Remember the reports about the pit bulls that attacked (and supposedly killed) a dog at Magnuson park and also attacked dogs at Edmonds dog park? Well, it appears as if these stories may have stretched the truth a bit. The boxer that had apparently died, didn’t. In fact it was never even injured. Here’s what Seattle animal control conveyed to Grisha Stewart of Ahimsa Dog Training:

• There was a senior Boxer at the water with a small dog, and there was a scuffle with pit bull – type dogs. The owner was not bald, but had short hair. He did have tattoos.
• The scuffle seemed to be of the ‘normal’ type that dog park fans see a lot of, with a lot of bluster but no injuries.  I’m sure it was still scary for all involved, but dogs of all breeds do get into arguments and it sounds like this was nothing to be alarmed about.
• The Boxer was never taken to the vet, because there were no injuries.
• No report has been filed by the Boxer’s owner, and she probably wishes this would all just go away (I had heard from another source that her husband didn’t want the dog at the park in the first place). Therefore, animal control is no longer doing special patrols, just the regular ones.
• After weeks of the mystery owner being unidentified, Animal Control got her name and made a visit, 3 weeks after the events at Magnuson.  The Boxer had no signs of injury and the woman reported no injuries.

Whether or not the facts of this story are all true or not, Jim Ito, president of MLT DOG, had some good advice:

Even though this now seems like much less than what was first reported, I am still an advocate of watching out for yourselves and each other.  Regardless of whether you have a dog breed that may scare people, it is the actions of our dogs and us as owners that make the difference between a run-of-the-mill dog incident and an incident with bad feelings, arguing, and ill will or worse.  My dogs love to play and, at times, may play rougher than what is comfortable for me or the owner of the other dogs.  It is important to be observant and empathetic of others.  What may seem fun to you may seem out of control for the other.  The best thing to do is talk to each other.

[image courtesy paulmoody]