Editorial

Control your dog

The cat lay on a cold carpet of pine needles, his breath shallow, his eyes losing the fierce spark of life. His back was broken and he would soon be put in a box, taken to the vet and put down.

A dog did him in, chased him down and snapped his spine in his jaws. The dog was the pet of a Sisters visitor, a woman who was mortified at what had happened. She certainly didn't mean for her dog to kill a cat. It was an accident.

Her dog had jumped the fence in the yard where she was staying. The problem was, it wasn't much of a fence. Putting your dog out in a yard with a little picket fence and hoping he sticks around doesn't cut it. Nor does walking your dog off a leash and hoping he comes when you call him.

This kind of thing happens all the time in Sisters. A couple of weeks ago, someone's dog ran up on a neighbor's porch and mauled the neighbor's dog.

Bicyclists and pedestrians constantly report being harassed and threatened, even bitten by dogs that run out into the street to chase them.

Some people just don't like to restrain their dogs. It just seems cruel to curtail the freewheelin' life of Ol' Rex. Isn't a sense of freedom what we live here for?

Besides, my dog is never a problem.

Too bad their consideration doesn't extend to others. Nobody should have to see their beloved pet mauled by another animal. Nobody should have to be afraid to go on certain streets in their neighborhood because they know a dog is on the loose there and may bite them.

Sheriff's deputies shouldn't have to spend so much of their time dealing with complaints about loose dogs, barking dogs, neglected dogs.

It's not too much to ask that pet owners act responsibly, keep their pets safely, walk them on a leash. But they don't.

Perhaps the only answer is strict enforcement of leash laws. The fine for having a dog at large is $421; a nuisance dog costs you $237.

Maybe we as citizens need to get aggressive about this. Call the sheriff's office to report problems with animals at 549-2302. Maybe smacking some irresponsible owners with hefty fines will put the message across: Control your dog.

Jim Cornelius, Editor