Bitch, Unleashed

If there is one thing that pisses me off in Israel it is owners who let their dogs roam around outside alone and without a leash. In cities, as well as on kibbutz or in the moshav, you can always see large and small dogs just mozying around like they own the place. When its a tiny little pincher dog, the worst case scenario is that the little piece of shit will high-pitch-bark you to death. But when I see a Bull Dog or Boxer, or some kind of a German Shepherd mix coming my way while I’m walking Jersey, I get genuinely scared.

More than a few times, during a simple walk with my gorgeous gray pup on his pink leash, Jersey has been attacked by these teeth-bearing, barking, biting asshole dogs. But the thing is, that these dogs have collars, and tags and in all cases an owner who lives in the neighborhood. These dogs don’t look hungry or tired or dehydrated- they have a home, these dogs have owners who are just as big an asshole as they are.

Letting your dog out alone to roam my streets is irresponsible – if you adopted or bought a dog, then you agreed to take care of it. That includes feeding it and walking it. If you had no intention of taking proper care o f the dog, you should not have taken it in. This ride dog-owner behavior is also annoying- I often have to end my walk early because I see a dog I want to avoid, or I have to leave an outdoor event because of a stray dog starting trouble with Jersey- with no owner in the picture, I am the only one there who can take responsibility of the situation and make sure no one gets hurt.

But more than that, it is dangerous to leave dogs unattended in the streets. With one bite, a dog can kill my little Jersey. But old dogs can be crazy, all it takes is a split second and a dog can tweak out and bite a dog, a kid, or an adult. I think that owners who let their big dogs go stray should be fined and prosecuted as if their dog has already attacked- because who knows how many days have been ruined, how many walks have been cut short or how many innocent little adorable Jerseys have been terrified by this menacing dog, and it’s not the dog’s fault, it’s the responsibility of the owner.

I leave you with this sad and hilarious story: After a few bad run-ins with aggressive dogs, jersey and I were on a walk in my cousin’s neighborhood in Yavne, a residential small street in a residential, small suburb town. It’s quiet and Jersey and I are enjoying our walk in the sun when all of a sudden, out of nowhere we hear barking and growling over our heads. We look up and we see a huge dog, climbing a fence to get to us. Well, Jersey and I  ain’t no dog’s fool. We took off running like our asses were on fire. When I got across the street, I looked back and saw that the dog was still barking, but he couldn’t make it over the fence. So Jers and I slowed down and my poor poor baby dog, so scared and so startled walks over to a tree, lifts his leg to take a piss and starts to shit in the air. I swear. He literally did not know whether to piss or shit.

Please keep your dogs on a leash. Thank you.

I am a wuss