When Animal Owners Attack

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Tall Man

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http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,149800,00.html

When Animal Owners Attack

Tuesday, March 08, 2005

A Louisiana mailman had the unfortunate experience of being sprayed with his own dog repellent this past weekend.

The unnamed postal worker was making his rounds in Slidell, just across Lake Pontchartrain from New Orleans, around midday Saturday when an angry, growling dog approached, reports WWL-TV.

The postman whipped out his can of government-issued — who knew? — "Back Off" brand dog repellent (search) and got off two quick shots at the snarling cur.

That's when the dog's master, 29-year-old Joe Bates, decided to get involved, Slidell police said.

Bates allegedly ran up, knocked the can out of the mailman's hand, picked it up and started spraying the hapless civil servant with his own defense weapon.

The postal worker took off, but not fast enough to avoid getting hit squarely in the back by the spray can, which Bates threw at him.

Cops quickly came, but Bates had already left his house. Sadly for him, he came back later and was arrested for aggravated battery.
======


I see that Mr. Bates will have the opportunity to review his tactical activity in an environment conducive to doing so.

And, it would appear that the "Frown at my dog and I'll shoot you!" crowd at THR has a kindred spirit in Louisiana... :rolleyes:

(Yes, the mailman did more than frown at the cur. However, said cur didn't originally greet our intrepid postman with frisbee in mouth and a wagging tail.)

TM
 
To be fair, though, one man's angry and growling is another man's panting and wagging the tail and asking to be petted. Admittedly, that does not excure the dog owner's actions, but we do not know what actions the dog truly took.
 
Hey, at least he didn't bite!
Click to expand...
Who - the mailman?

Lol - I for one find this funny - the guy who was arrested fully deserved the incarceration! That was the action of a moron...
 
See ... this is why you shouldn't carry pepper spray to defend yourself: someone might take it away from you and use it against you :p


Seriously, I wonder if the dog was on or off the owner's property ...?
The PO should just have a rule that if you have a threatening dog, you don't get your mail (assuming that they have to come in your yard to deliver - but these days most places require a box at the curb).
 
The Post Office DOES have a regulation that allows them to deny delivery to a specific address and they use it often.
 
I used to live next door to a mail carrier and he had quite a few stories to tell about dogs on his route. In the 2 years that I new him he was bitten a half dozen times by different dogs and had to have rabies shots once. Delivering the US mail can be hazardous to your health.
 
A friend of mine saw a mail man spray his dog that was behind a fence. My friend was not happy about it and I suspect that the mail man was not happy after his boss spoke with him. Patrick
 
To be fair, though, one man's angry and growling is another man's panting and wagging the tail and asking to be petted. Admittedly, that does not excure the dog owner's actions, but we do not know what actions the dog truly took.
Click to expand...

No, the two are very noticably different. It's really not hard to tell an overly friendly dog that's likely to knock you off your feet while trying to lick your nose from an aggressive dog that's advancing and growling.

There are those skittish dogs that fall somewhere in between. They only act aggressive when you turn your back on them. Those make me a bit nervous, because I've been bit by one of those types of dogs.

I've also been bit by the overtly aggressive kind that just charges and attacks.

I've also been nearly knocked off my feet by playful dogs that just run up and jump up on anyone, friend or stranger.Having worked as a pizza deliverer and having been bit several times, my experience is that the owner always feels it's somehow your fault, and claims the dog has never acted that way before. This includes places where I'd had to deal with the dog before and asked that they keep the dog inside when they ordered pizza.

If your dog acts aggressive to a mailman, it's going to get sprayed. If you don't like that keep your dog away from the path your mailman must take to reach your mailbox.
 
There also are procedures in place to complain if you feel that your animal has been mistreated. Assault is not the way to go.
 
I am fairly positive it is a Federal felony to assault a government employee while they are on duty.

Dummy will get a lesson on how not to treat mailmen.
 
I had a run-in with a vicious dog when I was about eight years old. It was only by sheer luck that I got away without a scratch. It scared the ???? out of me. My dad was bitten by the same dog approximately a week after the incident.

Dogs, like firearms, are the responsibility of their owners. If you can't own a dog without it being a serious danger to the public, then you have no right to own said dog.

[/rant]
 
Owners are responsible for the control of their critters.
To feel that it is okay to assault a mail carrier because he harmed a dog is a type of delusion that also allows ELF and other ecoterrs to operate.
 
I used to have a dog that would sidle up to you quietly and wait for you to pet him before it would bite. No growling, no barking. The only way you could tell something was up was the hair was raised on his back. We didn't let him out.

If people want their animals to roam free they should be a little more tolerant of people not wanting to get bitten. The dog spray isn't even harmful. If he doesn't want his dog sprayed he can control the dog's movement so that the postman doesn't feel threatened.
 
My reaction to this would depend on knowing what the dog actually did. My dog will indiscriminately run up to anyone in the hopes of getting some friendly or playful attention. This is why I am meticulous about keeping him under my control at all times, but if this was a case of a friendly dog accidentally getting loose and being sprayed, I can sympathize with the dog owner. The reverse is also true.
 
I tend to take a dim view of Dogs and I assume the worst when they are facing me. I will take in any stray cat that comes within a 5 mile radius of me but will turn dogs away with extreme prejudice. (Warning shot followed by a fast trip to the pound if that isn't effective.)

Sorry forgot my point:
I sympathies more with the Mailman than the dog owner. I would be more inclined to mace first and ask later.
 
My dog will indiscriminately run up to anyone in the hopes of getting some friendly or playful attention.
Click to expand...
This isn't about YOUR dog or the dogs you know well--for all we know, the mailman has a friendly dog that runs up to people indiscriminately.

This is about a guy trying to do his job and suddenly being confronted with a strange dog running up to him. My guess is that at first we'd all be pretty tolerant. After getting bitten a couple of times, I think we'd get pretty free with the pepper spray.

Remember, this ISN'T injuring the dog! We're talking about a harmless deterrent. It's not like he shot, kicked or even hit the dog.

Did anyone actually read the part where it said the dog was "angry and growling?" Do we actually have people here who are so "disneyized" that they think it's wrong to pepper spray an uncontrolled animal that runs up to a stranger who's going about his business and makes that person feel threatened? Are people here really saying that after their animal scares someone into using pepper spray that they'd retaliate against the person for trying to defend themselves?

What the heck is happening to this country...

Here's a thought--people who don't want their dog pepper sprayed should control its movements so that it can't indiscriminately approach people with pepper spray. :rolleyes:

There's certainly a lesson to be learned from this thread. If you're ever attacked by a dog in the presence of its owner, immobilize the owner FIRST and THEN deal with the dog.
 
THe postal carrier is providing you a service. I have no problem with them erring on the side of caution when it comes to dogs. If it concerns you then pick up your mail at the post office or keep your dog in a position where it won't encounter the mailman. problem solved.
 
Here is my take on this situation. The Carrier was entirely correct to spray the dog. His response to an unknown agressively (rapidly) approaching aniimal was far more restrained than mine would have been.

In my LE years I adhered to a strict policy that allowed my to avoid being bitten by unrestrained dogs on public property, (streets, sidewalks, alleys business locations, and private unfenced property) If there was no owner present to control the animal verbally, I dispatched it to the big fireplug in the sky. I had several compaints filed by irate owners who were then counseled on the law regarding the meaning of physical or verbal control as it related to their animal. This was always followed by the issuance of a citation to the owner for failure to comply.

Fenced property, as with the inside of homes is a completely different can of worms. A dog on his own fenced property who charges and attacks an intruder is only doing his job and in spite of court rulings that the yard has to be marked with BAD DOG signs, intruders (cops or Robbers) need to accept getting bitten as a hazard of their actions.

I would suspect that the Postal Service has different procedures for the use of chemical sprays on dogs based on where the encounter takes place. I doubt the carrier sprays fido on his own front porch.

JPM
 
Slightly OT. Several years ago the mailman was running late in one of our "more interesting" neighborhoods. Local gangbanger threatened to "Pop a cap in his a$$" if he was late again. For the next two weeks everybody on that street had to pick up their mail at the post office while the case was being investigated. The Post Office takes the safety of their employees seriously and rightly so.
Gene :)
 
Besides Jail, Dog-Owner Must Pick Up Mail at the Post-Office

Besides paying a fine and maybe a weekend in jail, the Dog-Owner's home mail delivery should be stopped.

Thus, he'd have the inconvenience of having to drive to the post office, stand in line and wait his turn so he could step up to the counter and ask for his mail ---- every fricking day.

I have a great dog. She's a white German Shepherd. She does the appropriate activity in protecting the house and my family, but I also take seriously my own responsibility as a dog owner to "manage" my dog's behavior when it comes to visitors, UPS and Fed-Ex guys, mail carriers, neighborhood kids etc.

Mail carriers have enough of a thankless job without having to be attacked by either dogs or their owners when they are serving the public and providing us with the convenience of home mail delivery.
 
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