I have a dear family friend who lives alone across the river and I try to call her once a week or so to check on her. Annie lost her husband several years in a freak accident, and now she just has the family dog to keep her company. Without going too far into her personal life, I don’t think she will mind if I share this story with you.Annie needs assistance with mobility. She has a chair lift to help her with stair at home and when she goes out of the house she uses an electric scooter. Over the summer she decided to start talking her dear dog for a walk around the block, although that means that the dog is doing the walking by trotting alongside her scooter on the sidewalk.
Although she knows everyone on her own street, by walking around the block she was venturing into uncharted territory, and unfortunately as she rounded a corner with her dog, one of the neighbors from the other street has just chosen to let her dogs run outside without benefit of a leash. Of course, as soon as the neighbor’s dogs saw Annie and her little pooch on the sidewalk they ran over to protect their territory. Poor Annie was frantically trying to rescue her dog and fend off two large rottweilers running full speed at her.
Now that had to be a terrifying moment for both Annie and her little dog. She had no idea how to defend herself and her dog against a vicious dog attack, although she now has read an article about using pepper spray against an animal and knows what to do in the future. She told us later that night that her screams for help were heard throughout the neighborhood and several people did come running. The owner of the rotties as able to drag them back into the house so Annie could safely head back home. However, the owner was not the least bit apologetic and threatened her with obscenities to stay off her street. Now, that is ridiculous – the street is public and the dog owner has the obligation to keep her dogs on a leash or safely contained on her own property.
So Annie has bought several pepper sprays that come on a keyring to carry with her and defend herself in case those same dogs or any strays might come down the street while she is walking her dog. But she will staying on her own street now and we worry that she will be safe.
