Benjamin's woundsIt’s well known that some dogs just don’t like other dogs. Our dog Benjamin and a neighbour’s dog just a block away don’t like each other for some unknown reason and waste no time barking and posturing whenever they meet. They’ve had 3 run-ins over the years and we keep Benjamin on a leash at all times on his walks primarily because of this dog, however our neighbours are not nearly as responsible.

My wife was out with Benjamin shortly after Canada’s gold medal hockey win (Go Canada!) when they came across his arch enemy out for a walk with his owners on the trail behind our home. They didn’t have their dog leashed and, ignoring their useless and feeble “Stop” and “Sit” commands, he charged our dog and latched on to his head. With Benjamin screaming in pain my wife attempted to disengage the attacker without being bitten herself but it was intent on inflicting as much damage to Benjamin as possible. Even the owners couldn’t control him and it took some time before they could finally drag their dog away leaving Benjamin with a large gash on his head.

My wife was some distance from our home with poor Benjamin bleeding profusely from the wounds on his head. So do you think these people offered assistance (there were two of them) or some help back with our wounded dog? Nope. They unapologeticly resumed their walk and my wife did her best to get Benjamin back to our home, in the car and off to the emergency veterinarian. I visited the couple shortly after my wife’s frantic phone call and advised that I would be presenting them with the vet bill and expected them to pay. Nope. They advised me that they were not responsible for the attack and wounds caused by their unleashed dog or the $252.00 bill for veterinarian care. I returned to their well lit and obviously inhabited home a bit later to give them a copy of the vet bill and, once again, ask them to do the right thing. And like the irresponsible twats they appear to be, they refused to answer the door. If you ignore the problem it will go away, right? Where do shitty neighbours like these come from and why in hell do they live in my neighbourhood?

So what do we do. Well, to start, we called the city but they can do little other than increase their dog license fee (assuming their dog is licensed) by designating it as an aggressive animal but we will submit a complaint and go as far with it as we can. Fair enough but that may not force them to be responsible or pay the vet bill. So we have little choice but to pursue the issue through the courts and we’re quite confident we’ll win but why does it have to come to this? Why can’t people just step up and be responsible rather than being, in my neighbourhood anyway, atypical assholes? I can’t answer that but they WILL end up paying Benjamin’s vet bill and probably a bit more. And I can also award these people the April Road Asshole of the Week Award. Congratulations you assholes and see you in court.

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