Name: MDR
Victim: Pet
Location: Various neighborhoods while walking or jogging, Louisiana
Year of attack: 2021
Tell us about the attack
Last January was the final straw of a decades long observation. I went out for a nice dog walk on a sunny day and it went well the whole time until coming back through my neighborhood. Once again, an intact pit bill comes charging up the street, loose. The last time he charged, I was barely able to avert a fight between that pit bull and mine , so I preemptively used pepper spray. The owner was not able to control the pit bull which had no collar and is always left to run loose. I said nothing to the owner this time because they are past reaching with reasoning, and in the past they had the lame “I’m sorry” or “He’s friendly…” comment after the fact. Now they threaten me. I want back my right to walk my dog or jog or go somewhere on foot without having to be ready to fight off someone’s pit bull .
How has your life changed as a result of the attack?
The behavior of the owner as well as the pit bull left me afraid to pass that way and the only other way in and out is via a very busy street with ditches on each side so either way I have the very real fear of walking my dog due to the repeated stress of pit bull owners purposely letting their pit bulls loose. I used to walk the dog every day but now I am terrified and traumatized from years of walking dogs and these sudden pit bull attacks that shatter the joy of a walk. Some might say to stand up to these bullies but I am tired of having to fight through the gauntlet of ignorance. It’s left me having nightmares of a worse incident and less resilient to these fights.
Legal Consequences
There were times the pit bull jumped back into its yard . Other times the “He’s friendly and only wanted to play” or “Sorry…” was uttered by the owner as they barely managed to drag the pit bull off. There were times the owner did get a fine but they would try to get others to intimidate or harass me later. But the most recent didn’t seem to get any penalty despite multiple reports to animal control from other people who were likewise attacked by this pit bull. Mostly animal control was angry that pepper spray was used to stop the attack.
What would you like people to know as a result of your attack?
Though it sounds like I have given up on fighting back, maybe regrouping is a better term, as I have experienced a number of dog breeds as pets or training it seems more pit bulls are biting more aggressively. Whether that is inadequate training methods or the concept of dogs as emotional stand-ins for human contact remains to be seen. Most gladiatorial breed owners seem either to be sedentary people who didn’t have the ability to exercise the pit bull or they lived in a situation where they could not possibly contain the pit bull in a secure yard or they were in denial of the body language stress signals of pit bulls that they owned. When I read the stories it’s like reliving the times that I have had to contend with these people and their pit bulls, my heart pounds as if I had been in the story.