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?
A similar thing happened to me. On December 26th, 2020 myself and my 3 small dogs were charged by a large dog. The owner was intentionally walking her uncontrolled dog off leash. She had the leash in hand but not attached to her dog. This occurred in our neighborhood where the law is all dogs must be leashed at all times. It was right next to a children’s splash pad as well though due to the time of year no kids were present. I pulled my dogs behind me as the off leash dog locked on to us and started charging us. I body blocked the dog from getting to mine. Thankfully the dog wasn’t biting but I knew if it got access to my dogs, a fight was likely and my small dogs wouldn’t stand a chance. One of my babies was so afraid that he managed to bust out of his harness. I searched with hours with friends and family but we did not find him in time. He had run into traffic and was fatally hit. He was only four. A simple adherence to the law by this off leash dog owner was the difference between my sweet little baby’s life. I am devastated and sickened. What is worse is I was so busy chasing after my baby that I didn’t get any information from the irresponsible dog owner. She is still out there and likely does not know what her actions caused.
Torch to the eyes. A small and quick lite propane torch is cheap, small, and easy to carry. A Pit mix latched onto my dog years ago on while I was in the garage. Only took 2-3 seconds and he was gone. Ended up blind having to be put down. Luckily my dog just suffered minor injuries.
Hello,
I am not able to find the comment I left, I am just curious why it was removed, I did not think it was offensive.
Sincerely,
Melissa
I had an “almost” similar situation many years ago. But, neither of my two girls were hurt and neither was I. I would walk my lab and Brittany very early every morning before work. I started work at 6:30am, so our walks were at 4:00am or earlier. Every morning on our way to the park, we walked by a house with an 8′ fence. There were three Rottweilers that would charge the fence. After the first two days of “charges,” I crossed the street so as not to rile up the dogs every morning. One morning I glanced across the street at the “Rottweiler house” and the gate was wide open! I was terrified! I glanced around but, it was dark and I couldn’t see any dogs. I kept walking and suddenly my lab jumped in front of me with a growl as the three dogs burst out of a yard, barking and running at us. I picked up the Brittany holding her as high as I could. I started yelling at the dogs charging us. As they got close, my lab started barking little “yips” as she scurried away from us. To my surprise, two of the Rotts went after her. One stood near me, but mostly watched the other two going after my lab. Then my lab turned on them and started barking like she was the aggressor! For some reason, they didn’t attack her. They continued to act very aggressive, but, thankfully, they never got a hold of her. Meanwhile I’m still yelling at the top of my lungs to anyone nearby, “NO! NO! NO!” Sure enough, the man who owned the Rotts came running out yelling at them and trying to collect them. I yelled at him, too. I was plenty mad. But, my lab had amazed me – she “lured” them away and kept them there until the owner came. I’ve been a dog lover since before I can remember. But, I do believe some dogs are just “bad” dogs. Some can be trained out of it, but sadly, some cannot.
EDIT- the same owners should NOT be allowed near another dog.
As I write this, my dogs are recovering from an attack by two loose pit bulls as I walked them around my neighborhood. That was 48 hours ago. They will Eventually be fine physically (minus one dog ear) but the psychological toll is not yet known. I feel so bad for Zazu’s dad as I’m trying to get the images of the attack out of my head too. We are lucky- bystanders put themselves at risk to help and the attack was not as extreme as many of the stories told here. I did a lot correctly in the attack, yet in hindsight I need to be more prepared in the future. Some good ideas here in the comment section, from training to self- defense tools. I encourage everyone to take steps to make sure they don’t become a victim in this long list.
Because I was also bit, they are facing being labeled a vicious dog. I hope the pit bulls who attacked my dogs are given the care they need to be successful pet citizens – by some different owner- the same owners should be allowed near a dog, or they need to be destroyed. All dog owners must be ultimately responsible for their dogs. But with larger breeds and breeds with powerful bites the margins between control and harm are much narrower. It’s not that pit bulls are inherently bad dogs (one of my dogs has some pit DNA), but the margin for owner error is smaller. Our laws and community should acknowledge this simple fact.
Anyone who read the article and has issues with their dog and aggression, please search BAT dog training method. It’s the most effective method to modify aggression behavior. I tried many methods for my dog and this was absolutely the best one and worth the money I spent for the BAT certified trainer.
Wow. Sad to see how many horrifying stories there are.
My adopted greyhound and I have been accosted numerous times by aggressive dogs, but no injuries to either of us thankfully.
I’d like to suggest a solution that doesn’t involve carrying a gun.
1. Always look around while walking your dog. If you see a dog approaching off-leash, stand your ground with your dog close, and be authoritative. Do not scream, move, flail around, just try to be big and scary (I’m actually quite short, but I know how to look tough).
I now always carry a canned compressed air horn and also a pepper-spray/tear gas combination. And of course my cell phone. All three are on a belt that I wear easily accessible outside my jacket.
At night I also carry a large heavy metal flashlight.
Yes, some dogs might not be stopped by an ear-splittingly loud horn or pepper spray and tear gas.
Instead of mace, pepper spray, and tasers, which you have to be somewhat close in order to effectively use, many law enforcement officers have advised women to use bee/wasp spray. They say it’s as effective as pepper spray and sprays a solid more accurate stream 20-25 ft away, and it’s cheaper too. It would give you more time and distance to ward off attacks especially if there is more than one aggressive dog coming at you. I haven’t experienced what you all have, thank God, I’m just suggesting a possibly safer way to protect yourselves in these horrible situations.
I walk my 5 terriers together, and it seems that large dogs cannot resist wanting to come and get them (my boys talk trash when they see other dogs, this is true). I carry a shock stick with me every time I leave the house with my dogs. I have never had to touch the large dogs coming at us – apparently the sound when I activate it is enough to make the large dogs think better of getting close to us – they turn tail and run. I am sure hitting that button and making it crackel has saved my boys countless times from getting bitten by dogs that ignored their electronic fences; were “never aggressive before” according to their embarrased owners; or others that were just roaming around unattended.