OC and possums in the trash? Learn something new everyday! Thanks for the tip.
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OC and possums in the trash? Learn something new everyday! Thanks for the tip.
It's unfortunate, but pepper spraying somebodies dog is a really great way to get in a fight. I can't see the people in question being any nicer about the situation if they watched their dog get a face full. Like somebody mentioned, handling yourself properly around aggressive dogs eliminates most issues, although they're still a danger to small children and other dogs.
Goes back to community. Talk to your neighbors, the ones not letting their dogs run loose. Maybe people you see jogging. Get a bunch of folks together, and all call/write/e-mail animal control/local PD. One dude angry about dogs is something they deal with all the time, a combined effort will probably get a swift response. Eliminate the conflict before it's a conflict again and ends worse. Worth a try, at any rate.
Spraying a dog that is attacking, or menacing you is totally legit - spraying a dog that is walking around is not.
agreedQuote:
Goes back to community. Talk to your neighbors, the ones not letting their dogs run loose. Maybe people you see jogging. Get a bunch of folks together, and all call/write/e-mail animal control/local PD. One dude angry about dogs is something they deal with all the time, a combined effort will probably get a swift response. Eliminate the conflict before it's a conflict again and ends worse. Worth a try, at any rate.
I've used OC on dogs a good number of times, at least half a dozen. When we lived closer to the center of town there were more free roaming dogs than I was comfy with.
4 of them, didn't get sprayed. A good shot on the ground right ahead of them turned em straight away. The other two got a serious noseful.
I would also urge you to make friends with the other jiggers/walkers in your area and use the group to pressure the local authorities to get some control over the situation. At least get a good number of complaints filed and on record, in case you are ever put in the position where you are forced to act against one of these loose animals.
I may be out of line in some jurisdictions, I'm out in the county where I live; but here if someone chases you down in a car and they aren't trying to hand you a piece of misdelivered mail, they are not going to be looked favorably upon if action is taken against them. It's likely a good bit different in more urban locales, and by region. But there have been at least a couple times where teens/young men have filed a complaint with the sheriff about having a gun drawn on them, and then being slapped with harassment because the lady they were following had already reported the incident to the sheriff.
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I've abandoned the use of sprays. In W. Texas you will likely get a nice 50 mph gust of spray in your face. I use the telescoping baton.
I'm the only jogger. lol. but there are a lot of kids, and some old folks who try to make it around the block. It is those who I worry about with our dog problem.Quote:
I would also urge you to make friends with the other jiggers/walkers in your area and use the group to pressure the local authorities to get some control over the situation. At least get a good number of complaints filed and on record, in case you are ever put in the position where you are forced to act against one of these loose animals.
I've complained to the animal control dept so many times I'm on first name basis. I think I've personally made the problem visible enough. Anecdotally I can say the problem has been a bit better in the last month or so. But that means I've only had 1-2 instances of a loose dog or pack of dogs menacing me on a walk or jog. It used to be over 10-15 times a month.
The local PD is responding faster and better as well. I call when I see a loose dog that I know for a fact has a aggression issues. They respond fast and will personally take the dog to the pound.
I don't know if the improvement is due to better policing or...low oil prices. There are a lot of vacant RV lots around here now. Before they were jam packed and everyone had a dog and a good portion of them ran loose.
More than likely this is a probable way things would have played out. However, I really don't want to test the waters.Quote:
I may be out of line in some jurisdictions, I'm out in the county where I live; but here if someone chases you down in a car and they aren't trying to hand you a piece of misdelivered mail, they are not going to be looked favorably upon if action is taken against them. It's likely a good bit different in more urban locales, and by region. But there have been at least a couple times where teens/young men have filed a complaint with the sheriff about having a gun drawn on them, and then being slapped with harassment because the lady they were following had already reported the incident to the sheriff.
Say things escalated to the point where police officers got involved. The dog owners' home is now several hundred yards away, a detail which is verifiable. How is a cop going to look at that? Would that not lend credence to fixer's version of events - that he tried to leave and was being pursued?
ehhhh...if I drew on this guy and his entourage it would be he said-she-said. If I was a cop I would have some pointed questions for the CHL who is drawing a gun on people over an argument about a dog. I wouldn't want someone on my beat who is too cavalier about letting hardware solve a software problem. All I would know as a cop is there is an argument taking place and there is a 'man with a gun'. In short, this is a "I'd beat the rap, but I wouldn't beat the ride" kind of thing. I'm totally into beating the rap AND the ride.
However, I could easily articulate: My singular goal was to get this guy away from me. I left the original scene of the confrontation. No matter how bad I was at trying to de-escalate, this guy lost it and chased after me. I was still running in the opposite direction when he caught me (damn I'm slow). His re-escalation and in the course of this, two extra physically capable people joining the fracas, would have given me a technical green light. When I heard the car engine revving to redline coming after me I was really worried. Really, effin, worried. It was at that point that the pistol became a plausible option. I decided to try to handle the situation one more time with words. He wasn't having it. I drew my line at the point where I saw him either draw a weapon of his own or started with the haymakers. I don't know if this was a smart move or not. It potentially put me in a huge risk. But yeah there is credence to this situation being brought on by 'some dood' with a bad attitude using any little disagreement to start a fight. This guy was ready to fight before he could even hear what I was saying to the female adversary.
So the conundrum is the point of posting this--would a pistol deployed earlier (like when I saw the guy running me down-- cursing at me an threatening me-- with another person, and heard the car coming) defuse the situation and reduce my risk? To this day I still feel lucky that I had a fortuitous outcome here. I freely admit I didn't handle this as well as I could have.
Would a go-pro or cell phone video, and audio of the verbal exchange be of benefit? Having vid of the dog acting aggresively and chasing would probably go a long ways towards backing up your position. I understand some phones can be simply left on to record audio. Having it in your shirt pocket, or a bluetooth mic on might work.
Fixer,
Yeah. I wasn't proposing that in your exact situation I would have gone to the gun, but more speaking to it being even more justifiable considering someone chased you down in a car. That just doesn't happen unless the pursuer is crazy or has ill intent. Coupling that with multiple possible assailants, you have a very threatening situation.
Your scene sounds suburban-ish, with reasonable possibility for bystanders. In a slightly more isolated location, I see the going to the gun earlier as being prudent. I'm not going to et in a situation where I'm being gang-beaten by three people with no one else in earshot to at least call the cops.
It's a tough spot. I'm glad things ended well for you, and that you've been able to give me something like this specific situation to think about.
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