Editor,
I know the phrase “responsible dog owner” is not an oxymoron. Most people who own dogs do their best to make life good for their pet. They keep up with shots, have the animal spayed or neutered, and have it under control when outside their home.
All too often I have run into one of those pet owners who cheerfully yell out, as his or her dog is bounding toward you with lord-knows-what intent, to not worry because it’s friendly as it sticks its nose into my crotch.
The owners labor under the misconception that they have their dogs under voice control because, in the quiet of their own home when they yell at the dog to settle down, it does. On a trail full of unfamiliar smells, people and dogs, that control evaporates faster than a politician’s ethics at election time.
One does not have voice control over a dog if the only time it pays attention to your commands is when it has nothing better to do. Therefore it follows that you shouldn’t allow your dog to romp freely down a trail that you should know may have humans or animals unless properly restrained.
Many folks here feel it’s their dog’s right to run and romp freely whenever it pleases. If you want your dog to romp freely, then you either need to actually learn how to have your pet under voice control or find some very empty space where your dog will not accidentally lock his big jaws around something it shouldn’t. I’ve had pets from Papillons to shelter cats and can’t imagine my life not shared with any number of wonderful creatures. But I firmly believe that with the privilege of pet ownership comes responsibility for the quality of life of a living creature that is totally dependent on you. If you are too lazy or too arrogant to properly control that animal in a social environment, and that animal hurts another one, the laws are written so that it is your animal that suffers and may end up having its life ended prematurely. Apparently we are not yet at the point I think we should be about who gets euthanized in these circumstances.
Encountering deer and squirrels while walking is an acceptable risk of roaming Whidbey’s trails; idiot pet owners shouldn’t be.
Lew Brantley
Coupeville
