In local news - massive stupidity!

When a colleague in Melbourne sent through this screen grab* a week ago – he thought it was hilarious what was considered “news” in Sydney. Without wishing to denigrate both the media and the law, it’s more trivial, and also far more serious than it appears.

Bob, a local dog, has been charged with being a dangerous dog after chasing a cat across Birchgrove Park. The owner of the cat claims that Bob also attacked her, a claim yet to be proven. I’ve met Bob a few times when walking my dog around Balmain, and he seemed, like most dogs, to be fairly relaxed, well socialized, and not at all aggressive. Plays well with other dogs and people.

The alleged incident took place in an area of the park, one of only three or four in Balmain, designated as an off-leash exercise area. There are not too many places in the area where dogs can go for a bit of a run, so they tend to be quite convivial places, where owners stand around and catch up while dogs do what they do – run around like crazy and sniff each others butts. The vast majority of owners I’ve met are responsible people, who try and control their dogs within reason. I say within reason here because lets face facts – dogs chase cats. This is hardly something new - dogs have been bred for thousands of years to chase things. And when dogs start chasing something, be it a cat, a rabbit, a possum, or even a rat, even the best-trained dog will often fail to respond to their owners’ calls to come back.

So seriously folks, why the f*ck is my local council spending my rates money to take Bob, or more specifically his owners, to court? Beats the shit out of me, too. Dogs chase cats – get over it. The cat was unharmed, as they almost always are – in fact there’s a cranky old moggy in my neighbourhood that sits on its front fence, waiting for dogs to go by, so it can have a swipe at them. That’s one tough cat. No one is dragging its owners into court.

It’s a big city. We all live on top of one another. Especially if you choose to live in Balmain, regardless of how big you build your fences to keep the world out. How about we all jujst chill out for a while, and think about others for lets say, two seconds. If Bob is declared a dangerous dog, this will have serious implications for both him and his owners. No more running off the leash, even in designated areas. Wearing a muzzle everywhere he goes. And one more strike (or vacuous complain – you won’t be the judge) and its probably off to the big kennel in the sky. All for just doing what comes naturally. The case goes to court this Friday, unless Leichhardt council withdraws the motion earlier.

Save the court expenses. Save common sense. Save Bob.

* for some reason I can’t seem to upload images through the work firewall. It was a shot of news.com.au Friday 5/11 with the headline “Dog charged with chasing Cat”