Dog Tales (1)

Last Friday night/Saturday morning my husband and I were awaken by the sound of every dog on the block barking. We tried to ignore it but our two dogs joined in so Bob got up to find out what was going on. I heard the front door open and then Bob saying," There are two cops in the street."
He came back into the bedroom and while putting his jeans on told me the neighbor's dog (Meg) was also out there and the cops were trying to catch her. He decided to go and give them a hand.

(We have had a problem in town with dogs running loose. One of my older neighbors had a dog jump on her and bite her in the hip during one of her morning walks about a month ago and since then the police have cracked down on stray dogs.)

After a minute I got out of bed and stood at the open front door. Bob was standing in the street by the alley south of our house holding Meg by the collar. One of the cops was standing about a foot or two away from Meg and reaching out for her collar as she growled and snapped at him. She didn't seem to like him. I was surprised by this because Meg is the kind of dog who likes everybody. Bob pulled her back and sat her down. At this point the cop told Bob that he was just getting ready to shoot Meg in the head. Then he put his hand in front of Meg's face and asked her, "You wanna bite me? You wanna bite me?"
He reminded me of Robert De Niro in the "You talking to me?" scene from the movie Taxi Driver. He seemed to be deliberately trying to get Meg to bite him. Meg did not react and just softly growled at him.

Bob told the cop that Meg belonged to the people down the alley and ask if they wanted him to put her back in their yard. No, Meg had to go to the pound. Bob then offered to take her up there himself. The cop said it was OK with him. Bob let go of Meg's collar and started walking toward our truck with Meg following behind him- her tail wagging furiously. When Bob got to the back of the truck he unlatched the tailgate and Meg jumped into the truck bed. Bob then walked around to the side of the truck and opened the door to the kennel and Meg, tail still wagging, stepped inside. Bob then climbed into the truck cab, started the engine, and drove away. When he came back about ten minutes later he told me he had no problem putting Meg in the kennel at the dog pound. He also told me that he was sure that cop would have shot Meg if he had not gone outside and called Meg to him.

One of the things about living in a small town is that police officers rotate through pretty frequently. Small towns are starting point for beginning police officers and the ones we get are young and just out of cop school. My ex-brother-in-law is a Denver police office and one phrase he taught me was "badge heavy." That is a cop who takes things a little too seriously and thinks his job is to punish offenders. These are the ones most likely to react forcefully to anything that could come under the heading of "contempt of cop." Meg committed that crime when she refused to come to the cop and when she growled and snapped at him.

I think part of the problem that night is the police here do not have the right equipment for picking up stray dogs. They need one of those catch poles and a secure place to put the dog after they catch it. I don't think the back seat of the patrol car will do. Right now the police go after stray dogs with a leash and a gun.

Meg is back home safe and sound. I have told several people in town what happened that night and one has talked to a member of the city council. I have decided to write a letter about the incident to the Chief of Police with a copy going to the city council.