Bloody dog owners

SerialComplaint

Raam wrote: »

I gave them a ring after the second time, but they said they can't do anything because I didn't have the owners address.

This is just nonsensical. There is no way that anyone can be expected to have the address of a dangerous dog. Are you expected to wait for him to stop attacking and then follow him home?

It could be that is an excuse from a lazy warden. First step would be to get this excuse/reason in writing. If they do give it in writing, then escalate to Director of Services and/or councillors and/or Ombudsman to get this sorted.

Vélo

Fion_McCool wrote: »

Judge Judy solves the problem...

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/07/cyclist-injured-by-dog-gets-his-day-in-court.php

.

I enjoyed that, Shirley Temple looks like a real weapon.

Raam

SerialComplaint wrote: »

This is just nonsensical. There is no way that anyone can be expected to have the address of a dangerous dog. Are you expected to wait for him to stop attacking and then follow him home?

It could be that is an excuse from a lazy warden. First step would be to get this excuse/reason in writing. If they do give it in writing, then escalate to Director of Services and/or councillors and/or Ombudsman to get this sorted.

Yeah it's a bit of a cop out from them. Maybe if it happens again I'll force their hand.

EhBenDisDonc

I've an old copy of Richard's Bicycle book where R Ballantine gives some interesting advice to those faced with an aggressive dog on the road. He recommends shoving your pump down it's throat. If you don't have a pump, he suggests sticking your arm down the dog's throat until it suffocates. According to him, you should do this with a clear conscience, since all blame lies with the irresponsible owner who placed their dog in the position where it could endanger both you and it.
Seems a little bit extreme, and it was removed from later editions. Still, if I'm ever faced with a crazed pitbull, I'll let you know how the arm trick works out.

BTW - I see Maplins have an ultrasonic pet deterrent on promo at the moment. Looks like a raygun and, in bold print, carries the rather arresting boast "No More Pussy!" Save your money folks.

blorg

EhBenDisDonc wrote: »

I've an old copy of Richard's Bicycle book where R Ballantine gives some interesting advice to those faced with an aggressive dog on the road. He recommends shoving your pump down it's throat. If you don't have a pump, he suggests sticking your arm down the dog's throat until it suffocates. According to him, you should do this with a clear conscience, since all blame lies with the irresponsible owner who placed their dog in the position where it could endanger both you and it.
Seems a little bit extreme, and it was removed from later editions. Still, if I'm ever faced with a crazed pitbull, I'll let you know how the arm trick works out

I think that might work better with a traditional frame pump (e.g. the long ones.) As for sticking your arm down a dog's throat, I have seen this suggestion, but often in the context of "sacrificing your arm to save your life" - it is very definately an "if all else fails."

doozerie

Over the years I have tried various intimidating (or so I thought) methods of "discouraging" dogs that have chased me on the bike, including swinging my foot at them, swinging a pump at them, shouting at them, etc. Mostly I found that the dogs were very good at avoiding being hit, but even when I did connect it often just mad the dog more aggressive (shouting at them had this effect too - I suspect that several of these dogs were abused by their owners and were used to being shouted at). The one time I did get bitten was just after I had successfully hit one determined dog on the nose - it obviously never read the dog training manuals that said it should have backed off at that point

The only consistently successful method that I have found is to spray them with my water bottle, or spit at them if you don't have a bottle or can't reach it in time. Few animals like being sprayed and as they probably don't expect it, the shock of a blast of water is often enough to stop them in their tracks. It doesn't seem to make them more aggressive either which can only be a good thing, and of course it causes them no physical harm which is a good thing too as, as already mentioned, such behaviour from a dog is almost certainly the fault of their owner as dogs are rarely aggressive by nature (bringing out their aggression usually requires the careful, or careless, "nurturing" of a human).

As for sheep, usually a startled sheep will run towards other sheep so if you see a sheep at the side of the road you can often predict which direction it will run in based on where the other sheep are hanging around.

Fion_McCool

doozerie wrote: »

Over the years I have tried various intimidating (or so I thought) methods of "discouraging" dogs that have chased me on the bike, including swinging my foot at them, swinging a pump at them, shouting at them, etc.

This article from a bicycle touring website deals with a lot of dog deterring strategies...

http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?o=3Tzut&doc_id=194&v=11

doozerie

Think I'll stick with spraying water. Apart from the personal objections I have to spraying a dog with pepper spray, getting close enough to it to hit it reliably in the eyes is just putting yourself too close to the dog's business end.