A rant about pitbulls

Today we didn't get Alfie out until the early afternoon. We didn't have time to take him to a nice open space to run, so we took him to the neighborhood dog park for his exercise. Alfie does great at the dog park. He loves all dogs and always has a great time.

Today, as we headed into the dog park, we noted how few dogs there were. Most people, who aren't students, have already exercised their pooches, and so those who are there mid-day are usually retirees, students, and dog walkers (and as we found, under-socialized dogs).

As we entered the gate, Alfie did his usual "survey the scene" prance into the park, and promptly romped over to the small gaggle of dogs. One, a young pitbull named Madeline took a "liking" to Alfie, and tackled him to the ground almost immediately. They wrestled for a couple of minutes, before Madeline couldn't resist chomping down (as pitbulls do) on Alfie's sweet flopping ear.

At first glance, it looked like play, but after several minutes we realized that Madeline wasn't going to let go, and Alfie couldn't get away.

I rushed over to the altercation to find that Alfie was bleeding, laying on the ground and looking up at me as if to say, "Would you help me, please?"

A rush of adrenaline hit me and I fell to the ground to attempt to pry Madeline's jaws open. This is when I realized why pitbulls are so dangerous. With all my might, I could not pry this dog's jaws open. The owner of the dog simply kept screaming the dog's name, " Madeline! Stop that!" All to no avail.

After several minutes on the ground, we were somehow able to pry Madeline off of Alfie's ear. He was bleeding pretty badly, so we promptly got his leash to leave the park.

The owner came over to us and sheepishly muttered, "It's Ok, we should leave anyway."

My adrenaline still running, I stopped her. "Excuse me. Are you planning to bring this dog back to the park?"

"We won't come at this time of day anymore," she said. "The SPCA told me she was not aggressive when I adopted her. She's in classes to teach her to stop doing that. She does better at Point Isabel." (a local off-leash dog park)

At that point, I should have gotten her information and called Animal Control. Or at least told her that if I ever saw her dog off-leash again, I would call Animal Control. But I didn't. We promptly took Alfie to go wash out his still bleeding ear.

Even hours after the incident, I am still angry. Let me tell you why:

First, I am angry at this woman for having no control over her dog in a public place. Even after this incident she plans to continue to bring her dog to public dog parks and to places she has even less control (off-leash parks). What if Alfie were a small child? What is she thinking??

Second, I am pissed at the SPCA for telling people that the Pitbulls they adopt out are "non-aggressive." Fine if the dog has never displayed aggression, but prospective owners need serious education about the potential for dangerous situations, before adopting a pitbull. Pitbulls have a bad rap for a reason. They can do serious damage to whatever they sink their teeth into. That is a big responsibility for a prospective owner, and not one for someone who has never owned a dog before.

And finally, I am just plain mad that my baby was hurt. It was awful to watch, and I would hate for this to happen to someone else's baby. It really bothers me that all of the work we did socializing Alfie could have been for naught, had this attack been more serious. All of the time and energy could have all gone down the tubes because of this one pitbull and her owner.

Oh, and Alfie's ear is OK. I don't think he will need stitches. But you can be sure we're staying away from the dog park for a while.

Rant over.