This evening I was relaxing, scrolling through the news online and checking out dog pictures and videos on social media, when I came across a story that just made my blood run cold. It was posted by an acquaintance who lives one town away from me, and detailed how her husband had gone out that morning for a jog with their Australian Shepherd Zazu; they take a six-mile run together on-leash, four days a week. One this morning’s run, however, not a block from their home, Zazu was attacked by two Rottweilers, who were loose, with their owners nowhere to be seen.
The police were summoned, the dogs caught and impounded, Zazu rushed to the emergency veterinary hospital, but his wounds were too serious and he could not be saved. A neighbor, who heard the tumult and witnessed the scene, identified the dogs as belonging to a couple who lives nearby. They are older, she told the police – and one of their adult children who also lives there breeds the dogs and sells puppies for extra income. Usually, the dogs are never taken out of the yard – but they do get loose from time to time.
Loose dogs in the neighborhood
Personally, I don’t think there is a place in society for dogs who kill. And while no one is perfect, and everyone has had a dog who has gotten loose before, when you own large, powerful dogs (especially more than one), you have a greater-than-average responsibility to see to it that your dogs can not escape the security of your yard. I hope the owners of these dogs are held responsible for Zazu’s death, and I hope the dogs who murdered Zazu are not released back into the custody of their owners – or, perhaps anyone else.
I know that’s harsh. It’s not the dogs’ fault that they were inadequately contained. It’s not their fault that their owners failed to socialize them adequately, so that they saw a leashed dog as prey or an interloper in their neighborhood, as opposed to a potential playmate. It’s not their fault that they have been denied the stimulation of an active dog like Zazu, locked up with no exercise, reduced to a life of breeding and reproduction, over and over.
It’s not fair. But it’s not fair to Zazu and his owners, either, that two very powerful, aggressive dogs were in a position to kill. What if the dog they attacked had been being walked by an elderly or frail person? The person might be dead, too. What if the dog they attacked was being walked by a mother who also was pushing a stroller with a baby inside? I shudder to think of it.
People who keep dogs in a socially impoverished environment, for the sole pupose of breeding puppies to sell – that’s even worse. This type of person is literally the backyard breeder in the derogatory trope.
I am hoping that the dogs are designated as dangerous and steps are taken to make sure they can’t be a threat to anyone else in the community. And my heart goes out to the owners of poor Zazu; his dad will be forever traumatized by the memory of the TEN MINUTES he struggled to save his dog as Zazu was being fatally mauled.
What steps can Zazu’s owners take?
I asked someone I know who is an animal control officer in a different community: What should Zazu’s owners do? She said, if there is any kind of record of the dogs being loose before, or any previous complaint made about their aggression, the local animal control could take steps to get a dangerous dog designation for the Rottweilers. If there is any sort of record of the dogs doing this before, or even just being picked up for running loose before, she would press the local court for the dangerous dog designation.
But if this is the first record of any complaint about the dogs, then their owners are likely to be fined only for the dogs “running at large,” asked for proof of licensing and rabies vaccination (and possibly fined for lack of same), and charged for the short impound; all that Zazu’s owners can do is sue for Zazu’s final vet bill, including cremation.
Obviously, I love dogs, and don’t relish the idea of any dogs being euthanized. But large, aggressive dogs in the hands of owners who can’t or won’t contain them? I can’t imagine living and walking my own dogs in that neighborhood.
Do any of you have any advice for Zazu’s owners? Have you ever been in a situation like this?
Try buying and carry HORNET SPRAY. It is not regulated, you can get it in almost any store or online. Get several cans and practice with the contents of two or three of them ,to get to know the aim and distance. Practice in a safe area outside. Most of them spray 15 to 20 feet. Look for a spray not a foaming product. You can add this to some of the other good ideas offered above.
My friend’s Sheltie was recently attacked by her neighbor’s pitbull. My friend and another neighbor were bitten as well and the dog has done this before. Had to have 2 surgeries and although the owner was the one to call the police and report her dog loose, she won’t pay the vet bills and my friend had to get an attorney. And the other owner runs a daycare! After that she got her dog a coyote vest. I’ve always had bigger dogs but now have a mini Aussie as well. Stories like this terrify me and I bought a coyote vest too. It has spikes on it and is made of Kevlar. I carry pepper spray and a knife, I am a gun owner as well but that can’t always be used in some surroundings. The vest would at least prevent serious injury while giving me time to get my knife
Throwing treats and spray shield are pretty useless when an aroused dog is bent on attacking you or your pup. I carry pepper spray and a small taser.
I’m so very sorry for your loss. Zazu looks very much like a rescue (blue tho) Merle Aussie We had a few years back, and it upsets me terribly to imagine Maggie being attacked like that. How horrific to have to go through such an experience.
I sincerely hope this serves as a reminder to everyone to report dog aggression so it creates a record.
As much as I hate breed stereotyping, I believe that some dogs are better able to handle irresponsible owners than others. We have a female rescue Doberman who was terribly abused before we got her. We adore her, and she is my husband’s Velcro dog, but he’d never had a Doberman prior to her (I had) and i’ve had to train my husband to be careful to watch people around her. They may mean well, but this dog came with baggage, one of which is that no one but us can reach over or touch her head. As a result she’s never off lead outside our 3 acre dog yard – we live on 50 acres – we have 4 rescue dogs – the others are Goldens and a Golden mix and she’s always been perfect with ANY dog we introduce to her. We did foster another female Doberman from a rescue a few years back who was terribly aggressive. We tried like crazy to get things to work out as we knew we were her 3rd and out chance. But we decided it wasn’t worth causing such trauma to our sweet Layla, and reluctantly returned the second Doberman to the rescue after 4 months.
I have friends who have pits and they are superb family dogs. Superb. But just like people, animals are individuals, and they could have issues from past experiences or abuse, or brain chemistry. Frankly, I think there are fewer messed up animals than messed up people.
Again, so sorry for the loss of Zazu.
I’m heartbroken for Zazu’s family. There is no reason for them to have lost their beloved dog.
I have been on both sides of this scenario but fortunately no serious injuries were sustained, although I will in the future follow the suggestion of other commenters to carry mace or pepper spray while running with my dog.
I want to clarify some of the dangerous breed ideology that has been expressed in some of the previous posts. Any dog, regardless of breed or size, can exhibit aggressive behavior. It is not a breed specific trait. I do agree with previous commenters that owners of large powerful breeds need to be responsible and be able to control their dog. Obviously dog aggression is more dangerous when a large powerful breed is involved. Aggression is an individual personality trait. I have seen a large Rottweiler cower behind his owner when attacked by a dog half his size.
My previous dog was a rescued pit bull. She was socially well adjusted and was comfortable with all dogs and people. At the time I lived in a mountain community where everyone hiked with their dogs off leash with no incidents. I don’t know what to attribute the sociability of all these dogs to, but they all got along. My dog was physically very strong and I trained her to wear a gentle leader when I needed to bring her to town where she needed to be leashed. The gentle leader is a very effective way to walk a large powerful dog who pulls. One day a mixed breed dog who was not a local dog, unwisely attacked and bit my pit bull through her ear. That is when I saw her breed’s innate ability to defend itself emerge. She pinned the other dog down to the ground by the neck. It looked terrible and I thought she was going to kill the other dog. I had her release the dog who was amazingly unharmed. My pit bull had defended herself and could have easily caused serious injury to the attacking dog but had used only the force needed to stop the attack. If her breed was inherently dangerous, she would have killed or caused serious harm.
My current dog is a rescued Australian Shepherd like Zazu. We now live in a suburban area where there are also lots of dogs. Unfortunately she came to me with serious behavioral problems which didn’t become apparent until she had been with me for a while. She is reactive to strange dogs and can be fear aggressive towards strange people too. If given an opportunity to slowly meet friendly dogs or people, she is fine. Her behaviorist recommended that I train her to wear a Baskerville muzzle, so even though she is fine 90% of the time, she never goes outside without her muzzle. She also wears a harness on outings, so that if she lunges suddenly, I can have a firm grip on the harness. My dog has a lot of anxiety problems which we tackle with medication, desensitization, and behavior modification. It is a LOT of work. She has made a great deal of progress over the years. Unfortunately, other people with aggressive dogs are not equally conscientious. My dog has been attacked several times by other dogs who’ve escaped from their leashes or yards. Since she is muzzled, she is unable to defend herself. She fortunately hasn’t been physically hurt but her fear of strange dogs escalates after each incident and our desensitization and behavior modification has to begin again every time. It is traumatic for my dog and exhausting for me.
My personal experience illustrates that aggression is not inherent in the breed but in the individual dog.
Ultimately we have to be responsible dog parents for our own dogs and their behavior but also vigilant for dogs and owners that choose not to be responsible.
How horrendous for Zazu’s owners…I truly wish them peace of mind and heart, but I know it will some time before this happens.
The scenario happened to me to twice :
once over 20 years ago with our young golden on a leash, a dog out of no where ran up and attacked him, my husband kicked at him and he retreated.
The other time , we had three dogs on leash….a Rot broke open the front screen door, ran up to my 60 lb male, but not in a friendly , just interested manner….by this time I was screaming….then he became interested in one of my 15 lb females….the male owner finally came out , grabbed him and held him by lifting his chest and front legs…..we made a hasty retreat….of course, I didn’t have very nice things to say….. I could tell things could go very wrong in just seconds.
One thing to keep in mind is that with two dogs ,they facilitate each other, arouse each other, and likely much more dangerous than one on by itself.
So sad to read this. My hearfelt condolences for your friend.
It is an all too common occurence in Mexico where I live. It happens more often to me as I regularly walk my dogs and luckily I never had a fatal fight in the streets. As an owner of a dog and a citizen, the first thing you have to do, is to report dogs when they are loose even nothing happens. This builds up a history of the owner and it authorities do not have to wait until a fight with serious consequences takes place, but can act based on a series of complaints about the same dogs/ owners.
As for separating a fight when only one person is present, there is very little chance, but my advice always is to let your own dog off the leash in this serious situation, so he has at least the possibility to run. Which of course, is no guarantee that nothing happens as two dogs attacking my just pin the one dog down and leave little chance.
I hope for no one ever to go through this.
Unfortunately, it is also not a solution to euthanize the attacking dogs, as the problem is with the owners. These dogs will be killed and they get another pair to continue to fulfill their sick needs (whatever this is). You are right to say, it is not the dogs fault, so act accordingly. There are places, where these dogs can be trained to control their instincts and this is what they would deserve. Being taken away from their owners and they would need to pay for the rehabilitation of their dogs and prohibited for lifetime to ever own a bigger dog.
My dog was attacked in May by 2 loose dogs. Although on the bite scale they did not rate high, it was clear that by the location of the bites, the dog were clearly attempting to break legs (immobilize) disembowel and kill.
I have started carrying cat kibble and a rawhide in a ziplock bag so I have something to distract any loose dogs.
It has worked so far the one time I tried it with a loose but clearly friendly dog.
Unfortunately, I know all too well about attacks. My beautiful and soft natured Alaskan Malamute (a breed that get maligned often) has been attacked by English mastiffs, two rotties (who also attacked me) and then a rottie lab mix. At no point was she the aggressor. First time was 3 months of age, second 6 months, then 9 months, then 12 months. The Rottweilers. The owner did not stop her dog. We were at on off-leash dog park. She was playing frisbee with a retriever, who only just met. Rottweiler showed up and had a go. My dog does not retreat, she argues back. I stepped between, grabbed mine, and the blasted thing attacked me, ripping my clothes and biting my hands. A complete stranger (retriever owner) realised the owner was not bothering, when another rottie arrived, thankfully for him, as I would have been attacked by both and at 56kgs, that would have been pretty dire. NEVER going to another dog park – EVER! The last one was the lab mix. They met, mine on lead, it off, owner across the park. seemed all fine, turned to leave and the bloody thing went for her withers. unprovoked, and we were leaving. That was my girl’s lot of dogs. Now we are the bad people, she is never off the lead, never allowed to roam, because she is now fearful. She has been at the dog trainers with his dogs off lead and no problems, but these dogs off lead are an issue. I can control mine, but not these free wheeling pups who owners say “oh my dog is never a problem” bull! Put dogs on leads, have common sense. Or guess what? Dogs will suffer our stupidity and will be banned. Have some thought about that.
I have 2 wonderful dogs, a black lab and a boxer/pit. My Grandson trained both dogs to protect me when ever I was outside of the house. I live on 6 acres of land which is up against a large and deep forest which is a home for deer, wolves and other animals. They aren’t what came after me is was a large malamute, my black lab got in between us and took the dog down until it surrender, my lab didn’t even get hurt can;t say the same for the Malamute. While my boxer/pit stayed in front of me in case the lab couldn’t take down the dog. And they did not act like a pack, at least that how it look to me. My Grandson trained the dogs right and with lots of love.