The City of Morgan Hill has accomplished one of the most
productive and cost effective things it has ever done with the new
Morgan Hill Dog Park; but with this special place for dogs there
are serious responsibilities.
The City of Morgan Hill has accomplished one of the most productive and cost effective things it has ever done with the new Morgan Hill Dog Park; but with this special place for dogs there are serious responsibilities. Today I treated my first dog fight wounds from Morgan Hill’s new dog park. This will not be the last one I will treat. In fact, Morgan Hill Animal Hospital and San Martin Animal Hospital have each also treated injured animals from the dog park since its recent opening.
In the incident today an owner was watching his dog play with a group of dogs. As they played his dog was surrounded in a corner by several dogs. One of the bigger ones playfully went for his leg. Feeling trapped and over whelmed he responded with a growl and a snap and another bigger dog launched on him, resulting in several abrasions and a laceration. In the course of attempting to break it up, the victim dog’s owner was bit, resulting in a break in the skin on his hand.
The victim dog was brought to me and was easily treated. The attacking dog was taken to Morgan Hill Animal Hospital where the owner requested his dog be euthanized. When he was correctly told that quarantine was required before that could be done, he took his dog to the County Animal Control and had it euthanized there. The law is being complied with by having the attacking dogs head sent in for a rabies check.
This is a tragedy for the owner of the euthanized dog that need not have happened. It is also a heads up for all dog owners going to the park. The owner of the victim dog indicated that the attacking dogs’ owner was not closely supervising his dog and did not come forward until the victim dog’s owner called out for help. In the end, the attacking dog’s owner was responsible and did pay for the costs incurred by the victim – but he sacrificed his beloved dog in the meantime.
Our new dog park is a wonderful place for dogs and their owners, but it is not a place where we can let responsible ownership lapse. It becomes especially important in such a setting for owners to be extra vigilant and in control of their pets. This situation was not an outright attack by a mean dog. It was a set of circumstances in which the dogs were in charge of themselves with inadequate supervision. The victim dog’s owner was quick to respond and got bit because the other owner was not exercising adequate control of his dog. I believe that if both owners had been equally vigilant, this event would not have happened.
I have taken my English setter to the park. He is a champion show dog and consequently was not castrated until last year when he was 7 years old. As a consequence of his late castration, Elvis has a lot of dominance behaviors that are not usually associated with setter breeds. While at the park, an energetic pit bull was playfully jumping up and trying to mount Elvis and he was becoming agitated. Because I was watching closely, I moved in to reduce any tensions between the two and they went on to play together well – with me closely watching all the time.
The fun in going to the park is not in just turning our dogs loose and ignoring them; it is turning them loose and watching what happens while maintaining control to avoid unhappy endings. We must be in charge of our pets in this setting. Most inter-dog aggression will disappear if owners exercise proper and adequate control. Inter-dog aggression is about territorial control. In the dog park we humans are the ones who need to be in control, not the dogs.
Perhaps some additional signage about controlling pets at the park would help. It will also require attendees politely requesting that owners who are not properly monitoring their dogs pay more attention.
Owners do not need to be on top of their dogs all the time, but they need to be constantly aware of their pets location and status – ready to respond to any potentially threatening situation by controlling their own pet. Let the dog park realize its wonderful potential by being a responsible pet owner.
Dr. Quick has owned and operated the Animal Care Center in Morgan Hill for 25 years. He is a founder of both W.E.R.C. and Furry Friends Foundation and was the Morgan Hill Male Citizen of the Year in 2003.
