Friday night I'm laying in bed and I hear the sound of two dogs barking ferociously. I don't hear any whimpering so I figure they must be barking through a fence at each other. I wake up at 7am Saturday morning and go to a volleyball tournament. I park my prized 1998 Toyota 4runner, get out to shake the hand of a teammate, turn to get my gear out of the back, and I see mud, paw prints, and deep gouges all along the passenger side of the 4runner. Apparently a cat had been sitting on top of the roof and a pair of loose dogs had been trying to get to it. I go nuts, but its 8am on a Saturday so what can I do about it? I play in the tourney and only win 2 games, so I pack my stuff and go home extremely irritated. On the way back, I call my wife and tell her about the damage and she remarks that she had seen a black dog running along the side of our house, so we know at least 1 of the culprits.
By the time I get home, she's found the owner and goes to talk to him while I snap evidence photos. That's when I notice the dogs scratched all 4 doors, the hatch, and the right front and rear quarter panels. I'm tired, hungry, dirty, sweaty, and generally pissed off so I let her do the talking. The guy apologizes and agrees to pay for the damage. Seems he works nights and puts the dogs in the back yard, but they've learned how to get out. Sure enough, Saturday night he leaves and they get loose again. We call him and he tries to get another neighbor to put them in, but the neighbor is gone so he asks us to do it. I grab a bat and a flashligh. One way or another, this problem is getting fixed. I manage to get the Australian shepherd to go in the house, but the other dog, a black short-haired retriever, stays 20 yards away from me, ducking and running in the shadows. I give up and leave him to fend for himself.
Sunday morning he's terrorizing people on their way to church, out exercising, jogging or walking down the street, kids riding bikes, getting out of cars, and whatnot. I go outside and get the black dog to go in the house, but by the 2nd half of the Bucs game he's loose again. Our other neighbor knocks on our door because her kids were outside playing and the dog was barking at them. When I go outside the dog goes back to his house, either because he saw me or because the owner called him back. I'm not sure which.
That dog is on my short list.
I've done the "Call Animal Control" dance once before after my wife was bitten by a pair of dogs that had jumped a fence and gone after us on a walk. The owner got off without a fine, even though we introduced our photos of her wounds and the Animal Control Officer gave his testimony. Seems the officer had identified and quarantined the wrong dog. She's still traumatized by the incident and refuses to walk down the street alone. I'm thinking at this point a better solution would be club the animal and bury him in my back yard and feign ignorance when the owner comes looking. "Oh, your dog got out again? Sorry, haven't seen it."
Thoughts?
