Mainsail
Regular Member
imported post
I wasn’t sure if I should post this but after talking to Animal Control I feel better about how I reacted.
Thursday 1 May:
I headed out on my bicycle with my P239 in a leather holster with a thumb-snap. I was cutting through a small park near my house. There were some kids and parents near the jungle-gym and other people spread out around the park. As I was pedaling towards the back of the park a large Collie suddenly jumped up and ran across the grass towards me. It got up behind my bike and tried to bite my right leg and I steered left away from it. Then it came around behind the bike and bit me on my left leg just below my knee. Somehow I managed to unclip my feet from the pedals and stopped, drew, and aimed at the dog. I yelled at the woman who was calling the dog that her dog was going to get shot, as it was ignoring her calls. The dog then just lay down on the grass and I re-holstered. I was shaking for a while
The woman who owned the dog came running up and at first seemed nonchalant about the whole thing until she heard me yelling that her @!!%$# dog had bitten me. I cannot remember the last time I’ve even raised my voice to anyone but I was yelling at her. She saw my leg bleeding and she was about in tears because she couldn’t believe her dog had done that. In hindsight, the dog is a herding breed, and that’s what it was doing, herding me. As soon as I stopped it laid down. I calmed down and spoke to the woman. She was very apologetic so I headed home to treat the bite. When I got home I heard the tail end of a call on the scanner about a man on a bike with a gun, but missed most of the call.
I slathered some Neosporin on it and headed back out to finish my ride. I decided to go back to the park to get the woman’s name and see if the police were there. They weren’t. I got the woman’s name and during the conversation I mentioned that someone had called the police. She said she hadn’t. When I returned to the park I heard a kid ask his mom, “Is that the guy?” I think it was one of the parents who called the police, but I’m not sure if it was because they saw the gun as I was leaving or because they saw me draw the gun. Anyway, I rode down along Ruston and home without any police so I guess I’ll never know. The weird part is that the dog’s owner had no idea I was even carrying a gun. She never saw my pull it and aim it at her dog and she never noticed it on my belt while we spoke until the end of the conversation.
Day of:
24 hours later:
Sunday 3 May:
I was riding along Ruston and I spotted an Animal Control Officer, I didn’t get her name. She was very friendly and helpful, and didn’t seem to mind talking to me with the P239 on my belt. I told her what had happened and she said I should always file a report. She said they would not have put the dog down (my worry) and that they would only quarantine it for a while to make sure it was healthy. They would also have written the owner a $250 ticket for her dogs being off leash. I mentioned that I was prepared to shoot the dog if it had come back and she felt it would have been justified.
I may have to look at ways to carry pepper-spray while riding my bike. I don’t have pockets to work with so I still have to figure out some way of carrying it and having it ready. A few years back I was riding in Gig Harbor and a large German Sheppard with a burr stuck up its ass came off its owner’s porch, across the road, and was charging hard up behind me. Since it was still cool out I was wearing a light jacket and the spray was in the pocket. When the dog was about two feet from the rear tire I turned in my seat and sprayed it square in the face. The dog stopped. It stopped running and it stopped barking/snarling. Like it hit a wall it stopped. I’ve been an advocate of pepper spray ever since.
I wasn’t sure if I should post this but after talking to Animal Control I feel better about how I reacted.
Thursday 1 May:
I headed out on my bicycle with my P239 in a leather holster with a thumb-snap. I was cutting through a small park near my house. There were some kids and parents near the jungle-gym and other people spread out around the park. As I was pedaling towards the back of the park a large Collie suddenly jumped up and ran across the grass towards me. It got up behind my bike and tried to bite my right leg and I steered left away from it. Then it came around behind the bike and bit me on my left leg just below my knee. Somehow I managed to unclip my feet from the pedals and stopped, drew, and aimed at the dog. I yelled at the woman who was calling the dog that her dog was going to get shot, as it was ignoring her calls. The dog then just lay down on the grass and I re-holstered. I was shaking for a while
The woman who owned the dog came running up and at first seemed nonchalant about the whole thing until she heard me yelling that her @!!%$# dog had bitten me. I cannot remember the last time I’ve even raised my voice to anyone but I was yelling at her. She saw my leg bleeding and she was about in tears because she couldn’t believe her dog had done that. In hindsight, the dog is a herding breed, and that’s what it was doing, herding me. As soon as I stopped it laid down. I calmed down and spoke to the woman. She was very apologetic so I headed home to treat the bite. When I got home I heard the tail end of a call on the scanner about a man on a bike with a gun, but missed most of the call.
I slathered some Neosporin on it and headed back out to finish my ride. I decided to go back to the park to get the woman’s name and see if the police were there. They weren’t. I got the woman’s name and during the conversation I mentioned that someone had called the police. She said she hadn’t. When I returned to the park I heard a kid ask his mom, “Is that the guy?” I think it was one of the parents who called the police, but I’m not sure if it was because they saw the gun as I was leaving or because they saw me draw the gun. Anyway, I rode down along Ruston and home without any police so I guess I’ll never know. The weird part is that the dog’s owner had no idea I was even carrying a gun. She never saw my pull it and aim it at her dog and she never noticed it on my belt while we spoke until the end of the conversation.
Day of:
24 hours later:
Sunday 3 May:
I was riding along Ruston and I spotted an Animal Control Officer, I didn’t get her name. She was very friendly and helpful, and didn’t seem to mind talking to me with the P239 on my belt. I told her what had happened and she said I should always file a report. She said they would not have put the dog down (my worry) and that they would only quarantine it for a while to make sure it was healthy. They would also have written the owner a $250 ticket for her dogs being off leash. I mentioned that I was prepared to shoot the dog if it had come back and she felt it would have been justified.
I may have to look at ways to carry pepper-spray while riding my bike. I don’t have pockets to work with so I still have to figure out some way of carrying it and having it ready. A few years back I was riding in Gig Harbor and a large German Sheppard with a burr stuck up its ass came off its owner’s porch, across the road, and was charging hard up behind me. Since it was still cool out I was wearing a light jacket and the spray was in the pocket. When the dog was about two feet from the rear tire I turned in my seat and sprayed it square in the face. The dog stopped. It stopped running and it stopped barking/snarling. Like it hit a wall it stopped. I’ve been an advocate of pepper spray ever since.