- Jul 11, 2001
- 41,361
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What should I do?
In the past I've been attacked by a dog once or twice on my bike, but not on my skates. Yesterday at 10:20 AM, I was rollerskating (not inline but quads) to the gym, a 1.5 mile skate, and I was taking my customary route that I have done hundreds of times. It's the best route I've found, with the best paving. I was on the street (residential, Berkeley, CA), and I saw a dog in the street, unleashed. I believe it's not permissible to let your dog roam unleashed in Berkeley.
It was a medium sized dog, apparently some kind of bulldog, maybe a mixed breed. I'd guess 40 lb. For a few seconds it wasn't apparently aggressive, but it keyed on me and started running right at me. Having some experience with this kind of incident, I didn't assume the dog would bite me. They often try to intimidate me and only threaten to bite, but this one grabbed a hold of the front of my left skate and bit down hard and shook my foot. Fortunately I have toe guards attached to the front of my skates, really to prevent damage in the event of an accident or bumping into something. They are thick, tough plastic. There's a hole now where the dog's tooth penetrated and the toe guard is partially removed from the skate. I also wear leather gloves when skating, in case I take a fall.
I didn't think to look to see if the dog had a collar. I wouldn't have seen it anyway with the dog charging right at me.
The dog backed off, but came at me again and bit again, but this time with less force. It came at me two more times. I wanted to escape, but feared that the animal would attack me from behind. My defense was to yell at it forcefully and tell it to go away (don't remember my words, but I tried to sound authoritative, like an angry master). I called out to an old woman and asked her whose dog it was (the dog's demeanor, especially before it attacked suggested to me that its home was nearby, maybe the house it was in front of) and she mumbled something speculative. I looked up to get an address for reference and the dog came at me again as a man came down the sidewalk and whistled to the dog. I asked if he knew whose it was and said he didn't know, and I took the opportunity to skate off and continued to the gym (the man had distracted the dog). Once at the gym, I took off my sock, and inspecting my foot I didn't see any damage. I had surgery on this foot 3 years ago and it still always hurts (
), but that dog's bite made it hurt worse, especially for 20 minutes afterward.
After my workout I took the same route home because other routes are rough and also because I wanted to see if that dog was still loose. I had a small pocket knife handy and also my small gym towel ready to pull out in an effort to deal with a dog attack. I figure I could bring a large pocket knife in the future but don't know how wise that is. Maybe an injured dog would be more likely to hurt me seriously, I figure, but don't know. Anyway, in the future I'm bringing my cell phone (911!).
I figured I should report the incident. I had a noon engagement yesterday right after my workout and had to rush off to it.
Should I call the cops, animal protective services? Am I on solid ground being a street skater? Over the years I've had 2-3 cops yell at me to get out of the street from squad cars, is the reason I ask this. Normally, they leave me alone. I sometimes skate on the sidewalk if it's better than the street for whatever reasons (street rough, traffic too dangerous or whatever), but if the street's OK, I skate the street. Sidewalks can be dangerous, and are generally a lot more dangerous than the street, both for me and for pedestrians. I've been skating the Berkeley streets for 19+ years, never hurt anyone (but myself in a minor way a few times), and know how to take care of myself. An attacking dog, is another matter, of course.
If I'm really not secure in my status as a street skater as far as the law is concerned, I don't want to bring attention to myself. I love to skate and do so when I can. Otherwise I bike, and when I can't do either, I use a car.
In the past I've been attacked by a dog once or twice on my bike, but not on my skates. Yesterday at 10:20 AM, I was rollerskating (not inline but quads) to the gym, a 1.5 mile skate, and I was taking my customary route that I have done hundreds of times. It's the best route I've found, with the best paving. I was on the street (residential, Berkeley, CA), and I saw a dog in the street, unleashed. I believe it's not permissible to let your dog roam unleashed in Berkeley.
It was a medium sized dog, apparently some kind of bulldog, maybe a mixed breed. I'd guess 40 lb. For a few seconds it wasn't apparently aggressive, but it keyed on me and started running right at me. Having some experience with this kind of incident, I didn't assume the dog would bite me. They often try to intimidate me and only threaten to bite, but this one grabbed a hold of the front of my left skate and bit down hard and shook my foot. Fortunately I have toe guards attached to the front of my skates, really to prevent damage in the event of an accident or bumping into something. They are thick, tough plastic. There's a hole now where the dog's tooth penetrated and the toe guard is partially removed from the skate. I also wear leather gloves when skating, in case I take a fall.
I didn't think to look to see if the dog had a collar. I wouldn't have seen it anyway with the dog charging right at me.
The dog backed off, but came at me again and bit again, but this time with less force. It came at me two more times. I wanted to escape, but feared that the animal would attack me from behind. My defense was to yell at it forcefully and tell it to go away (don't remember my words, but I tried to sound authoritative, like an angry master). I called out to an old woman and asked her whose dog it was (the dog's demeanor, especially before it attacked suggested to me that its home was nearby, maybe the house it was in front of) and she mumbled something speculative. I looked up to get an address for reference and the dog came at me again as a man came down the sidewalk and whistled to the dog. I asked if he knew whose it was and said he didn't know, and I took the opportunity to skate off and continued to the gym (the man had distracted the dog). Once at the gym, I took off my sock, and inspecting my foot I didn't see any damage. I had surgery on this foot 3 years ago and it still always hurts (
), but that dog's bite made it hurt worse, especially for 20 minutes afterward.After my workout I took the same route home because other routes are rough and also because I wanted to see if that dog was still loose. I had a small pocket knife handy and also my small gym towel ready to pull out in an effort to deal with a dog attack. I figure I could bring a large pocket knife in the future but don't know how wise that is. Maybe an injured dog would be more likely to hurt me seriously, I figure, but don't know. Anyway, in the future I'm bringing my cell phone (911!).
I figured I should report the incident. I had a noon engagement yesterday right after my workout and had to rush off to it.
Should I call the cops, animal protective services? Am I on solid ground being a street skater? Over the years I've had 2-3 cops yell at me to get out of the street from squad cars, is the reason I ask this. Normally, they leave me alone. I sometimes skate on the sidewalk if it's better than the street for whatever reasons (street rough, traffic too dangerous or whatever), but if the street's OK, I skate the street. Sidewalks can be dangerous, and are generally a lot more dangerous than the street, both for me and for pedestrians. I've been skating the Berkeley streets for 19+ years, never hurt anyone (but myself in a minor way a few times), and know how to take care of myself. An attacking dog, is another matter, of course.
If I'm really not secure in my status as a street skater as far as the law is concerned, I don't want to bring attention to myself. I love to skate and do so when I can. Otherwise I bike, and when I can't do either, I use a car.
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