She was so drunk that she had passed out in the hallway. She could see her feet and legs, but she couldn’t see anything else. She couldn’t go any further down the aisle because there was a 120-pound weight. rotti mix showing me all her teeth.
What had I gotten myself into?
It was my first night as an animal control officer in the town of Fall River, Massachusetts. It was 1:30 am and the Fall River Police Department had called because two of the residents of an apartment building could not get in or out.
The lady I described above came home drunk and was about to let her dog out. When she reached the hallway, she decided to sit down for a moment to rest. She passed out on her and her dog never made it out of her, but now he was protecting her and the hallway.
Two of the residents who lived there were unable to enter their apartment due to the large, angry dog patrolling the hallway. My job was to catch the big rotti mix so the police and EMTs could get the drunken woman under control.
I knew she was okay because when I walked into the hallway I could hear her talking in her sleep. “Do you want fries?” she kept saying over and over in a drunken tone of voice and slurring her words.
His dog wasn’t too happy with me in the hall and he picked me up. With feline reflexes I jumped to my left and positioned myself on the small landing there but I wasn’t fast enough and the dog managed to get part of my jacket.
I used the control post to get the dog away from me and cornered him. I was lucky and got the stick around his neck. I took it to the truck and put it inside.
The paramedics revived the lady and took her inside her apartment.
I was thinking about this little episode this morning because I had to do something last night that I don’t normally do.
I was able to sit down and watch a full half hour of one of my favorite TV shows, Judge Judy.
Turns out the case was tried by a guy who had an Akita that had attacked a Jack Russell Terrier.
I couldn’t believe Akita’s owner. He said things like “I never wanted my dog to get loose and hurt his dog” and “I never wanted my dog to attack his dog.”
Of course, he never intended for his dog to do any of those things, but the dog did and he is responsible for his dog’s actions, 24/7, 365 days a week. year. Owning a dog is a big responsibility and this guy didn’t think he had to pay the injured Jack Russell’s vet bills.
His dog did not do this even once; His dog attacked the Jack Russell twice!
It all made me think back to my days as an animal control officer. I always went to the same houses. In a city of 90,000 people, he went to the same seven or eight houses week after week.
The drunk lady I described above told me that I wasn’t paying for my jacket. She told me that she cannot be responsible for what her dog does to her while she was passed out in the hallway, that her dog was protecting her.
No argument on my part would convince her that she is responsible for everything her dog does.
Anyway, as I said before, having a dog is a big responsibility. We always have to know where our dogs are and what they are doing. We also have to make sure they are not aggressive. One of the best ways to give your dog a good life is to train him and start from an early age.
If more people took their dog training and responsibility or ownership more seriously, we wouldn’t have all the dog problems we see today.