Earlier this week a couple was taking an afternoon exercise walk through their neighborhood. Bundled up, their only concern was bracing against the day’s chill. They had no sticks nor pepper spray. No need. Their neighborhood was pretty darn safe. The only dogs in the area were safely behind fences with tales wagging.
Across town just a few minutes away, the scene wasn’t the same. Stray dogs wandered the neighborhoods like gangs on the lookout for prey.
A woman walked to her bus stop and was viciously attacked by three dogs. Thanks to passersby the woman escaped with bites. The dogs took off.
Those three dogs were once puppies in a litter. . . evidently an unwanted litter. As they grew, they became the orphans of the street with one desire – survival.
Dallas is now facing a problem. It’s not a new problem, but it’s a growing problem that makes headlines but not enough to force change.
Its solution is a simple two-step process:
- Responsible ownership – If an animal is bought or adopted, the owner must comply with the understanding to “fix” the animal and maintain its vaccinations and control. To enforce such responsibility, Dallas Animal Services must have the power and resources.
- Adopt from shelters – Sure, the pedigreed animals may be la-di-dah, but the mutts are the pets du jour. Human companions proudly introduce their pooches as “rescues.” It’s cool to have one of these vagrants in your family. And rescue groups and shelters are bulging with them. . . four-legged types, not humans. Name a size, age, sex, look and they’ve got them. Only til the shelters and rescue groups become the go-to opportunities for pet adoptions will the mass exterminations of thousands of former puppies and kittens decrease.
The woman who was attacked by the three dogs was not the victim of the animals but rather of the humans who allowed them to wander the streets in search of a victim.
The problem is not, “How are we going to solve the situation?” It’s “When are we going to solve the problem?”