One sent this week by John Gawthrop struck a chord, for personal reasons and because it underscores the conflicts that can arise when dogs bound onto the scene.
“To the irresponsible dog owner in Mount Douglas Park,” wrote Gawthrop, “ who stood by … while her several unleashed dogs forced our six-year-old grandson into the bushes where he cut his hand, and who then quickly left the scene without bothering to even check if he was OK, much less express any concern, let alone an apology:
“Your breathtaking indifference was matched only by your sense of entitlement.”
A few months ago, we were enjoying a family outing on one of East Sooke Regional Park’s beaches when two large dogs came galloping down the trail and onto the beach. Usually, dogs in a playful mood will head straight for the water to frolic in the waves. It’s a heartwarming sight.
But not this time — these dogs headed straight for my six-year-old granddaughter. She looked up to see two beasts, each larger than her, running right at her. She screamed, then ran away in panic, with the dogs right on her heels.
No doubt the dogs were just being playful, but tell that to a tiny six-year-old girl. Besides, even in play, the dogs could have harmed her.
My son-in-law and I didn’t wait to ask the dogs if their intentions were honourable — we grabbed a couple of large pieces of driftwood and ran to the tot’s rescue. We didn’t need to hit the dogs, but if it had been necessary, we wouldn’t have hesitated. When it comes to choosing between the welfare of a little girl and the dogs, the choice is easy.
When the woman responsible for the dogs showed up, she got an earful. She mumbled something about not being the owner — she was looking after the dogs for a friend. With some difficulty, she managed to collar the dogs and quickly left the beach, no apology, no concern for the welfare of a child who was left sobbing and shaking.
On another outing with grandchildren, we were enjoying a day along a river. Shoes were on the shore, little feet in the shallow water. Along came a large dog running ahead of its owner. The dog grabbed one of the shoes and ran out into the river with it, leaving the footwear bobbing its way downstream.
We asked the owner what she was going to do about the problem.
“Dogs have just as much right to be here as kids,” she said in a surly tone. She left without assisting in the shoe-retrieval operation.
I disagree with that particular dog owner — dogs don’t have the same rights as kids. The world has gone topsy-turvy when we treat children as pets and pets as children.
Those negative experiences are more than balanced by the many positive experiences our grandchildren have had encountering dogs. They love dogs and can’t pass up opportunities to interact with them, but they have been taught to ask owners first if the dogs can be petted. Owners are usually delighted to share the love, and it has made for many happy encounters.
There’s probably no pet more suited to provide affection and companionship than a dog. Sure, cats sometimes deign to be petted and fussed over, but as someone has said, dogs have owners while cats have staff.
But let’s not get into an argument over dogs versus cats. Ownership of any pet involves responsibility, and that’s especially important when handling large, energetic dogs.
I would not have enjoyed clobbering those dogs on that East Sooke beach, especially considering that it was a human being at fault, not the dogs.
