Scary Dogs Scare Me

So one afternoon in October, 2009 I'm walking up the street from the store to my apartment. I happen to have a sore ankle because I wore the wrong tennis shoes on the treadmill at the gym. I note a 30's something short blond haired woman walking towards me with a gigantic mean looking unleashed dog trailing 4 feet behind her. When bipedal, I imagine the dog would be taller than myself, that's how large it was, and quite muscular unlike the poor similar critter shown here.

As the lady approaches with her dog following behind, I begin to slightly freak out and say something really polite like, "you should get that big dog on a leash!" My fear in having to pass an extremely large unleashed dog accelerates as I know I'm in a vulnerable position where in a split second the dog could possibly maul me to death.

As the dog passes, I note it has taken notice of the exchange of words I had with its owner. I feel a rush of panic as the dog stares at, then begins lunging after me. I raise my voice in panic asking the owner to call her dog off and she has to grab it to prevent an attack. As she struggles to control the dog it's obviously riled up trying to squirm away to come after me again.

A few moments after they begin heading down the street I express my displeasure over being placed in such vulnerable life threatening position with, "your dog is a lethal weapon and you need to get it on a leash!" Once again, the dog reverses its path and starts towards me again, coming as close as 3 feet. On its owner's command the dog quickly reverses itself on a dime demonstrating this time that it's really a well trained attack dog.

So what do you think the lady would say to me after it's all said and done? Does she apologize since she had her dog unleashed? Nooooo! What this lady says after bringing a few moments of terror into my life was "You're just jealous!" By the time she uttered such ridiculous mind blowing cruel words, she was way down the street at which time I pointed at her and said "you're in big trouble! You're dog's a lethal weapon!!!"

After it was all over did I think about calling the police? It did cross my mind. What prevented me from calling the SFPD is how utterly useless they are. They must be the worst cops in the entire country from my experience. SFPD cops seem to be on the side of the criminals in many respects. After all, without criminals, or the politicians who need limo motorcycle cops, they'd be unemployed. I didn't know if this lady lived in my neighborhood or how I could possibly locate her to file assault charges. Yes, assault charges. I was scared for my life. Visions of my being mauled to death by a big black dog seemed very possible.

Turns out someone had witnessed the little tiff, the street watchman who often stands out on the building patio checking out the neighborhood. I spoke with him shortly after the incident and he said he recalled another incident where the big mean dog lunged and nearly attacked someone. The victim was yelling and scared to death. The watchman said he knew where the lady lived and I found a couple who lived in the building who gave me a heads up to her unit number.

Anyway, back to my dog story. After the lady departed around the corner with her dog, I was still reeling from the encounter. I told everyone I bumped into about it, "this lady with a huge big black unleashed dog nearly attacked me with her dog and then said 'you're just jealous'!! People were truly appalled.



THIS LADY AND HER POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS ATTACK DOG ARE A DANGER TO THE COMMUNITY - SOMEONE NEEDS TO STOP HER!

After I was able to get the lady's address through someone who knew where she lived, I sent her a letter. The letter was about my having witnesses, my asking for an apology while offering release of damages agreement. After 25 days I never heard back. I then decided to enter phase two, does she have a history of attacking people with her dog? I looked up the lady on the Internet to learn she had been arrested in 2002 for siccing her dog on someone it chewed up a little and I knew I was on the right path. The lady sued the city complaining of being tortured by the Sheriff during the short incarceration.

This next part has been lifted from the court briefs of the class action lawsuit filed against the City of San Francisco in 2004. The ". . . ." is the names of individuals which I've redacted.

described how the Asian males had to run inside Geary Street in order to seek protection from . . . and her attacking dog, and that . . .and another had to to seek protection from . . . . .and her dog from entering that building. After . . . . turned away and walked away from the door, . . . went outside. But . . . turned the dog to face . . . shouting "It doesn't matter if your black, Asian or White" and sicced the dog on . . . .. The dog bit . . . in the left hand injuring him.

.........was arrested on July 19, 2002 because her dog allegedly bit a man. She was taken to County Jail 9 where she was booked and instructed to disrobe in the presence of a male officer. When she refused, male and female deputies dragged her into a safety cell, forcibly removed her clothing and left her naked in the cell for approximately 12 hours. First Amended Class Action Complaint, at ¶ 20. She was awakened every 20 minutes by pounding on the door by a male officer who observed her naked.

Yes, the same lady who sued the City of San Francisco in 2004 under a Class Action lawsuit nearly attacked me with her big black unleashed dog, then uttered the kind words "you're just jealous!" The community's at risk as long as this lady continues to disobey leash laws with that kind of attitude. Imagine if a little kid was walking past this dog and made a wrong move.