My neighbors beast of a dog ran through his electric fence and jumped my leashed dog while walking on the sidewalk opposite his house. I kicked him several times in the stomach, punched him in the face, and finally used my leash to choke him to death. I did not get in any trouble. My dog required 27 stitches and lost sight in one eye. |
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I'm so sorry you and your dog had to go through that. Dog attacks are terrifying.
When my children were young and learned how to ride bikes, I started taking them out on the WO&D trail. I stopped because of of the number of times we came upon unleashed, unattended dogs. Our rides took us past a house with several pit bulls in the back yard with what looked like an electronic fence. I couldn't find any good solution to keep my kids safe so we quit the rides. I read that pepper spray could be ineffective, particularly against pit bulls, and I was worried about my children being hurt by the spray if I did have to use it. Again pp, sorry for what you went through. |
This. |
| I think Rock Creek Park should adopt the same regulations Rockville has. You can get a permit for your dog to be off leash if your dog and you can pass the off leash test the city gives. |
Great. So we would have more unleashed dogs in the park because they passed some test once. This is so NOT a good idea. |
Great. So we would have more unleashed dogs in the park because they passed some test once. This is so NOT a good idea. |
No there would just be more off leash dogs. Those off leash people really don't care about the law. Beside its a national park, not a dog park. |
| The whole world has off leash dogs - including Maryland, but not DC. Not a single place to walk your dog off leash. |
Designated dog parks, or your personal, fenced in property. It's not some kind of "right" to walk your animal off leash. |
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his is completely not true. If you are approached by an off leash dog in an area where they are supposed to be on leash by law you can spray it regardless of temperament. The burden is on the owner to have their dog on leash and under their control (which is problem with retractable leashes) at all times. The burden is not on the law abiding person to discern temperament of dog before spraying a harmless spray to keep dog away.
If you are approached by a dog that is not a threat and you harm it, you may be prosecuted for cruelty to animals. It is a real risk of prosecution: http://www.resistattack.org/Articles/Pepper-Spray/When-Pepper-Spray-Is-Not-A-Good-Idea http://union-bulletin.com/news/2014/nov/09/letter-dog-pepper-spraying-illegal-cruelty/ http://postalnews.com/postalnewsblog/2012/10/02/video-mail-carrier-charged-with-animal-cruelty-after-allegedly-pepper-spraying-dog/ |
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DC Law on pepper spray:
"A person may use a self-defense spray only as reasonable force to defend themselves or their property and only if the self-defense spray meets the requirements above." A person may use a self-defense spray only as reasonable force to defend themselves or their property and only if the self-defense spray meets the requirements above. |
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If you pepper spray a non-hostile dog, you may face animal cruelty charges and/or prosecution for the unjustified use of a weapon.
I get why someone would use pepper spay in a hostile situation with a dog. But let's use a little reason. Plenty of room in rock creek park for people to get along. |
Your links just aren't applicable. Your attempt at intimidation has failed. If you care about your dog, keep your dog leashed in Rock Creek Park and any other places where it is required. |
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Quoting pp.
" The burden is on the owner to have their dog on leash and under their control (which is problem with retractable leashes) at all times. The burden is not on the law abiding person to discern temperament of dog before spraying a harmless spray to keep dog away." |