 In a recent letter to the editor in my community newspaper, a
woman vehemently objected to a proposal to section off a part of
her local park to create a leash-free dog area. She stated that
if children then went to the park "they would probably get
bitten" and that the dogs "would attack seniors for no reason at
all".
Comments such as these, based as they are on fear-mongering and
sensationalism, do little to contribute to what should be a
rational debate. Unfortunately, they are typical of the extreme
viewpoints that can occur when emotion blinds the ability of a
person to actually observe the world in front of them.
While I can sympathize with someone who has a fear or dislike of
dogs, I must object to those who would distort truth based on
these emotions. It becomes a very touchy subject and I don’t
want to appear insensitive to what is no doubt very real to this
woman. I am certain that she believes she is acting in the best
interests of all children and seniors.
But is she? Most children love to play with dogs and many
seniors enjoy the companionship they provide.
Let’s deal with actual facts.
Yes, of course dogs bite. So do people. So do raccoons. So do
mice. They all have teeth and thus the ability to bite. But
having the ability to do so is far different from an inclination
to use teeth to attack.
In putting this in perspective, I think everyone would agree
that wild animals are potentially much more dangerous than dogs.
Yet wild animals in general tend to avoid humans and would flee
rather than fight. It is only when cornered and threatened that
they will use the only weapons they have – teeth and claws. Even
then, they will give plenty of warning to back off and leave
them alone.
Even those wild animals that have become habituated to living
around humans (such as raccoons) keep their distance. A few
years ago, I was working in the back yard at night when I looked
up and found myself surrounded by three raccoons, each one about
ten feet away. Not wanting to provoke them but also letting them
know that I was aware of their presence, I continued what I was
doing; after a few moments, they ambled off into the night.
Dogs have been domesticated for thousands of years. They are
naturally social animals and enjoy being in the company of
humans. Rather than being a threat to human survival, they have
proved themselves to be, as they say, Man’s best friend.
As mentioned in an earlier Petitorial, there were 896 reported
dog bites in the city of Toronto in 2006, of which a mere 44
occurred in parks. (Admittedly, there will be others of a minor
nature that would not have been reported, but this still
confirms that most dog bites occur in the dog’s home territory
and not in neutral places like parks. And remember, also, that
the vast majority of these dog bites would have resulted in
minor medical treatment, if any at all.) Based on the fact that
there are about 250,000 dogs in Toronto, one would have to
interact with over 5,500 dogs on average to get bitten even
once. This is a far cry from "the children will probably get
bitten if they go to the park" or dogs "will attack seniors for
no reason at all".
In the last five years of dog ownership, I have been in almost
daily contact with many different and varied dogs running loose
in leash-free dog parks. And I freely admit that I have been
bitten twice on the leg. Both times there was a bit of blood,
but the damage was minimal and similar to a minor scrape; no
stitches, no bandage, just a bit of disinfectant. One of the
incidents was my fault – I used a ball thrower near a dog that I
knew had been badly treated by his first owner; the dog no doubt
misinterpreted my throwing action as a threat with a stick and
reacted out of fear. The other incident remains a mystery; I
guess the dog just didn’t like me getting near him.
Does either of these incidents make me nervous around dogs? Not
at all. For me, the rewards of association with dogs far
outweigh any potential danger.
And for those who are afraid of dogs, the best advice I can give
is to react as I did with the raccoons – ignore them. They will
tend to ignore you in return. After all, dogs would much rather
associate with people and other dogs that want to play with
them.
Previous "Petitorial"
articles by David McKague:
Editor’s note:
I would like to encourage dog lovers everywhere
to start a PETITION to have this law thrown out or revised to such
a form where justice prevails. SFR.
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