Loose dog shot in park

[Anonymous]

If the dog really was 100 pounds and was jumping uncontrollably on a person without any ability on the part of the owner to stop it, self-defense is reasonable. The owner suggests that he should have kicked or hit the dog, which sounds like an acknowledgment that the dog was out of control. And hitting or kicking an out-of-control dog doesn't sound like a great solution to me - it might have only enraged the animal and resulted in more aggression.

I feel badly for the dog; not for the owner. And no, many of us have no idea that a 100-lb animal is just a "puppy." That's ridiculous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The reason this incident made the paper is not because it is a normal event, that people often shoot threatening (or nonthreatening) offleash dogs in parks. The reason WaPo wrote about this is because it is unusual, bizarre, crazy. Normal people don't shoot threatening offleash pit bulls or GSDs in parks, and normal people don't shoot offleash playful lab puppies in parks, either.

The Pet Forum in DCUM is not very pro-pet, so I understand why posters are condemning the dog owner for having her dog off leash. But shooting the dog is a huge overreaction and is quite possibly actionable even if the dog owner is not pressing charges. Gun nuts should be upset about this because it makes gun owners look crazed and irresponsible.

Do you have ANY idea how terrifying it is to be charged at by a silent, large, out of control dog whose owner is far away and clearly not in control of the dog? And have that dog jumping on and at you, still completely out of the control of the owner? Would I have shot the dog? No. But I can't condemn a person for being so terrified in that situation that they chose to shoot the dog to protect themselves.

Uh, no. Shooting a dog charging at you, in a relatively populated park, is bad choice. He could have missed, hit a bystander. The bullet could have traveled through te dog and continued on. Very bad judgment. I condemn him for it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The dogs were 20 yards away from their owners and jumping on people unknown to them. The dogs should not have been off leash regardless but it is extra egregious that the women clearly didn't have their dogs under voice control since they couldn't call them off. A 10 month old dog is almost full size at that point so the owner sees "puppy" and others see "adult dog". I feel awful for the dog but not the woman.

People in this area have an irrational fear of black labs. I don't understand it, but since adopting a rescue black lab, we have discovered it.

Anyone with any knowledge at all of labs, or most large breed dogs, could look at a 10-month old almost-full-size puppy and see "puppy". This man was crazy. It's a bizarre cold thing to do, shoot a dog in front of the owner. I wonder how long his SO will stay with him after this.

You should see the difference in the way people treat my light colored, sable German Shepherd vs. my black and tan darker German Shepherd. People literally cross the street when I'm walking my darker colored dog. I think people have an irrational fear of dark/black dogs in general which is so silly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The dogs were 20 yards away from their owners and jumping on people unknown to them. The dogs should not have been off leash regardless but it is extra egregious that the women clearly didn't have their dogs under voice control since they couldn't call them off. A 10 month old dog is almost full size at that point so the owner sees "puppy" and others see "adult dog". I feel awful for the dog but not the woman.

People in this area have an irrational fear of black labs. I don't understand it, but since adopting a rescue black lab, we have discovered it.

Anyone with any knowledge at all of labs, or most large breed dogs, could look at a 10-month old almost-full-size puppy and see "puppy". This man was crazy. It's a bizarre cold thing to do, shoot a dog in front of the owner. I wonder how long his SO will stay with him after this.

You should see the difference in the way people treat my light colored, sable German Shepherd vs. my black and tan darker German Shepherd. People literally cross the street when I'm walking my darker colored dog. I think people have an irrational fear of dark/black dogs in general which is so silly.

Afraid of black labs? Give me a break. I'm the OP and I have an almost 100 pound black lab. And have had other black labs. The only immediate fear factor they ever generated was from immigrants from a culture not used to dogs. Children of one of my friends however were all over the dog.

Our current dog was loose in our yard and some stray kids came through. One looked about 3 and another was about 5 feet tall. Plus another in the middle size. We were far more than 20 yards away and the dog was less than 1. Didn't even jump on them - ran over and walked along. Most good labs even under 1 have some degree of sense-that's why people buy them.

People like the woman with the off leash dog have ruined going to parks etc for us. On one of many nebulous junkets I had a lab attacked on leash-luckily we were by the car and I had a hiking stick.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Afraid of black labs? Give me a break. I'm the OP and I have an almost 100 pound black lab. And have had other black labs. The only immediate fear factor they ever generated was from immigrants from a culture not used to dogs. Children of one of my friends however were all over the dog.

I am not a dog expert. If I see a dog (or human) running at me and preparing to jump on me, I am going to defend myself.

This tragic incident would have been avoided if the dog owner had leashed their dog, as is required by law.

I'm in the park with my kids often, and have seen owners with unleashed dogs. Usually, but not always, they leash the dog after I ask them nicely to do so (I remind them it's the law). A few don't, but the MD park police have taken too long to arrive after I called so no fines were issued.. owners had left by then.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This story just makes me ill. I'm so sad for the owner of the dog. While I don't think it is right to have a dog off-leash where it is illegal, and don't do it myself, this monster of a person with a gun completely overreacted. What a jackass.

I feel terrible for the dog, but the real monster is the dog owner who put the dog in this situation. Some people are too irresponsible to have pets.

[Anonymous]

I think the news article is very irresponsible for sensationalizing this situation and printing the owner's likely lie that he asked her one, maybe two times to call back the dog. This could put that poor couole at risk for retaliation from dog crazies.

They should have stuck with whatever facts are outlined in the police report ane not her spin on the story.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the news article is very irresponsible for sensationalizing this situation and printing the owner's likely lie that he asked her one, maybe two times to call back the dog. This could put that poor couole at risk for retaliation from dog crazies.

They should have stuck with whatever facts are outlined in the police report ane not her spin on the story.

Agree, the whole article is just her BS about "well maybe he asked me twice" "she was just jumping around him" "she's a puppy" crappy nonsense. As a dog owner, the whole thing just smells like such freaking bullshit, I can't believe WaPo published it so prominently on the front page of the website.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The reason this incident made the paper is not because it is a normal event, that people often shoot threatening (or nonthreatening) offleash dogs in parks. The reason WaPo wrote about this is because it is unusual, bizarre, crazy. Normal people don't shoot threatening offleash pit bulls or GSDs in parks, and normal people don't shoot offleash playful lab puppies in parks, either.

The Pet Forum in DCUM is not very pro-pet, so I understand why posters are condemning the dog owner for having her dog off leash. But shooting the dog is a huge overreaction and is quite possibly actionable even if the dog owner is not pressing charges. Gun nuts should be upset about this because it makes gun owners look crazed and irresponsible.

But a dog's well-being is irrelevant if a human is at serious risk of being bitten, as it sounds like the man was. I'm not crazy about using a gun in a public park either, but it's the tool the guy had at hand, and I'm willing to defer to his judgment, and the judgment of law enforcement, that it was the best option. I would certainly want mace with me if I were in that position.

The man did not avoid charges because the owner didn't press charges, it's because no crime was committed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The reason this incident made the paper is not because it is a normal event, that people often shoot threatening (or nonthreatening) offleash dogs in parks. The reason WaPo wrote about this is because it is unusual, bizarre, crazy. Normal people don't shoot threatening offleash pit bulls or GSDs in parks, and normal people don't shoot offleash playful lab puppies in parks, either.

The Pet Forum in DCUM is not very pro-pet, so I understand why posters are condemning the dog owner for having her dog off leash. But shooting the dog is a huge overreaction and is quite possibly actionable even if the dog owner is not pressing charges. Gun nuts should be upset about this because it makes gun owners look crazed and irresponsible.

Do you have ANY idea how terrifying it is to be charged at by a silent, large, out of control dog whose owner is far away and clearly not in control of the dog? And have that dog jumping on and at you, still completely out of the control of the owner? Would I have shot the dog? No. But I can't condemn a person for being so terrified in that situation that they chose to shoot the dog to protect themselves.

My toddler son was attacked by an offleash at large dog on our property! Son had to have five stitches on his face and was brushed and scratched during the attack. I was just inside my house (we were going on a walk) grabbing my keys when son was attacked. It was horrific and I just missed the incident by seconds. I was angry at myself for a long time and plagued with guilt that I didn't come on the scene or prevent it or yes even have killed the dog. Had I witnessed the attack, I would have kille that dog with my bare hands.

By the way this was a neighbors' dog who was simply let out every afternoon solo.

[Anonymous]

The dog owners were at fault and caused the death of their dog. While it was extreme use of force to shoot the dog, the former owners will now pay attention to what they are doing. Hard lesson.

[Anonymous]

First, Ithink it was an extreme use of force. Not a big fan of someone pulling a gun.

But this is so much the owner's fault - everyone sip pointing out the 20 yards away, but that's AFTER they (the owner and friend) started running toward the commotion. Initiallythe dogs were out of sight!

This owner is an idiot. She'd be equally badmouthing the person if he had cracked the dog's skull with a cane/walking stick, or kicked it in the ribs.

[Anonymous]

WTF?!? Granted the dog shouldn't be off-leash, but if my dog accidentally slipped out of her harness in the park and some freakshow shot her I'd kill the guy. Without a second thought.

[Anonymous]

This is why we shouldn't have ANY guns.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is why we shouldn't have ANY guns.

Or better yet a reminder to follow the law and leash your dogs, as we do not know who may have a gun