Did you hear the recent news item about the Wilkes Barre man whose dog was attacked and killed by marauding pit bulls on River Street this week? It’s an awful story. The man fears retribution so he asks to be anonymous. He’s a local businessman with a good reputation. If you haven’t heard him talk to Corbett about the incident, listen now.
As awful as it was for this man to watch these two dogs rip his poor pet apart, he fears for what would have happened if he had a kid with him, rather than a dog. He says the child would be dead.
Cops tried to track down the dogs, and the dog owners, to no avail. In the paper, police said there’s no threat to the public. I disagree. I’d be very concerned walking the streets wondering when and if some crazy killer dog might break loose. If you witnessed this incident, please call Wilkes Barre Police. Meanwhile, my patience has grown thin with irresponsible dog owners. First of all, I’d NEVER get a pit bull. Too many stories of supposed good dogs gone bad. Just google “pitbull attack” and then click images. It’ll break your heart.
The Mayor of Wilkes Barre should have come out and held a news conference following this incident. He should tell the people that the police will crack down on irresponsible owners, and he should tell the owners to be forewarned. Instead, I hear crickets. You want people to come to your downtown, but you turn a deaf ear to a very real public threat.
Wilkes Barre isn’t the only place with a dog owner problem. I live in the sticks of Susquehanna County and it’s even worse there. You hardly ever see a dog on a leash. I can’t tell you the number of playgrounds, baseball games and backyards where dogs run rampant. I hesitate to even walk a few hundred yards near my home because there’s an owner who allows his dogs to run out into the road and right up to your face to bark at you when you walk by.
I’m not anti-dog. I just know that however loveable you might find your pooch, he or she may not feel the same way about others. When I was a little girl living in New Jersey, we had a German Shepherd named Caesar. He was an outside dog but he was leashed. One day another little girl in the neighborhood walked into our yard while Caesar was tied up and ended up hurt. We ended up putting Caesar to sleep. We didn’t do anything wrong, so to speak, but we felt awful about what happened. Please people, be respectful of others and put your dog on a leash already.
I realize that police departments are spread thin with all the crazy complaints they get, but I think a real crackdown on bad dog owners will only help all of us in the long run. If they start handing out big ticket fines against owners who don't leash their dogs, they’ll have more money for the tools needed in the department and the streets will be a lot safer for the rest of us.
Corbett
E-Mail
Print
