Dog owners need to take control of their animals

Dear Editor,

 Since our family moved here six years ago, we have been subject to the whims of other people’s dogs on our property and in our neighborhood. 

 We woke up on Independence Day morning to find more than half of our flock of chickens dead in their pen, killed by a loose dog who had trampled the fence, done his mischief, and then left a big pile of “evidence” telling us exactly who was to blame.

 In years past, we have watched our neighbor’s dog be brutally attacked and killed by larger dogs roaming the street, heard stories of multiple cats in our neighborhood killed by loose dogs, and we suspiciously lost an entire brood of ducks in the middle of the night (there was no evidence to conclusively attribute that mischief to dogs, but it is certainly a likely possibility). 

 I have a neighbor who refuses to walk down a certain street for fear of the dog that always chases her and her young children. 

 My own children, while riding bikes around town, have been chased countless times by loose dogs, and recently a family friend was seriously injured in a bike accident as she tried to escape an aggressive dog that was chasing her.

 When I find loose dogs on our property, I tie the dog to a tree in our yard and call the owner to come get his dog. Every time, I’m told, “Just let him loose, he’ll come home.” 

 When I insist that my concern is not for the dog to find his way home, but rather for the dog to stay on his own property, I am met with anger. Is it such a strange thing to expect an owner to keep his dog on his own property?

 This is not about needing new codes or fines. This is an appeal to the citizens of Weiser to be responsible for your animals. 

 No amount of legislation or enforcement can replace a responsible dog owner.

Erin McLaughlin

Weiser, Idaho