Today, I walked my dog as usual in the designed dog area. That's a large enclosed place where you are allowed to let your dog run free, and the dogs can play with each other and get to learn the social rules of dog life etc. It's really quite a community - most people and dogs know each other really well.Now this afternoon, there was as usual a group of people sitting in the shade and talking while the dogs were peacefully and happily running around. Suddenly, a hysterical scream can be heard from a little away. Turns out there's a woman walking with her husband (presumably), and hysterically screaming because there's a dog near. Now, of COURSE there are dogs in the dog area, I mean, that's what it's for... Upon her screaming, of course, the dogs run near, she screams louder... repeat ad infinitum. The dog owners run to see what the big fuss is about. Screaming. Anger. Dogs totally confused. Dog owners getting mad at woman. Woman shouting at the top of her voice. Finally she says that she's gonna call the police and walks away. Peace returns as soon as the intruder (because she was an intruder, never been there before, she just turned up and behaved badly/inappropriately) is gone.
Now, when my mom and I left about half an hour later, there's two policemen walking into the dog area. Apparently the woman did call the police... And now the really nightmarish part comes: in this city, since a year ago, some kinds of dogs are declared "dangerous". It's the sorts of dogs that are sometimes used in (forbidden, criminal, illegal) dog fights so of course all these dogs are bad... They are supposed to be on a leash ALL THEIR LIFE!!! One of the dogs that were there today was an American Staffordshire, and it was about the most gentle dog I've ever seen. But NO it is a fighting dog...
So, the policemen ask "Is there a fighting dog here?" My mom and I just look at each other and say that there's only dogs here that we know etc... Of course, they went on to check... I guess that the poor little Staffordshire dog got into trouble. My impulse was to run back and tell its owner to get away but I couldn't set to running back right in front of the police.
That's SO typical. People have no idea about dogs. They go into the designed dog area. They scream and cause a big mess. Then they call the police. I hate them...