Keeping our Dogs Safe, from Neighbors?
Gentle Thor is looking for his forever home. He promises many kisses.
So Director Beth enlightened me to the following story:
April 3, 2208
LINO LAKES, Minn. (WCCO) - A man in Lino Lakes, Minn. admitted shooting and killing his neighbors’ dog with a bow and arrow, police said, leaving a Minnesota family dealing with the particularly cruel loss.
“He was our little buddy,” said Rhonda Neuberger, the dog’s owner. “Wally didn’t deserve to be killed.”
Neuberger, her husband and daughter remember the night two weeks ago when Wally, a beagle mix, came home from a quick run in the neighborhood. It was clear he had been badly hurt after being let out.
Beth pointed out a few important things that bear greater thought.
You know what is funny about this article….this statement….
“Wally, a beagle mix, came home from a quick run in the neighborhood. It was clear he had been badly hurt after being let out.”
Now let’s think about it…..this would mean that the dog was running loose through the neighborhood with no owner and no supervision (i.e. violating leash laws, etc) . Now, IF you REALLY care about your dog….do you REALLY just let them roam….or do you want to know where they are and what they are doing….for everyone’s best interest??? In this article they say…poor owner….but I say…..poor dog….because the owners allowing this dog to “take a quick run in the neighborhood’ was not safe and fell victim to a mean person….
Also, I just have to say as a side note….if this was a pit bull….it would be “neighbor heroically shot pit bull as it viciously prowled the neighborhood searching for a victim”….. and of course the neighbor would be a hero rather than a criminal, he’d be praised for keeping his neighborhood safe and everyone could rest easier at night time, and the children would now be safe. He could maybe go on to receive a neighborhood medal of honor!!!
Beth makes valid points. I mean I know where my dogs are at all times in my fenced yard! I am always peeking out and making sure they are ok. My heart breaks for Wally’s family but as Beth said I too am more sorry for Wally. This was a totally preventable tragedy.
Filed under: In the News
Just for your information I do REALLY care about my DOGS. This neighbor had deer carcasses in his back yard to BAIT small animals. There is NOT a dog anywhere that can resist that temptation. So maybe before you acuse someone of not caring about there dog you really should get all of the facts. Wally was only gone for 10 minutes before coming home with an arrow THROUGH his little body. The trail of blood led right to the deer carcass and that is where he was shot, from a bedroom window about 30 feet away. Our dogs do nor RUN loose through the neighborhood. Some of the neighbors did not even know we had dogs because they are in our back yard always. A part of our family was taken away that night. It was a terrible thing for our family because WE DO REALLY CARE about our dogs.
Again, I am deeply sorry for your loss. I cannot even imagine the devastation.
As an owner of a sadly misaligned breed due to media hype and misinformed reporting, I think this is a good opportunity to provide feedback to the news reporting agencies for giving the impression that Wally had free run of the neighborhood.
You are right, I did not have all of the facts. And I did make the assumption that Wally was empowered to roam at will. Because that is what the news story inferred. As a dog owner, my number one fear is that one of my dogs will somehow get out of my yard and fall prey to an unscrupulous individual like dear Wally did.
Again, the intention of our comments was not to infer that you did not care about Wally. We were concerned about how one can keep their dogs safe when, given the freedom to roam a neighborhood, the dog is not within your sight.
I apologize for putting you on the defensive during what must be a tragic and trying time for you and your family.
And again, I believe, the news reporting agencies need to hear how important it is they include all the facts when they are delivering the “news”.
What happened to Wally really is such a huge tragety. I personally have neighbors who do not have a fence or confine their dogs to their yards and some unfavorable incidences have transpired for them as well. Hopefully if anything even remotely good can come out of this situation it can be to educate others on the need to make sure dogs are confined or leashed properly because there are way too many crazies out there and it is to sad to loose a member of the family in this fashion.
I hope things get better for you and your family.
Take care,