So… I was attacked by a dog yesterday at a local dog park. Wife and I took our dog Fez to play and socialize.
We didn’t see it coming. A dog came from behind me, spooked my pup, and chased him across the park.
Before I knew it, a large pack of dogs… Pit bulls… Rottweilers… Huskies… all descended upon him.
He was terrified.
Yelping.
He looked like a prey animal to them.
One of the bigger Pit bulls jumped on top of him and started nipping and biting.
… which of course fed the fear, anxiety, and aggression of the other dogs.
I had to do something.
I was afraid.
I bolted across the yard and dove into the mountain of animals…
… grabbed Fezzik by the collar…
…and yanked him to safety.
BUT…
… not before feeling teeth around my leg… just above my knee…
F*ck…
Instantly, I knew. And I knew the implications of what would come next.
I jabbed the attacker in the throat.
It released.
I regrabbed Fezzik and limped toward the front gate.
The dog who attacked me ended up in another dog fight almost immediately.
Owner denied any responsibility… wouldn’t even face me when I confronted him about it… never got involved in the dogfight to pull his dog to safety.
A complete and total coward.
In retrospect, we should have been more alert to the signs other dogs were throwing off in the park.
But…
And here’s what I got to thinking about afterwards…
The dog owner’s response is (sadly) typical of many people nowadays.
Disclaim all responsibility for things that they are, in fact, responsible for.
Every good dog owner, handler, or trainer knows it’s never the dog.
It’s always the owner.
ALWAYS.
More:
Since we couldn’t get records from the owner of the attacking dog, we have no idea if the dog is up to date on its vaccinations.
Awe crikey.
So.. now I’m worried about the rabies.
If you’ve ever owned a dog, you know.
It’s a VERY rare disease.
In humans, it’s even MORE rare.
Maybe less than 5% chance you can get it from a domesticated dog. Maybe less than 1%.
HOWEVER.
HOWEVER.
HOWEVER.
IF you do get rabies, fatality is 100%.
There is no cure.
There IS an experimental treatment doctors have used on ONE person… put them into a coma… and the person survived after showing symptoms.
BUT…
They tried it again on 16 other people and ALL OF THEM DIED.
So, yeah.
And you won’t know you have rabies until you show symptoms. And by then, it’s too late.
You’re dead.
The ultimate all-or-nothing proposition.
So I was weighing my options this morning and decided… I am not ready to risk death just yet my dear friends and readers.
Not yet.
Which reminds me…
This is the very reason people buy insurance.
Because the consequences and risks of not doing so (which almost NO ONE ever believes will happen to them) are CATASTROPHIC if they DO happen.
There’s a lot more to say about this issue but I’ll leave you with this tidbit:
Me and my wife’s life insurance policies literally saved my life today.
Rabies vaccines are expensive… and the only guaranteed source of funds we could use to pay the deductible on our health insurance… that wouldn’t also ruin our long term savings plan… came straight from our life insurance company.
Emergencies don’t care that your anniversary is coming up.
Emergencies don’t care what your 401(k) is doing.
Emergencies don’t care that you have to sell your investments off at inopportune times.
Food for thought.