News

Police Beat

by Charles Mudede

The Live Dog/Sand Point/Tues Nov 30/11:23 pm: Officer R. Howard writes: "On the listed day and time Unit 3N4 and I were leaving a residence where we had been on an unrelated call. While walking back to our cars we were confronted with a hostile dog that was running toward us from the yard. It frightened me briefly and I drew my gun; the dog stopped running toward us and went back into the yard. The dog appeared frightened and apprehensive. We were concerned the dog would frighten someone else and looked for a way to secure the dog. Several men just then exited the house, one of whom said the dog belonged to a neighbor. After talking briefly [with us], one of the men admitted he owned the dog. This man [race: white; age: 31; height: 6' 2"; hair: brown; eyes: brown; skin tone: medium; build: medium; peculiarities: none--he has no recognizable scars, marks, or tattoos] identified himself and seemed annoyed that I was talking to him about the dog. He said that the dog had been beaten as a puppy and was 'on edge.' He said the dog was a pit bull and one year old. He said that the dog ran at us because we were 'in his neighborhood.'

"The dog's owner was defensive about the possibility that the dog may scare people. I asked him if he understood animal laws in the city and he said he did not. He said he didn't understand why I was talking to him. He said that though his dog frightened me, he was sure several other types of dogs have scared me too. He said that I offended him with my concerns. I offered to give him a business card with a case number, but he declined, saying, 'I'm sure I'll get it in the mail.'"

While growing up in the suburbs of Harare (the capital of Zimbabwe), I learned this neat trick: If a dog suddenly attacked me (which often happened) the thing to do was not to run to the nearest tree but to face it, lower myself, and pretend to pick a rock from the ground (Harare has lots of big rocks everywhere). The dog would believe that I had a hard object in my hand to match the sharp teeth in its mouth and stop, bark a few doubts, and then beat a retreat. What amazes me in this police report by Officer Howard is that when he draws his gun, "the dog [stops] running toward [him] and [goes] back into the yard." Now, I'm not at all surprised by any dog's ability to recognize the crude danger of a rock, but how in the world is a dog able to recognize the complicated danger of a gun? The only way to stop a Zimbabwean dog with a gun is by pulling the trigger (it has no idea what that thing is that has appeared from a pocket); but, evidently, American dogs have evolved in such a way that they can determine from the shape of a gun the real danger that it presents.