Every well-thinking Jamaican was saddened upon hearing of the mauling of a teacher by dogs recently. It is my hope that she will avail herself of psychological counselling. She will need it. It will be expensive, and I hope she will not have to pay for it herself.
I am also grieving for the dogs that were killed after the event. Many persons in authority make these decisions without fully understanding the circumstances. There is no word called ‘jogging’ in a dog’s vocabulary. What those dogs observed was a fleeing invader who needed to be detained in order to reap the only reward that mattered to them – their master’s pat of approval. This is cruelty.
Recently, the Government initiated some attempts to deal with cruelty to animals. I regret that I have not properly perused the document. There are, however, a number of areas to examine when it comes to domestic animals. Recently, I saw a video clip of boys dousing a cat with gasolene and lighting the cat afire. They roared with laughter at the cat’s contortions before death brought it to an end.
Everybody thinks it cute to get a puppy, without thinking that it has to be cared for. The ‘care’ is limited to throwing a few scraps from the dinner table. Soon, what we see wandering on the streets is a bag of flees and worms. Should this be allowed? Should everybody be free to own a dog regardless of their ability to maintain it?
Worldwide, many people – even children – are injured, even killed – by dogs of every breed and size each year. Who is at fault for injuries sustained, and under what circumstances?
DOG DANGER AND LIABILITY
How should the matter be treated if it can be proved that the animal was provoked? Did the animal show a previous propensity to engage in this conduct? Did the animal’s dangerous conduct cause the harm? Did the owner have actual or constructive knowledge of the animal’s propensity? I think it is important to show prior propensity as a judge could be thinking that the owner of an animal should not have legal liability for the actions unless there is notice of the likelihood of the dangerous activity.
Should owners avail themselves of liability coverage for injuries inflicted by dogs?
The road on which I live is literally oozing electronic security from every pore. Yet thieves come and take what they want, especially when there is a power outage. The only homes that are completely safe from intruders are those that have dogs. Dogs do not sleep. But these are responsible people whose homes are completely secure with no opportunity for their dogs to roam on the streets.
The attack on the teacher was very unfortunate. But before we send dogs to the doghouse, permit me to remind your readers of a few facts. I have a good reason to focus on pit bulls:
During widespread flooding in Southern California in 1993, pit bull Weela helped save 32 people, 29 dogs, three horses, and one cat. Popsicle was rescued at five months nearly dead in a freezer but grew up to become one of America’s most important police dogs. Titan rescued his owner’s wife, who would have died from an aneurysm.
D-Boy took three bullets to save his family from an intruder with a gun, and Lilly lost a leg after being struck by a train while pulling her unconscious owner from the train tracks. Major, whose owner was a veteran suffering from seizures, was able to dial 911 to get assistance for his owner during one of these episodes.
Women and cats do as they please. But only a dog loves you more than he loves himself.
Glenn Tucker is an educator and sociologist. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and glenntucker2011@gmail.com.