Watching Your Dog Die (cont'd)
I had no weapon to defend Sid. (I wished I’d a hammer or a shotgun, believe me.) I launched an attack of kicks and punches at the murderous dog, to his ribs, his head, his mouth. He paid no attention to my efforts to defend the small animal. The attack went on: it was brutal and savage and obvious that this kind of singleminded assault, this murderous rage, could only end in the most terrible injuries to Sid.
Rebecca grabbed the Rotweiler by the collar, and despite its attempts to turn on her, she dragged it into the laundry room and locked the door. Our main concern was Sid’s very troubling condition. We wrapped him in blankets, which were immediately soaked in his blood. He was having great difficulty breathing.
We drove at speed to the local vet, who urged us to take him to a bigger vet in Athlone, where he could be X-rayed and operated on. The operation lasted about an hour.
Rebecca, meantime, called the Gardai, who went instantly to the house. They were kind, solicitous men, and a serious law had been broken by the Rotweiler’s owner. The dog was a killer and should never have been allowed to wander the neighbourhood without its owner’s presence. And perhaps not even then.
The Rotweiler, justifiably, was put down.
Meantime, tragically, poor Sid, two years old, didn’t survive the operation. He had a punctured lung and several ribs that had been snapped broken like walnuts. He was very much a family dog, and precious, and his small territory had been invaded, and an important part of the household had been seized so viciously from us - a tragedy one doesn’t overcome easily.
And now, on Jan 2 of a new year, he’d been brutally slain by an animal owned by somebody who obviously didn’t give a damn about how to keep this kind of vicious dog chained and behind bars. The grief we felt – perhaps real dog-lovers can understand this. It’s beyond language to express.
There’s an emptiness at the house that can’t be filled. His presence can sometimes be sensed, but no more than that. He liked to play, he liked to join family events, he gave us unconditional love and he received it in return. He had absolutely no malice about him. He never bit anyone, never attacked anyone. He brimmed with the joy of the world. And now he’s dead, because of a mindless idiocy.
I wondered about the people who breed these dogs. What are they good for except as guard dogs? But they can’t guard places if they can easily just wander away from them. Because then they become public menaces of the most serious kind. Obviously there are a good many people who know exactly how to care for Rotweillers, pitbulls, and Dobermans, and who understand the nature of these animals if they somehow get loose.
But Sid is lost. An unspeakable grief.
It occurred to me later that day, with a shock of horror - it might have been a human toddler in the driveway. And what would have happened to some two-year old kid who fell under the mindlessly vicious attack of a dog that will instinctively maim or kill? These dogs need regular and thorough checks on their restraints. Their owners need to show deep seriousness of character and be conscious of their public safety obligations. Because these dogs will kill in the right circumstances.
That’s the bottom line. Plain and simple. They will kill.
contents©2006 Campbell Armstrong
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