Sometimes you don't need a gun to create chaos, terror, and mayhem. Take yesterday for instance. While a crazed monster was shooting up Mercy Hospital in Chicago, apparently because of a failed romance, someone in Oklahoma City let his, or her mixed breed pit bull out for a little run.
Around 12:40pm the mutt entered the playground of Fillmore Elementary School in south OKC. At the time there were 28 third and fourth graders enjoying a recess, supervised by three teachers. Within five minutes the dog had bit nine of the kids while three were injured as they tried to get away. Five were transported to a local hospital by ambulances and seven were taken there by their parents. Luckily none of the injuries were critical.
The dog was tackled by Special Ed teacher, Lee Hughes as it tried to get into the school building, presumably to continue its hunt. In a show of extraordinary strength and courage, Hughes held it on the ground until authorities could take the animal away. So far, at least, the owner of the animal hasn't come forward. Hey, who can blame him, or her. The lines of lawyers outside the homes of the victims are, no doubt, already winding down southside streets and around blocks.
Unfortunately, in this burg we aren't always as lucky as we were yesterday.
A guy named Butch Bridges, who lives in Ardmore, OK tracks this sort of bestial assault on his site, "Vicious Dog Attacks--Oklahoma." The list he has compiled is extensive and more than a tad chilling.
In the Oklahoma City metro area alone he shows 24 attacks in the last four years, three of them fatal. Of the 24, 13 were committed by, you guessed it, Pit Bulls. Two more were by Boxers and another two attacks came from St. Bernard's. In the rest of the incidents the breeds were not identified by different media sources.
In more than a couple of the cases the pet owners claimed their dogs were, "provoked," and should bear no blame for the attacks. After two of the victims died the owners were charged with manslaughter. In all of them someone should have been indicted for being, felony stupid.
No, I'm not anti dog. I am, however, pro dog control. I'm also extremely suspect of the psychology on display when a person decides to prove their machismo to the world by keeping a 75-100 pound animal with a predilection for uncontrolled savagery. Let's face it, in many cases such breeds are bought just so the owner can show off his, or her dark and edgy lifestyle. Hey, want to know what a bad ass I am? Just take a look at my fucking dog!
If you want to brag, just tat up for God's sake. The needle might hurt a little, but your ink dragon, or panther won't rip apart some elderly woman and her Pomeranian who made the mistake of walking on a nearby sidewalk. Not to mention, you won't end up in the slammer just because you decided to let a latter day version of The Hound of the Baskervilles run loose in the neighborhood.
A long time ago a veterinarian I knew told me to never own a big dog. If you want a watch dog, he said, get a small one who will make a lot of noise. The first thing a professional thief will do is kill a big dog. Besides, when it gets old the odds are it will turn on you, or your kids.
Yes and then sometimes, as we saw yesterday, it will turn on children at a school playground not because of age, but simply because of breeding. Well, that and some tough guy wannabe didn't take the time to keep it on a leash, or properly fenced in.
sic vita est
11-20-18
When I was a telephone tech working daily in customer's homes and offices, it amazed and annoyed me at how insensitive and naive people could be concerning their animals. I have been literally backed into a corner with only a screwdriver for protection, with the owner giggling and dismissing the situation by saying, "Oh, he won't bite." What I just described, or something similar, happened often. Once, in a rare instance of losing my temper, I told a guy that if his dog hurt me, I would hurt the dog worse. Well, it's the same old story which applies to most things. Some people are unaware, some don't care, most of the time it is some combination of the two.
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