be gentle and devoted family dogs. And they CAN BE. But they have also been selectively bred for speed, strength and aggression, and represent a greater risk to the public because of it.
This dog in particular apparently has a history of lunging and snapping at cyclists and pedestrians, and several neighbors have had run-ins with it.
So now the county is going to determine what to do with this animal, right?
Nope. It appears that Clackamas County has accidentally released the dog to its owners, instead of holding it until a hearing on July 16 that would have determined the disposition of the dog.
If I was one of the Clackamas County officials responsible, I’d be praying that another child in Canby doesn’t get mauled as a result of my little bureaucratic error.
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As a dog owner this gets me ALL riled up. Hear, hear. Actually, the most offensive part to me is the part of the dog owner’s quote that implies that the girls had “no right” to be on that part of the street. Yargh!! Morans.
As a dog owner (of a pitbull/rottweiler mix no less) this too pisses me off. RESPONSIBILITY for your pets people. Guess the most fatalities by any breed of dog. Guess (my insurance agent told me, so I haven’t verified it myself) - Golden effin Retriever. All dogs can be dangerous and it is the responsibility of the owner to make sure they keep situations like the above from happening. As a “dangerous breed” owner myself, I will tell you it is not that hard. Build a solid fence and keep your dog contained in the yard. If you can’t handle owning a dog and keeping people safe from him/her then you shouldn’t have one. It’s that easy.
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Just a reminder about Dog Park Etiquette!
1. Only bring dogs to the park that are healthy, spayed or neutered, licensed with tags and microchips. Make sure your dog is current on all vaccinations and flea control. Don’t bring puppies that are under 16 weeks old.
2. Don’t forget to bring plenty of water, keep your dog hydrated and happy!
3. Clean up after your dog. Don’t let your dog dig or destroy the landscape.
Most important, keep a watchful eye on your dog. Look out for aggressive play and keep your dog safe and happy with his dog park excursion.
That owner’s quote is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever read — kids riding bikes up and down their street are antagonizing the dog?
If the dog is antagonized by normal street and pedestrian traffic, then it doesn’t belong in a residential neighborhood.
Reading what the neighbors had to say about the dog in the original story, I’d say the dog has a problem. And maybe it should be put down.
And, yes, I’m a fanatic dog lover. I don’t recommend that lightly.
And how about the bit where the dog’s owner had the utter gall to say that her daughter’s two friends “had no right to be on that end of the street”
We’ve also got hassle from neighbors in other neighborhoods we’ve lived in who got snotty with us for having the temerity to park in front of their house … apparently asserting some non-existent priority right to the parking lane in front of their house.
Unless that street has a “private drive” on it, Happy Dog Owner there has no right to say who comes and goes on “his” end of the street.
This fellow has more problems than just being an arrogant, snotty pit bull owner who doesn’t give a damn who gets disfigured by his ill-mannered dog. That’s just the part of them the world gets to see. I feel sorry for any other neighbors he has. He probably makes their lives miserable on a regular basis. I’ve lived next to people like that. They see themselves as Best Human On The Block and are unrelentingly horrid typically.
Many dogs are fine creatures. Some dog owners, though, not so much. And since their dogs see them as the pack’s Alpha, then they take their behavioral cues from them.
I also have to applaud the following bit of realism, courtesy PAgent:
This is the exact right of it. Thank you for saying this. It had to be said.
[...] 4-year-old pit bull. When the dog began moving toward her sister, Cheyenne stepped b Source: http://ourpdx.net/2008/06/canby-dog-owner-blames-victim-for-attack/ Jun 27, 2008 | | Dog [...]