10 September 2006

Paradise Lost....

I don't think that I emailed about the one bad thing that has happened since we moved here. Thirteen days ago, I was walking our sheltie around the playground of our neighborhood's public school Kindergarten Center. A large dog bolted from out of nowhere and attacked our dog. I screamed for help and two young women came running to get their mangy cur. Since our dog's fur is so thick, it looked as if there was no damage. They clipped the attacking dog to an outside lead. No apology, no query about our dog... I asked, incredulously, "Your dog just attacked mine, and you walk away without an apology? Without seeing if my dog is hurt? One of the women snipped, "Sorry! It was an ACCIDENT." Seeing my face, a man on the porch piped up, "It's my dog. I am very sorry, and it will not happen again. Is your dog going to be OK?" He seemed at least to sense how to deal with the situation. Since there didn't seem to be any injury, it was left at "no harm, no foul." Four hours later, I found blood on the kitchen floor. Then I searched through the thick fur and found a half-inch gash that was pretty deep. We called the vet, and the vet said to just keep pressure on the wound to stop the bleeding, put antibiotic ointment on the wound, and make an appointment for the morning unless we couldn't stop the bleeding. My lovely wife took our dog to the vet the following morning. When they had to shave off the matted bloody hair to find the wounds, she broke down in tears. Seeing the ugly, deep gashes was just too much to take. There were two strong, wide gouges that were big, but not as deep as the other. The one on the lower right was gaping. (The vet said that when she cleaned it out to flush it out, her probe went in 3.5 inches into the wound -- ouch.) There was one other, less violent, scratch. We did file a police report, and the police WERE supposed to stop by to let us know the outcome of their interview with the owners of the attack dog. They did not. I have formally requested a copy of the police report, but have not gotten it yet. If the officer failed to file the report, heads will roll. I suppose we will pursue the owner for the cost of the vet bills (which are mounting fast). All in all, our dog was left with less hair, bruised, gashed, and hopefully pleasantly groggy on the pain meds they gave him. He's healing well and seems happy.

2 Comments:

Blogger phdaisy said...

Poor Logan! Hug him for me and Andy!

8:27 PM  
Blogger Philip Booth said...

hey, guys -- really sorry to hear about that attack. Seems like nuisance attack dogs and uncaring pet owners can be found anywhere you go. Hope that Logan is okay and that the vet payment issues can be resolved w/o a big hassle.

8:03 PM  

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