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Not to beat this thread to death, but things just keep getting stranger in my neck of the woods, and in a way that does speak to issues of situational awareness and self-defense.

Following the attacks on the retriever and then the old man a few days later, two cats were reportedly killed by roving dogs in separate incidents. Homeowners are supremely fed-up by this point, and so someone posted a picture on social media of the second cat’s bloody disrupted body as the animal was taking its final breaths. This gory scene upset people, but the poster’s message was gauntlet-clear: STOP allowing your vicious dogs to roam free in the subdivision. Next time it might be a toddler instead of a cat.

Four separate attacks, all by unrelated dogs (per eye witness descriptions) inside of two weeks in a small subdivision (438 homes) defies statistics, and suggests that something is going on that is outside of the norm.

I have a theory about it – it’s just a theory, but I think it’s worth keeping in mind. One of our homeowners has a large dog which has always been successfully confined to their yard, but there appears to be something mentally wrong with the dog. It panic-barks and freaks out for no apparent reason. It’s not normal boredom barking or alert barking – it’s extreme barking. Plus if it’s in full-blown panic mode, it is emitting the scent of that mental state. Dogs universally have bionic noses. I think that one dog might be causing other neighborhood dogs to escalate their behavior. They smell that extreme fear and they react. Whenever Cesar Millan notices an unstable dog in his pack, he grabs it by the scruff of its neck and hauls it out of the group, because he knows that it will set off an aggressive response in the others, and blood will be shed.

Something to keep in mind as you are out and about. The dog you hear in distress might not be the one you should be worried about.

Plot twist...

The woman whose dog was attacked last week was again cornered by different attacking dogs several days following the initial incident (!). In the second incident, her dog was not re-injured by an elderly man was. For instructive purposes, because it's good to learn how these things can escalate, I'm reproducing part of her social media post below. Mods, this was published on the open internet, on social media, not via a private or protected account. This woman wants the general public to know what happened to her.

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"I am the woman whose dog was attacked by that pit bull last Tuesday, and as ridiculous and suspicious as this might sound, I too was somewhat involved with the incident this morning. I walk Jake every day, rain or shine. Last Tuesday we were headed down Centerpointe Dr as we do every day. It was still somewhat dark but I looked behind me and about 30 yards or so away I saw a loose animal coming towards us. I've been training Jake to sit when another animal or person passes by and then I give him a treat. Jake was sitting down and had not seen the other dog yet. I was reaching for the treat when the dog charged us from behind and attacked Jake. I still had the leash and was dragged to the middle of the street and fell down. I had to let go of the leash because it was obvious that that animal was in full blown attack mode. I had nothing to defend myself or Jake. I then started screaming-at the top of my lungs praying someone would drive by or hear my screams and call 911. A few seconds later I saw headlights. I was waving my arms screaming and a man got out of his vehicle that thankfully turned out to be a police officer. He did NOT come out guns blazing. He was hesitant but knew that there was only one way to stop the attack. He shot the dog once in the shoulder and the dog did NOT stop. He stepped back and I screamed at him to shoot him again and he did.

It was truly a horrifying experience. Jake is a very large Golden Retriever with a very large neck. He ended up with some puncture wounds, some bruising and swelling and one chunk taken out of his neck. I've been petrified to walk him but I knew we needed to get back out there. This morning we did just that. We were walking down Centerpointe (on the sidewalk) once again and I could not believe my eyes when I saw two loose dogs down by the pool area.

I stayed calm but I took Jake across the street and had him sit down again. They were heading towards us and this time I let go of the leash. The dogs circled us and one of them was growling but I kept talking to them in a calm voice. There was an older man coming towards us from the pool area and he said "Be careful, lady, those dogs just attacked me." I was truly frozen with fear but just kept talking calmly to the dogs. They left. I had my phone with me this time and the man approached me and said "Call the police." His hand was all bloody. I called the police and while I was on the phone, the dogs came back and kept circling us. The white one was growling. Yet another walker came by and stayed with us. Everyone stayed calm. Finally the police arrived. The man had been bitten on the hand and once on the calf so they called animal control and an ambulance. These dogs were far less vicious than the dog was Tuesday but nevertheless, they were aggressive and had bitten an older man. The owner did drive up and had been searching for his dogs. He was very apologetic and told the man he would take full responsibility and pay for any damages. I know this is a very long post and I'm sorry for that but I felt I needed to tell the entire story."

Abraham wrote:...

P.S. Take the time to read the above "expressnews.com" link.

Oh my word - it ripped that poor old lady's arm clean off. She's lucky she didn't bleed to death.

In this case, fingers crossed that the local lady whose Golden was attacked sues the rear end off the pit's owner. If all that owner is getting via the criminal justice system is a misdemeanor charge, then they need a massive kick in the pants courtesy of civil litigation. When behavior is irresponsible, a strong correction is typically needed if things are going to change.

Let me say that I do not care what other people do as long as they don't hurt anyone.

When that well-known photo was published and went viral on social media several months ago, the pic of those guys open carrying big guns (was it AR-15s?) at the intersection of SH96 and West Walker Street, which is also adjacent to our subdivision, many people freaked out. And I was like, "Power to you, bros. Do what you are entitled to do, as long as you don't hurt anyone."

The persistent problem is irresponsible owners, whether we are talking about pit bulls, other dog breeds, or firearms. I know that I'm preaching to the choir on that point.

This case will be an interesting exercise in open records investigation for me. I want to know who was cited for Tuesday's pit bull attack and what their address is. Many people have more than one dog. These guys might have more than one pit bull. Or, even if this owner does not have more than one pit bull, he/she/they may acquire another pit bull to replace the one that had to be shot to death. I want to know something of who they are, and where they live, because the available evidence suggests that they are irresponsible owners. Being informed of that situation going forward is just part of maintaining appropriate situational awareness, given that I'm apparently living quite close to it whether I want to or not.

^^ those sentiments are all over social media re: this thing...

The situation could have been worse. According to published reports, the incident took place basically at the intersection that serves as our public school (ISD) bus stop. Given the time of the morning that was stated, it occurred after the high schoolers had been picked up, but before the elementary kids had begun to assemble, so there were probably no children at that location when the pit bull was at large and the shots had to be fired, thankfully.

According to published reports, this incident took place about 250 feet from my house. I might know both parties (woman and intervening police officer) but they haven't been named. The woman is very lucky that an armed citizen came along, because the pit appears to have entered kill mode and might have finished off her Golden and proceeded to set upon her as well. As I sit here patiently waiting for my plastic, this story feels a bit like an omen. Obviously given the proximity, I walk my own dog there all the time.

https://www.chron.com/neighborhood/baya ... 556252.php