Dangerous Dogs

In 2012 My dog Rocky was attacked on my front porch by two
Rhodesian Ridgback dogs like the one pictured above.
Luckily the story had a happy ending for all concerned....

Today's PNJ has an article about the County Commission's discussion on the dangerous dog ordinance.

In it, I'm quoted about an incident that occurred in my front yard 4 years ago.....

My dog, Rocky, was on the front porch minding his own business when he was attacked by two Rodesian Ridgback dogs.  I immediately grabbed my pistol from the safe, and upon my return to the porch to attempt to rescue my dog, I was fortunately able to pull Rocky away without firing a shot at the other dogs. It would have killed me to shoot someone's dog--but on my property as they attacked my dog, I would have been within my rights to do so.  Fortunately, although  Rocky was rattled,  amazingly he was not injured.

(Ironically, a tru-green sales rep was in the cul-de-sac selling service contracts at the time of this event and he witnessed the entire event.  When he came up to my door after the incident and I answered still holding my .380--he simply said "Wow, this is quite a neighborhood, is it always this exciting?")

Anyway, after the initial fireworks,  I called animal control, they found the loose dogs, and notified the owner of those dogs about the issue.  They handled the whole issue very professionally.  I met with the owner of the Ridgbacks, and she apologized profusely.  I did not pursue any recourse and the story had a happy ending--thankfully.

But the state law has subsequently changed, and our policy on this matter was apparently dated and needed revision, so a new policy has been drafted by the County's legal staff.  It is very thoughtfully written, provides an appropriate level of due process provisions, and is something that I will support--as it protects the public, aligns with state law, and protects dog owners who are responsible and importantly it protects dogs.

You can read the policy here.