This summer is more or less officially over. Nicole went back to work today, which is about as official an end as we get.
The summer did end with a bang … or at least a bark. Wednesday night we went to Elm Shakespeare Company’s production of The Matchmaker by Thornton Wilder. We got there just before the show started, but we realized that we had forgotten (okay, I had forgotten) the lawn chairs, so I drove back home to get them. I got there after the show had started, but I really needed to pee. So I walk to the portapotty, and hurry back. By now, I’ve missed at least 20 minutes of the show. On my way back from the little blue cubicle of stench, I walked a little close to a woman with two very large very unhappy dogs, one of which lunged at me. It took hold of my left hamstring. The woman was able to call her dog off after a couple seconds, but it came as a bit of a shock. I hadn’t touched the dog or stepped over it or anything. I was at a public park with hundreds of other people, including a family with some very young kids right in front of us. Fortunately, I had some heavy jeans on, which didn’t tear, so the urgent care doctor felt comfortable not giving me a rabies shot since the dog’s saliva didn’t come into contact with my skin. Even without puncturing my jeans, though, the dog left a noticeable hole in the back of my left thigh, about 1/4″ round.
Too bad my guard dog wasn’t there to protect me.
4 responses so far ↓
1 Friar_Tuck said // Aug 22, 2008 at 12:33 pm
The woman is lucky that you did not demand her dog be put down.
2 mbw said // Aug 23, 2008 at 11:57 am
Did you report it to the authorities, Tim? They’d have to decide whether the dog is dangerous and should be put down, and it’s standard procedure to confine the dog to make sure it doesn’t have rabies.
(Some CT law info: http://www.cga.ct.gov/2004/rpt/2004-R-0308.htm)
I hope you’re feeling better. Panther shouldn’t need to have to get trained as a guard dog just so you can see a play!
3 Josh responded // Aug 27, 2008 at 1:12 am
I very much agree that a dog that bites hard without being provoked is a very likely candidate for being put down.
Issues like this are so difficult.
4 timothy paul yenter wrote // Aug 27, 2008 at 6:49 am
I didn’t do any of the follow-up that I probably should have. Frankly, I didn’t want to speak to the woman again or come near her dogs. The family with small children spoke to her and asked her to move away, but that was the extent of it. After all of your comments, I now think I should have handled it differently.
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