ClevelandDiver
Contributor
Last night Petey (see avatar) and I were enjoying a leisurely stroll down the street when a large untethered mastiff calmly trotted up the sidewalk and bit Petey. A minor scuffle ensued and the mastiff owner ran over and was able to bring his dog under control. Petey did not appear to be injured and we continued our walk. Although upset, my initial inclination was to let it go and not report the attack. After further consideration I decided it would be irresponsible to just let it be and called the local animal control department. Turns out this owner has a history of not restraining his large aggressive unneutered dog. It could have turned out a lot worse and hopefully my reporting it will get this irresponsible owner's attention and stop any future attacks. The animal control officer told me that lack of reporting is one the biggest problems they have in situations like this and that a lot of serious injuries could have been avoided if people had reported earlier acts of aggression that did not result in injury. If someone's dog attacks or harasses you or your dog, make sure to report it so animal control can build a case against repeat offenders. I don't blame the dog, just his idiot owner.