You, your kid and your dog: Drivers need you to care about all three
When dog owners don’t understand leash-less risks
I was on my way to run grocery errands when I saw a car come to a screeching halt. My eyes shot open, trying to figure out what happened and breathing a sigh of relief that my brakes are in good condition. There was a woman in the middle of the street, but she appeared to be patiently waiting for oncoming traffic to stop. But from the other end of the car came a small dog, trotting along to the other side of the street. Shortly after, the woman bolted after it, apologizing to the driver in front of me and chasing her leash-less dog. I shook my head.
No one likes a know-it-all dog walker, so I am card-carrying member of the Mind My Black-Lady-Business Club. And I intended to do just that — until the light turned red. And I heard the woman shouting. Wham! She hit the dog once. “You’re going in the house if you do that again!” Wham! She hit the dog again. Meanwhile, the dog hopped on a picnic table — still leash-less — and not quite certain what went wrong.
Before she could raise her arm for a third hit, I’d had enough.
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“Don’t put another motherfuckin’ hand on that dog,” I yelled from my car window. “You walked that dog off a leash. That dog has absolutely no idea it cannot cross the street unless you trained him to stop. Stop hitting that dog. Put the dog on a leash, and you won’t have that problem.”
She froze and just looked at me. The light was green. Do I stay and see if she keeps hitting the dog? Cars are behind me.
Recommended Read: “Keep your dog on a leash ~ Why dog owners should stop letting their dogs run loose outside”
It’s not my dog. And it’s really not my business. She scowled at me. I met her with the same energy. Finally I drove away. As a current dog walker and caregiver, and a former 22-year dog owner, there was just no way in the world I was going to let her keep slapping this dog around for her own human error. While I’m not fond of removing myself from the Mind My Black-Lady-Business Club, I have a special bone (pun intended) to pick with people who own dogs and have never bothered to take steps to train them.