What do you do?
When you are out walking with your dog and you are rushed at by a wondering dog, or a dog that rushes from a property, what do you do?
Now I am not talking about what you do to keep yourself and dog safe but what you do when you get home.
If you or your dog is hurt I imagine you report it. What if there was no injury, just one heck of a fright and lots of worry?
Do you thank your lucky stars there was no harm done, put it down to experience and not walk down that street again? Or are you the sort of person that calls the local authorities hoping they will do something about it.
Much of the time the owner of the problem dog just needs a visit with a bit of education and all is fixed. Sometimes they didn’t even know the gate had been left open and it was a one off occurrence. Then there are the cases where everyone is being put at risk by irresponsible owners.
If it isn’t reported nothing can be done about it and you will always fear walking down that particular street. But what if the next person is not quite so lucky? What if they or their dog gets attacked? What if it is a child that gets hurt by the wondering dog? How would you feel?
I urge you as a responsible dog owner to help keep everyone safe by reporting problematic dogs. Only when the appropriate action, whatever that may be, is taken by the authorities can we starting ensuring our streets are safe to walk down, for everyone.
