it's not my job to control your dog..

[JoB]

I just want the person whose unleased little dog rushed down the hill and up to my leashed dogs in the park on beach drive today to know that I didn’t appreciate being bitten when I stepped between your dog and mine.

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[Smitty]

Man, that sucks. This will never end, will it?

They are lucky it wasn’t me. I would have punted that dog into the nearest blackberry bush.

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[miws]

How bad, Jo? Did it break the skin?

Mike

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[JoB]

miws. yes it did break the skin but no it was not a bad bite.. thank you for asking.. which is more than the owner of the dog did.

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[JoB]

here’s the deal

for all of you who think i am a tight a.se

or shouldn’t be walking my particular dogs in the park

leashed or not…

and FYI they were both on 4 ft leashes…

i would like to point out to you the reality is that you place yourself at great financial risk when you walk your dog unleashed…

far beyond that $500 fine for violating the leash law.

if your dog is unleashed and approaches another leashed dog and anyone gets bitten, you are liable.

even if the someone hits your dog and your dog bites back in defense.. you are liable

even if your dog is the friendliest dog in the world, isn’t at fault and doesn’t mean to bite .. you are liable

heck.. you are liable if your dog is leashed and is approached by another dog or person and a bite occurs…

but your chances of being sued or having your animal put down go down exponentially if you are legally walking your dog on leash.

how do i know this?

i know it because we went through this this year when a clearly deranged individual who was repeatedly warned reached around my husband to grab yuki during his morning walk.

So what does liable mean?

in this case, it means that had i called 911,

the least the owner of that dog would have had to worry about was the $500 off leash fine…

which by the way was clearly posted in the park.

animal control would have been called.

evidence of a bite on the front of my leg when i had stepped in front of my dogs would have been enough to prove that i was bitten by the off leash dog.

reporting that bite would require that the animal be quarantined to make sure that it did not have rabies.

the owner would have had to fill out forms and provide vet contact information and it would be at the animal control officer’s discretion whether the animal would be impounded for quarantine..

at the owner’s expense.

And had i wanted, in addition, i could have sued the owner who was in direct violation of the law.

you might think this is no big deal..

but i can guarantee you, what we went through because that clearly disturbed person reached around my husband to grab my leashed dog is not an experience i would recommend to others.

and if it can happen to someone legally following all of the rules who is doing everything possible to avoid any contact with people or dogs ..

just think what can happen when you turn your little .. or big.. four legged friend lose trusting that nothing bad could possibly happen because yours is a good dog.

something worth thinking about…

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[JanS]

Jo…it may be a small bite, but definitely pay attention to it.Remember where that dog’s mouth has been. And if you are immune compromised, it could turn on you. I’m so sorry this happened.

Sometimes I wonder about people – people who I know are intelligent, recognized members of the community, run businesses, yet think that they are above the rules, letting their dogs run loose in places like Schmitz or Me-Kwa-Mooks Park, sometimes even videoing it or posting pics of it on their FB page…”oh, look how cute my puppy is”…nope, don’t get it :(

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[miws]

Yes, ‘zactly what Jan said.

The chance of a rabies infection may be very minimal, but I’m more concerned about infection.

Mike

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[JoB]

i treated the bite as soon as i got home

it’s really more of a bad scratch but still…

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[anonyme]

All bites should be reported, even if the dog (or bite) is small – especially as the dog was off-leash as well. I’ve noticed that a lot of small dog owners, in addition to ignoring leash laws, also seem to think they don’t have to pick up little turds…you know, the ones you step in because you don’t see them in time?

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[Julie]

JoB, why did you choose not to report this?

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[Marathonmom]

Not to Hijack the thread but also…

I run often around West Seattle and I will say that people who have their dogs on leashes can be just as unaware/ careless as those who have no leash. They let the leash go long forcing me sometimes into the street ( The worst is with traffic coming up behind me). They don’t put a barrier between the dog and the runner. I understand your dog is friendly but how friendly is your dog when a person running 6 min miles is darting right at you. Often the dog sees me as a threat and lunges at me as I go by barely squeezing past that bush,car,wall that I’m sometimes already pushed into because your dog’s leash is long. It happens almost daily. The owner gasps, “Oh my goodness I’m sorry, he has never….” Look i get it, I have two big dogs, you don’t have to be white knuckled leash holding, but c’mon you see me coming! The point: Get between your dog and other running, walking, pedestrians when possible.

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[trickycoolj]

Marathonmom– I feel you. When I’m out training on my bike I am paranoid of expand-o leashes since the line on them is black I can’t see them stretched across bike trails. I nearly ran over someone’s toy dog that darted in front of my bike at 21mph. Not only would it have killed Fluffy, I likely would have been severely injured trying to avoid Fluffy, either a concussion on the pavement or run off the trail which was on a riverbank! ::EEEK:: That incident still spooks me a bit.

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[JoB]

Julie..

the dog’s owner did not approach me to find out if i was ok.. ran from me when i tried to talk with him.. and by the way did not put and keep his dog on leash.

and.. in the heat of the moment i didn’t realize i had actually been hurt until after i left the park and stopped to calm down..

in hindsight.. i probably should have simply put my dogs in the car and called 911…

it’s what i will do next time this happens..

i have no doubt it will happen again

i have been bitten several times stepping between stray dogs and mine.

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[JoB]

bikers and runners..

i will agree that some people don’t seem to be aware that having their dog on a leash isn’t enough.. they also need to know where that dog is at all times.. especially on paths..

hollering “coming through” when you approach someone walking a leashed dog from the back actually gives the owner time to pull the dog to their side.

and it’s something i seldom hear :(

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[anonyme]

BTW, those extendable leashes are prohibited within Seattle City limits.

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[Smitty]

I resent your user name!

#fatmiddleagewhiteguy

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[JanS]

Smitty…thank you…seems some people have too much anger, too much time on their hands. I never did understand someone who only comes on to make an offensive snarky comment under an insulting fake name. What a miserable life they must have.

And in the blink of an eye, POOF….gone….guess someone reported it….or our fearless editor has been lurking, too :D

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[miws]

I don’t know about anyone else, but I reported the comment.

Figured that was more constructive than saying what was on my mind, in regards to it, and the commenter.

And for those that may wonder, I rarely report any comments other than Spam. If anything, in regards the relatively few non-Spam comments that get deleted here, I later realize that I should have reported them.

Mike

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[JanS]

well….POOF ! :) lol…@Smitty…wonder how long it’ll take for someone to question your hashtag….hehehe

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[JoB]

I’m guessing it’s a good thing i missed that one?

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[Julie]

JoB, I can completely understand how in all the confusion, you would have overlooked the possibility of calling 911. I doubt I’d have been able to think of it. I do wish you had, and hope you will next time, just because the more people get away with misbehaving, the more they will take it as their right to do what they like. I am glad it wasn’t worse, for your sake, and hope you heal quickly.

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[JoB]

Julie.. the upside to the upregulated immune system that came with my chronic fatigue syndrome is that things like this heal very quickly..

the downside is that i always feel as though i have the flu:(

i really hate to call 911 on anyone..

but i hate even more the fact that on any given day i may pass 4 or 5 parks before i find one where i think it is safe to walk my dogs.

the irony of all this is that the first thing i saw when i pulled up to Me-Kwa-Mooks Park was the newly posted sign about the leash law.

silly me.. i thought that would deter those who had been walking their dogs unleashed there.

Not so much:( while i was trying to talk with the guy whose dog was running around unleashed, a woman pulled up to the park, parked in front of the sign, unloaded her larger dog off leash and proceeded to walk into the park with her leash in her hand.

then, when i drove by after i had calmed down, there were two off leash dogs in the park…

i could have taken a picture of a guy sitting on the bench in front of the sign reading while his larger dog ran around with a big ball in his mouth.

I will assume his leash was on the table next to him.. but i didn’t see it.

it’s not just that those who walk their dogs off leash prevent people with mobility issues like myself from using the park…

it’s not just that they are endangering those around them…

they are endangering their pets

and their own financial futures…

smitty is right..

this has to stop

it’s just plain not fair that even though i keep my dogs leashed and under control

i now have to have a walker to walk with me

because other owners can’t get it through their heads that they are not entitled to break the law.

the only place that is safe to walk my leashed pets by myself is in our state parks

the leash law is strictly enforced there

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[JoB]

i do have one thing to add.. about enforcement.

hubby regularly walks the dogs every morning in one of our local parks and often encounters off leash dogs and park employees at the same time.

he had a long conversation with one of the park employees who told him that they are discouraged from telling owners to leash up or calling animal control when they see an unleashed dog in the park… because doing so could cause a confrontation.

this is something we could change.

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[KBear]

Park employees are told not to do their jobs and take proper care of our parks. That’s just great.

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[wakeflood]

As frustrating as that sounds, I get the non-confrontation part. I don’t like to confront these folks either as it doesn’t do any good, and if they have no enforcement power, it’s a waste of time.

I WOULD think it appropriate to have them be able to contact Animal Control tho’ and have that be enough to issue a ticket if the perp was still in the vicinity or could be identified from car license, etc.

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