[autopsy_survivor]

There's a man that constantly walks his aggressive GSD (or King Shepherd, we've all heard different breeds) downtown off leash all the time. This dog has tried to attack my two small dogs a couple of times, luckily I've been far enough away and yelled out that mine aren't friendly and he's actually listened and got his dog away quick enough. He's also attacked my friend's malamute and most recently, another friend's yorkie. The yorkie attack just happened yesterday, we don't know if the dog is going to make it. I have since heard of quite a few more attacks by this dog. I have called animal control on them before, by the time they show up the dog and owner are long gone and despite the fact that anyone that frequents the downtown area could tell them who it is, they don't do anything about it.

I've also been told this man is either homeless or on a very limited income, how true this is... I don't know. I do know that he does not apologize when this happens, just takes off, and is unable, or unwilling, to pay for any vet bills that are a result of his dog. We do have leash laws here, but it's very hard to get them enforced unless the right people are in the right area at the right time. It's very frustrating.

I've asked that all my friends try to take pictures of the dog and it's owner, from a distance, when they see it - especially if it's off leash. I feel that at least this way, I can compile a bunch of photos with dates that show him disobeying the leash law and can perhaps at least get him to leash the dog. I'm going to try to politely talk to him when I see him next and don't have my dogs with me and see if he'd be open to muzzling his dog at the very least. I am willing to purchase the muzzle for him if he's open to this. I have also considered trying to purchase the dog from him to try to get it into a rescue or something but I don't think that would go over so well. If it did, I'm not even sure that a rescue would take it... I'm already at my dog limit and besides that, I don't want to bring another dog aggressive dog into my home (one of my dachshunds is dog aggressive on leash due to an attack, but is fine otherwise).

Does anyone have any suggestions on what I should or shouldn't do? I know it's not really my business as it's not my dog, but this is also where I walk my own dogs and after the couple of close calls with my small dogs I get a bit paranoid on my walks. I'm more afraid of this dog doing something to Bruce than to the dachshunds, Bruce is already shy enough and I don't want him to be attacked and turn into a fear biter. I've been lucky that I've seen him when I'm walking my dogs before, most of the time he just seems to come out of nowhere. Not to mention the number of times this dog has attacked other dogs that were leashed with their owners.

 

[Diesel and Lace]

Dont wait until there is an incident to call animal control, if you see him even from a distance call them and get them there before the incident happens. He is less likely to disappear if his dog has not done something wrong and is not expecting them to arrive.

 

[Trotter]

It's my job to protect my dog, and it's the police force's job to enforce the law. Not what sure what's up with Ontario's finest, but that fault doesn't diminish my responsibility to protect my dog from a vicious off-leash dog.

 

[autopsy_survivor]

I do carry "dog attack spray" (pepper spray) with me when I walk.

We were building the stage for a festival in the park yesterday, I went home for a bit and then realized that I forgot to give something to my s/o so I decided to walk Bruce and drop off my s/o's stuff. As we were walking back, I ran into some friends at the other end of the park, one being the owner of the dog that was attacked the other day and the dog (a small yorkie). As we were talking the owner came up to me to ask about Bruce, his dog was with another group of people and was actually leashed. I just asked him multiple times not to touch my dog and then left with the yorkie owner. The yorkie was a bit nervous of Bruce at first, but by the time we got to my friend's place he was fine with him. I had to go back to help set up a bit later and saw the guy with the shepherd leaving the park on his bike - the dog was no longer leashed and just running behind the bike. I tried to call animal control, but they were closed for the day. We'll see if he's there today when I go over.

 

[Trotter]

You asked him not to touch your dog. Did you also tell him that unless he kept his dog leashed in public you'd sic animal control on him? You and your neighbors have a legitimate beef with this guy and the easiest way to address it might be up front, while he's in front of you.

 

[autopsy_survivor]

Unfortunately, I didn't. I was exhausted from working my regular job, then going to the park and working there, going home and then walking back (when I talked to him), then going back home and back to the park for another few hours (when I saw him biking and tried to call ac). I didn't think of it the first time because his dog was leashed, I stupidly thought he may have realized how dangerous his dog is.

Even though I told him nicely 4 times not to touch my dog, he still tried - first petting Bru's head near his mouth, then his back, then by his tail and then back up by his head. I finally said it not so nicely with some swearing, not how I normally behave, but I just couldn't deal with it anymore. I put Bru in a sit/stay and stood between him and the man. The other people in the group got a bit mad at me for being so rude to him, "he's homeless, cut him some slack", etc even after myself and my friend (yorkie owner) told them how many dogs he has attacked/attempted to attack.

The dog is a very beautiful dog, in the right hands he could be a very good pet but just not for this guy. He's a black longhaired king shepherd, slightly bigger than Bruce and thicker (Bru is still skinny and funny looking) - probably around 30" and 115 pounds or more.

 

[Trotter]

Not to excuse his misbehavior, but lots of homeless people have mental health issues that prevent their playing well with others, obeying requests, etc. While this guy doesn't seem to fit the profile, I've also seen homeless people who have been tremendous "dog" people, with the most loyal and well-behaved dogs (all types) I've seen in a public place. From afar, my inclination would be to make an effort to work the the guy directly ("hey, your dog's attacked multiple dogs - please keep it on a leash or I'll have to call animal control"), before possibly having ac take his dog away from him. If he wouldn't cooperate, then ac's the only option left.

 

[autopsy_survivor]

We saw him this past weekend while working at the festival a couple of times - each time the dog had a muzzle on and was on a "leash" (piece of rope tied around his neck well). I didn't get a chance to speak with him, but I'm glad that he's taking the time and making an effort to keep his dog from harming any others.

 

[Lauri & The Gang]

Maybe, if the man IS homeless or bad off, you could get a basic leash and collar and give it to him? Maybe he just doesn't have the money to buy one?

 

[BowWowMeow]

Maybe, if the man IS homeless or bad off, you could get a basic leash and collar and give it to him? Maybe he just doesn't have the money to buy one?

This is exactly what I was going to suggest. You could just say the collar was too big for your dog and you had an extra leash you thought he might want.

 

[autopsy_survivor]

Sorry for the late reply - I've been incredibly busy the last little bit.

I haven't seen him lately, since the festival actually. If he doesn't have a real leash/collar the next time I see him then I'll go through my things and see if I have an extra... if not, I'll pick up a couple of cheap ones. The only problem is that I'll have to try to seek him out when I don't have dogs with me, I usually only see him if I have the dogs, lol. I do know a couple of people that seem to see him more often than myself, so I'll check with them.