Wednesday 8 June 2011

What would you do?

What would you do if you saw someone punching their dog in the head , jerking the creature off of its feet by its lead and shouting at it?  I might add that the dog was a friendly young English Bull Terrier (I know it was friendly because ten minutes earlier I had met the dog on the towpath).  I was horrified and appalled by this brutality and shouted at the owner,  " Don't hit the dog, please don't hit the dog!"  He stopped hitting the dog.    He then proceeded to  march up to me as I closed lock gates, snarling and swearing as he came dragging the dog with him.  "What ju mean, you f**king bitch, it's a f**king Bull Terrier .......you f**king fat bitch, I should punch you ..."
And on and on it went, every other word began with F or C.   I was threatened with fists, an opportunity to test out my swimming in the canal, and the man's take on dog training.
He marched off eventually, swearing as he went.

I kept having to remind myself that this man was a human being, just like me and worthy of respect.  I was conflicted; my reaction to his gross aggression and particularly his cruelty towards a dumb animal was that I would dearly like to exterminate him, preferably as painfully as possibly.

I obviously need to lose a bit of weight as well... 

29 comments:

KevinTOO said...

Hi Lesley,
Well the dog didn't need to be treated like that and goodness knows you certainly didn't either!! Is it not about time that dog licences were brought back for anyone who wants to own a dog and are in the 15 to 35 age group? It's very rarely the dog that's the problem, it's nearly always the owner!!
Welldone for standing up to this inhumane foul-mouthed youth. Give yourself a big hug :)
Kevin

Nb Yarwood said...

Thank you Kevin, I will.
The dog abuser was in fact a man, or what passed for a man anyway. He was probably intoxicated, drink or drugs, hard to tell. In his thirties maybe and quite rabid.
Poor dog...
Lesley

Anonymous said...

Dog licence would not solve problem - they wouldn't buy one anyway. Thank you (from the dog) thank you (from me) for being such a good human being. Carry on eating chocolate! (just walk it off!)

Nb Yarwood said...

Thank you Anon. I think it might be the real ale rather than chocolate though...
Lesley

nb chance said...

Hi Lesley

Possibly a photograph of the owner if you could have done discretely and I would certainly report the incident to the police, That poor dog, I dread to think what it must have to go through on a daily basis! It does make you wonder about some people in the human race. I wonder what else he knocks about?

Nb Yarwood said...

Hi Dougie
I suspect he batters anything in sight that is weaker or subserviant to him, a bully and a coward, quite a CV really! Things were far too heated to take a photo I think I WOULD have been swimming, with a broken nose as well. I am tempted to inform the police but like too many, apathetic about what they could/would do.
Lesley

NBAmyJo (steve and Chris) said...

Hi Lesley,
Well done for standing up for the dog!! Good on you. No dog should be subject to that.
Diffucult position because by the sound of the man's state you could easily have been on the receiving end of his fists as well (thank the lord you were not).
I might have done the same in your position and then reported it to the police but then that's easy to for me to say from my armchair.
Take comfort in the fact you did the right thing and lets hope the dog is removed from the mans possesion soon.

Dave Winter said...

Hi,
I'm in the process of finding a dog from a rescue centre and there are many English Bull Terriers waiting to be re-housed.Probably been owned by the same type of slime you saw.I would have phoned the plod straight away.

Nb Yarwood said...

Hi Steve or Chris?
The best outcome is that the dog is rehomed, but we know that is not going to happen.
The next best thing is that the dog will turn on its owner and despatch him and is then awarded a Dickins Medal for Bravery!!
Lesley

Nb Yarwood said...

Hi Dave
Best of luck in getting your dog.

The dilemna with calling the police is no knowledge of the local number and 999 doesn't seem appropriate for a slapped/punched dog. Don't get me wrong, I think it is a serious thing but I don't think the emergency services would...
Lesley

sailor said...

Hi Lesley, good for you at least you tried, its just a pity that you had to go through what you did, I think scum like that should be locked up, best wishes. Gordon

sailor said...

Hi Lesley, good for you for at least trying to protect that poor dog, I just hope that the poor thing manages
to get away from scum like that,best wishes. Gordon

Bruce in Sanity said...

Hi

It's worth reporting all such incidents to the police, so that they build up a record of where things like this happen.

I keep the list of all non-emergency numbers as a pdf on my desktop, so that it's easy to find the one you want. The 101 number is presently only available in Hants and the IoW, Wales and Sheffield, but will hopefully eventually be rolled out to the whole of the UK. List of Non-emergency numbers here.

Hope you're feeling better!

Cheers

Bruce

Sue said...

Oh Lesley that is terrible. I would have done the same as you for sure.. You must have been quite scared by his behaviour, thank goodness nothing came of his threats.

People like him should not be allowed to keep pets, that poor dog, I hope it will be OK..

Well done for what you did gal.

Anonymous said...

I'm so glad that you're ok - what a dreadful thing to happen. I see a red mist when I just think about animal abuse - I don't know what I'd have done if I'd witnessed it.

I know what you mean about the police phone numbers - it's the same when I think about reporting the odd stone I've had chucked at the boat.

Sue, nb Indigo Dream

Dave Winter said...

Hi Lesley,
I have seen somewhere a list of all the police contact numbers in the various areas for those on the cut.I would keep this at hand in a plastic covering.I know the plod probably would not respond but the RSPCA would if you had photo evidence.I could not let it pass.
Thanks for the best wishes in finding a dog.See my blog for the latest:
http://davewinter.blogspot.com/

evelyn@rome5.plus.com said...

Lesley,

I've just thought of another use for a windlass.

Well done you. Brave!

Evelyn

Anonymous said...

hi lesley thanks for the kind words,you will never understand what makes people tick some of them don't desesrve to breathe the same air as decent folk well done for standing up for yourself
take care
Matt (buggerlugs)

Sue Hunter said...

Hi Lesley. How frightening for you. It makes you feel physically sick. I've done the same as you before now with a dog owner abusing his dog, and got a mouthful back but not as severe as you. I would do the same again - it may make the dog owner think twice next time, but I would definitely phone the police - at least the call would be logged & should he do it again, there's a record of it. Sue NB Beefur.

Anonymous said...

Public order offence, in progress, certainly warrants a 9 call, believe me people use it for far less!
Not too late to report it. He might be well known locally so it might be easy to track him down.

Abby x x x

Del and Al said...

Oh Lesley, how awful, whatever the situation you just don't expect a response like that. What a prat! You must inform the old bill though, as they will log the call and you never know what he might do to someone next time (or has done already!) Take care x

Nb Yarwood said...

Hi Bruce
As you see I did report the matter and got clarity on when to use the 999 call. The link you sent me re non- emergency numbers doesn't appear to work, would you sent it again please?
thanks
Lesley

Nb Yarwood said...

Thanks Sue. I don't think I did much for the dog long term. Damn shame, poor dog.
Lesley

Nb Yarwood said...

Hi Evelyn
Brave or foolish, difficult to say really.. The windlass was grasped firmly in case it was needed though.
Lesley

Nb Yarwood said...

Hi Sue
You would probably have done the same thing, shouted. What else was there to do, tempting as walking up to him and wrapping a windlass around his head and removing the dog from its abuser was/is? I can only hope that he is picked up for something else soon and the dog is given a reprieve...
X Lesley

Bruce in Sanity said...

Sorry about that, try this:

http://peipaewi.notlong.com/

Cheers

Bruce

Nb Yarwood said...

Gordon, I feel sorry for the poor dog as well, hence the intervention. I can only hope that by hook or by crook the dog getd rescued from this aggressive moron.
Lesley

Anonymous said...

I came across a man beating a dog with a walking stick. The red mist came down, I got a hold of the stick and gave him a couple of whacks on his legs. That made him dance about as he tried to avoid a few more. As this happened a panda car drew up along side.

I had several hours in the local police station. A conviction for ABH and a large fine, the dog owner got a police caution. But I felt my form of instant justice was proportionate as I deliberately avoided hitting him on the head. I would do exactly the same in an instant. But next time I will have a good look around first.

The officer said that I should have said I felt threatened by the wielding of the walking stick and snatched the stick away. Then used it to defend myself as I felt I was about to be assulted.

Apparently I was too honest for my own good it seems.


Threatening behaviour is high on the Governments agenda. Forces have been instructed by ACPO to prioritise any response to anti-social behaviour such as you experienced.

Nb Yarwood said...

I take my hat off to you 'anon'. I imagine the Police were secretly quite supportive of your actions but you were just too easy a nick for them under the circumstances. You all ways hope that there is NOT a next time but if there is, we have both learnt valuable lessons.
thanks
Lesley