Take Care of Your Own Neighborhood... Dogs

Florida Woman Mauled to Death by Dogs that Had Allegedly Terrorized Neighborhood, Owner Charged in Killing

First, go read the whole thing.

OK, we all know that some individual dogs are just plain mean, and some breeds are generally more inclined so than others.  The woman who owned these dogs wasn't properly fencing them, and evidently not properly training them either.  But what ticks me off is that other neighbors had previously been attacked, but refused to cooperate with law enforcement to counter this threat.  Look people, this is Florida.  Call the cops if you can, or pepper spray or shoot the damn dog if there isn't time.  The main thing is to break the immediate assault then to get the continuing threat off the street.

A couple of years ago while riding my gravel bike I was jumped by a pit bull.  For his trouble, he ended up with a face full of pepper spray.  From then on he was always fenced, and when he'd see me passing he'd lay down turn his head as if to hide, so I guess the pepper spray counted as a form of "training."  But the part that bugs me?  I later learned that the same dog had been previously terrorizing neighbors, and they'd done nothing.  What's more, this was adjacent to a school.  What if that same dog had decided to eat up one of the kids who'd stepped out the back door?  Yes, the responsibility is on the owner, but there's also a degree of responsibility for those neighbors who'd previously turned their heads.

Anyway, returning to the case in the news item above, because of the owner's negligence and a neighbor's reluctance, a woman is dead.  Don't be that neighbor, and don't shove the problem off on someone else.  Deal with the dog problem as it comes around.  A dead 50-yo is bad enough, but you really don't want a dead kid on your conscience.

ps: 10 Internet Points if you can ID the semi-famous photo in the figure.