Dear Jim:
The article "A New Breed of Feral Dogs", by Buckshot was excellent. I
think he's right that far too many of us only have "Lassie" or "Benji" idea
of dogs. One generation back my family had labs and would have trusted
them with their lives. Remember the old dog lover vs. cat lover saying, "If
you die alone in your home, your dog will die at your side, but if you have
a cat, it will eat you". I certainly prefer dogs to cats, but I was
over to friend's home who had a Doberman and felt very uncomfortable with that
animal, and kept watching where it was. My aunt was once suddenly attacked
at a friend's home by their dog, and had to protect her with her left forearm,
which the dog mauled before the owners could get control of the beast. She
had to have plastic corrective surgery and had to go to her only daughter's
wedding with a cast over it. Was the dog put down for that? Unfortunately
this happened in California, so no, it wasn't. My Uncle threatened to
kill the dog, and they told the police, and the police threatened him.
In the recent 2004 movie The Day After Tomorrow, they had to make
the giant leap of faith that a pack of wolves somehow escaped from the New
York City
zoo, but notice this is what they chose as the terrifying nemesis from nature – being
hunted by a pack of wolves in New York City. There is something about
that, being the elk, being the moose, surrounded by the pack that is a scary
thought.
With our modern day veterinary science keeping dogs far more healthy, we forget
about the image of a dog "foaming at the mouth" – and thus
being rabid and dangerous. I think people in very rural areas do have
more of an appreciation for this article. I had a friend who, as a young
teenager in Northern Wisconsin got cornered on a dock alone while fishing by
a smaller dog, literally foaming at the mouth. He used his fishing poles
to fend it off from coming toward him on the narrow dock, and considered jumping
off and swimming for it, when the dog heard something in the woods and took
off. After a few minutes he ran to the cabin and called his father. He,
a few men then hunted it down as it was vacation area with a lot of children.
The point one of the men made that my friend remembered was – "Once
a dog goes wild, it's different than other wild animals because it has no fear
at all of man."
My brother recently went fishing in Alaska and brought a .45 Winchester Magnum,
an actual "Grizzly Mag" on an [oversize] 1911 frame. The guides
up there though used 12 gauge with Moose shot (OOO size buckshot, I believe)
and aim for the
face
seeking
to take out the eyes and have the shot go into the brain and take the big animal
down. For those of you who can't walk around with a gun, remember the
old postman's remedy, pepper spray. It's an easy thing to carry, especially
if you are just out walking or even biking in a rural area. My sister
in law loves to run in rural areas, and I have finally convinced not to do
that without pepper spray on her, dogs being one of the main reasons is used. Cheers,
Buckshot, great article on something we all should consider. - Rourke
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