Monday, July 28, 2008

Dog-Fight III

From: A Concerned Citizen:
I was just out loading up for work and there were four dogs on the front porch. These appear to be the same pack that have killed the 10+ cats in the past 2 months. Will someone remind me again why nothing can be done? It is getting closer & closer to dawn. Will it take a child or elderly to be harmed before action is taken?


From: Paw Paw Bill
I regret to say that I believe it will take a violent and ugly incident to wake up the irresponsible dog owners and their misguided apologists. If you have any thoughts about preventing such a shameful outcome, I welcome knowing them. I will be on your side. At city council meetings or wherever.

From: Another Concerned Citizen
I commend your news writing and enjoy your presence on my screen when the occasion arises that you write here. Thank you for your ongoing outpouring of interesting news.

I feel quite certain that these dogs are NOT Pine Lake citizens. Dogs easily range in and out of Pine Lake. I have noticed strays wandering past my door as well. We live in a county where dogs are not cared for or prized for their ultimate value. We live in a county where even the humans live like poorly kept dogs, in many cases.

Please don't disparage your neighbors in Pine Lake, without knowing that the offending pack is from within our borders. This county, in the span of my lifetime, has gone to the dogs in more ways than one.
Blessings.


From: Paw Paw Bill
Thank you for your comments and for your readership of my blog. If you read some of my older entries, you will see that the subject of dogs is one that always generates strong reaction, almost never in support of my opinions. It is the one subject about which I sincerely hope I am always wrong, but the experiences of a lifetime make me believe that I am not.

Indeed I have not checked the citizenship of any stray dogs in Pine Lake. Nonetheless, I am keenly aware of resistance to any attempt to restrain, leash, or even enforce ownership of otherwise domestic animals. I have personally had occasions when I could not and would not take my grandson to the lake because someone had large and aggressive dogs running loose on the beach. Our community needs to come together and control the dogs, no matter to whom they do or don't belong.

From: Pine Lake City Official:
I was informed by the one of our police officers that there are 4 animal control officers for the entire county and they only work daylight hours. I want to encourage everyone to take the high road and call 911 or animal control when you have an animal problem. We have to attempt all legal and ethical avenues or the system will stop working entirely. The direct number for animal control is 404 294-3090. Please call 911 and give it a chance. If that doesn’t work we’ll try to figure out something else to do.

11 comments:

Unknown said...

Hello Bill-

I grew up on farms where animals were basically utilitarian. I never saw my grandpa mistreat an animal but he would shoot a dog at the drop of a hat if he killed a chicken or sucked eggs. Ditto with cats. Same for wild critters. Those chickens and eggs kept the family fed. I doubt few of us in Pine Lake have any impliment to dispatch a dog at a distance. Some of these dogs may be family pets but they are supposed to be contained. If folks choose not to contain their pets, then perhaps they should not have the pets - however they are removed. If some of my neighbors read this I would probably be stoned at the beach at dawn. Hang in there Bill. Ralph

Cotter Pen said...

I would say your grandpa had his priorities in order.

Anonymous said...

Which leads me to introduce the issue of squirrel overpopulation. Before they start gnawing their way into our attics, do you think we might open a season on them? Their natural predators, foxes, bobcats, and large venomous snakes are falling down on the job (as they've lost habitat). Squirrel stew anyone?

AND, about those dogs: where's Atticus Finch when we need him?!

Anonymous said...

This from Annette Cotter: About 6 months ago a dog i have seen many times being walked by a pine lake resident broke his leash (or got away) rushed me and knocked me down).. He was a shepherd mix. He stood on my chest with his lips curled back growling. His owner screamed "stop" and he did stop. Nevertheless, I now do my walking at the wellness center where the scenery is not nearly so pretty, but I haven't seen a dog there. Two weeks ago, I was driving in my car and there was a family, along with 2 dogs, one of them a pit bull out on the beach swimming. I shouted out to them they cannot have dogs on the beach. These people live on Rockbridge just to the right of the church. Pine Lake? Dunno. About 6 weeks ago I was on the beach and people who live directly in front of the lakehouse, who own a pit bull had that dog outside roaming in their front yard. It chased a pinelake child. A bit later, a girl of about 8 or 9 (owner's child) went out to walk this pit bull. Another pine laker was walking 4 large dogs. The pit bull attacked, getting away from the small girl. Several adults from the beach rushed to the small girl's aid. In my view this child is entirely too young to walk a pit bull. Within the last year, I have seen a Rottweiler off leash, had it's owner shout, "she won't hurt you"...and also a man who is a pine lake resident walking 2 large dogs off leash...i said "there's a leash law"...he said "I'm trying to train them." I have a neighbor who sometimes lets his 2 large hyena looking dogs out to tear around in the night...I hear then panting and rushing thru my shrubbery...and I have seen them when going to take my garbage out. Johnny, you may, and I do as well, know many Pine Lake residents who are very responsible pet owners. But clearly, some are not. Bill is not disparaging his neighbors. His remarks do not emanate from a lack of personal experience. If you walked around the lake in the early morning, on a regular basis, I think you'd see this differently. Maybe we're just too afraid of dogs...but we can't run like we used to...or fight like we used to. I got some pepper spray, but when I read the directions, I feel like with my bad lungs, I'd go down and the dog would be still standing. Don't have a Glock 9 (you're right, Ralph), don't wanna kill, don't wanna be killed...so, anyway, things are pretty safe at the wellness center.

Anonymous said...

I called animal control a year or so ago when a neighbor's dog got
lose and was aggressive. As it happened it was after 6 p.m.; so,
the animal control office was closed. I called the 911 operator.
She was very helpful. Within a half hour and animal control officer
was on the scene. The officer was unable to corral the dog; there
in lies the problem. It's hard to catch a dog if it does not want to
be caught. Stray dogs that I have encountered are usually
unresponsive and avoid contact.

Stray dogs know, no borders. Remember, a 'stray' dog, could be a
neighbors cherished pet that has gotten lose.

I do not agree with Mr. Hibbert's characterization of the 'county'
as 'going to the dogs'. As a human, I am offended by dehumanizing
declarations.

Anonymous said...

Here's a bit of cut and paste from a letter that I wrote to a woman here in Pine Lake who wrote of being afraid of the stray dogs. (some of them killed her cat)
As follows:
They scare me, too, Gwyneth! There are times when a 12 guage shotgun loaded with buckshot can be very useful.
You know good and well what happens in our surrounding neighborhoods. The people go for these very high strung, aggressive dogs. They fail to neuter them. They leave the younger dogs to fight and roam in packs. That's it. IT MAKES ME SICK! (And a little bit angry, too.) : )
How 'bout you?
Jonny

The pet store in midtown that named itself: "Pets Are People, Too" was symptomatic of a wide and deep mistake in our social and philosophical thinking. This whole movement to make human beings a little lower than ANYHING else on the planet is a defeatist exercise in self-loathing. It's not what our maker intended. I'm sticking with the stewardship model where humans are thought to be a little lower than the ANGELS and in dominion of every damn thing else. Threatening dogs may be shot on sight.

Anonymous said...

I grew up in the New England where it seems that people know how to take care of their animals. I worked for and animal hospital as well as ran my own pet sitting business. I never saw dogs mistreated the way they are here! I would trust any of the rottweilers I took care of with my own infant. Within the first couple of months of living in Pine Lake I awoke to the sound of dogs barking in my back yard. We don't have a dog so I knew there was no reason for one to be in our yard. However, I was 3 months pregnant and there was no way I was going to check it out, all I knew was that whatever was happening was not good. The next morning I had to go wake up my neighbors at 8 am to tell them their beloved cat was dead in my yard.
I was angry and sad that choosing to live in the south may have been a mistake. In the 2 years I've lived here I've been robbed 3 times and now don't feel comfortable letting my own cats out unless I'm home to watch them. I can't leave my windows open on a nice night because someone might come in and rob me, which is what happened in robbery number 3. The longer I live here the more tempted I am to get a gun and a big fence. I know that doesn't fit in with Pine Lake's "open friendly community", but if that's what I need to do in order to protect my family than that's what I'll do.

Anonymous said...

Woo-ha cowboy, this ain't the farm. Some of these posts resemble fear mongering. I don't know about 'high strung aggressive dogs' but at least the dogs aren't wielding 12 gauge shotguns.

Johnny, when Annette Cotter says:

"......., you may, and I do as well, know many Pine Lake residents who are very responsible pet owners. But clearly, some are not."

You are not listening. This isn't an us and them thing. We are in essence just like the people who live around us. You need to calm down; your carrying a lot of anger around this subject and the solutions you are suggesting are highly inappropriate.

Personally, if I had four stray dogs hanging out on my front porch, I'd check to see my dog was in heat.

Dennis

Tina said...

A few years ago, here in Georgia, a pit bull jumped on an old lady's back and bit her badly..it happened in her own yard. With the help of my brother, a lawyer, the injured sued the dog's owner for not keeping a dangerous animal enclosed.
The dog's owner got a VERY bad pain in the pocketbook.

Anonymous said...

Call animal control and tell them you saw a dog that looked like it was slobbering.

Anonymous said...

The Police Department has received a number of reports in reference
to dogs
roaming the City at night. There have also been a number of
incidents where
cats were allegedly killed as a result of these dogs.

We have made contact with Animal Control. Animal control will drop
off
several traps strategically placed throughout the city to catch the
group.
Some of the traps will be placed on City Property and others will be
placed
on property that the owners are volunteering. The property owners
are
accepting responsibility for the traps.

Thank you

 

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