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Stress Test


Semalu

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This is a "how much do you love your dog" stress test. The moderator can decide which topic this post should reside in. It is a bit of a mixed bag.

This is a story about the consequences of letting your dogs run free without a leash and what I have learned from the experience.

Easter Sunday morning I went for my usual morning walk, only this time taking a different route, eschewing the beach and all those campers, for a walk along Prolongation Colon, west of El Eden. Its a nice neighbourhood.

I saw three loose dogs sleeping on the road side in front of their home. They were nice dogs, 2 golden labs and one golden retriever. I like those breeds a lot and had little concern about walking past them, knowing them to be friendly breeds. I admit, I am someone who tends to avoid walking on the Malecon these days because of so many dogs not on a leash. I was swarmed there once and have since decided to stay away, sticking to the beach. So, as a precaution, I kept to my side of the road as I passed these 3 dogs.

To my horror and now my deep regret, as soon as the dogs saw me they jumped up and attacked me. Biting my legs, backside and arms. I was able to fend them off but was knocked over, with the weight of the 3 dogs on top of me. As soon as I was down the dogs immediately reverted out of pack behaviour mode and into friendly tailwagging retriever mode.

To make a long and rather tortuous story short, I ended up in hospital and am now in a back brace with a fractured L1 vertebrae for the next 10 weeks or so. I was lucky, so far I have avoided surgery and am expected to make a 100% recovery. No nerve damage.

Now, here is the stress test for how much you love your dogs. This is what I learned while in hospital.

First, because this was an attack, the hospital is obligated to fill out a police report that I had to sign. I was told the common occurence is those dogs will now be picked up and destroyed. I am debating if I should warn the owner family.

Second. I am being very strongly advised to sue the owner family. Apparently in Mexico, when something like this happens, the family is responsible for all medical expenses, any lost wages or out of pocket expenses etc. In the event of a long term or permanent injury, it is their responsibility to care for me for the rest of my life at their expense. I could go after their house, car etc etc. Spencer may be able to back this up or elaborate on it. I admit I was and am still pretty loopy with the painkillers I am on. I may have missed something.

This family is lucky, I have good insurance, a very understanding boss and little inclination to ever want to see that family again. So I won't sue. I will simply go quietly nuts while housebound with a very uncomfortable body brace for the duration of this spring and summer. When I am better I will carry pepper spray and a big stick while on my morning walks.

One of you may not be so lucky if your dog should one day revert to pack mode while running free "playing" with other dogs. I remember that swarm of dogs on the Malecon and how quickly that too could have gone bad. So ask yourself if you love your dog so much that you would prefer to let him run free and are willing to risk paying for someone like me for the rest of your life. Just saying...

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WOW! An incredible story and glad to hear the ending was not quite as bad as it could have been. Sounds like you could easily be 6 feet under. Mend quick and well.

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A bit tangential but were you fearful when going by the dogs, not after the attack? The reason I ask is that dogs cannot differentiate between fear and aggression.

I can't believe anyone is already trying to "blame the victim" of this horror story.

The way I heard it, she was across the street. Why does anyone have to fear walking down the street? Why were the dogs loose?

Blame the person responsible instead of making excuses for the untrained and loose dogs.

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I recall one year while vacationing in Acapulco we were advised not to walk the beach area at night at all because of the dogs packs. Several nights latter we heard a lot of POP,POP, POPs going on for a few min. Next day we were told we could again walk the beach, but stay close to the hotel. That's how they took care of that problem.

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I once lived in the country where dogs tended to pack up and terrorize the livestock or any person out at night.

This incident happened in a residential neighborhood close to Ajijic in broad daylight. Let's put the blame squarely where it belongs: on the owners who let their dogs run loose. There is no excuse.

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I agree. And these dogs should be put down. They will attack again. I hope the OP will take the opportunity to help someone else avoid being attacked like this. The owners, having gotten away with this with no consequences, are probably going to go right on endangering their neighbors. I'm sorry for the dogs but people come first IMO.

Welcome back Gringal.

:)

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No I wasn't the least afraid walking past. Like I said. I like the breed. I was a happy golden retriever owner fo many years. The only reason I do not have a dog right now is because I travel too much for work. I figured it woudn't be fair to the dog.

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By no means should you "warn" the family, they'll just hide the dogs and turn them loose again when the heat is off. Keep the pressure on until this menace is gone for good. You should not have to fear walking down a public street because of dangerous dogs.

Good luck and God speed in your recovery.

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One of my neighbors has a "rescued" pit bull on her roof,it barks at every passerby,two weeks ago it jumped off the roof and attacked one of my neighbors,an elderly retired doctor, he suffered significant injuries,he has filed a denuncia,frankly I would like to see both the owner and the dog put down.

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Two years ago, my two small dogs on leach and I were walking in Riberas. We were surrounded by four large dogs with collars but no people around. My small dog was attacked and bitten. A cpl weeks later we are walking the Ajijic malecon. A man with two large dogs running loose without leaches, yelling at me that I am "a bad owner" because I picked up my small frightened dog, thus "teaching it to be afraid!"

Last summer, walking with friend and our dogs on leach, we were repeatedly attacked by a dog who had an owner there on the San Antonio Malecon. I have pepper spray now, and a stun gun. Sadly, There is no safety from loose dogs anywhere around Lakeside. Yours is a terrifying story. So glad you survived to tell us about it!

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Do not hesitate to have these dogs put down. I no longer take my dog on the Ajijic malecon either. My dog is one of the few that is leashed while the other dogs belonging almost exclusively to foreigners are allowed to run, poop and roam free including groups of up to four at a time running over to my dog for a sniff and scaring the hell out of her and me.

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All dogs should be leashed whenever off your property. Every owner thinks their animals are angels but if they dont leash them then they will attack someone or another dog they may be run over, assuming a neighbor doesnt get fed up and poison them first.

People dont seem to care or listen and assume that people like poop in their yards and like to be attacked. I see it alot, many of the irresponsible owners always blame the other dog. It is like wearing seatbelts, one day the crash will come and the damage is completely avoidable, if you love your dog leash it or you will bury it prematurely.

You can sue the owner and probably should make them pay everything as they need to learn a lesson and be an example to others.

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Sorry for you Semalu, I hope you get better soon , you have the right to sue the owners and thus set a precedent for the rest who don't put their dogs on a leash.

I walk the ajijic malecon in the mornings, but I see some people with their dogs off leash, I had an encounter with an expat guy with a chocolate labrador that is always running loose and pestering other small dogs, he said my dog initiated the agression but my Chihuahua was on a leash and his chocolate lab was not and came to bite my dog.I lifted my dog but the labrador was still trying to reach for my dog. I got mad because the guy said my dog provoked his.

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This is a terrible thing to have happen to you. Eventually the powers that be will change the laws and enforce them thoroughly. For Mexico City, the trigger in 2014 was people getting killed by a pack of dogs in a park there.

All dogs must be registered and microchipped, if no chip, they are hauled in.

All dogs must be sterilized.

All dogs must be on a leash, "dangerous" breeds must be muzzled. Dogs must be in the control of an adult, or young adult (teenager).

Now they have passed another law, as has Jalisco, which meets animal abuse and dog fighting with serious jail time.

Is it working? I don't know the answer to that. I am sure that the ownership of a dog is more elitist now, restricted to middle class families and above for example. Maybe that's the way it should be, unless you live in the countryside. I know they estimate there are/were 2 million dogs living in Mexico City, and a great many of them are suffering from malnutrition and disease - they are collecting 16,000 stray dogs per month.

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I would like to thank everyone for your kind expressions of support. It is an unexpected but pleasant side benefit to my original post. Its nice to know what a wonderful community we have here in Ajijic. For those asking, I googled and posted a recipe for pepper spray in the La Cocina forum. I have not yet tested it :blink:

....and have no fear..."I vill be Baaack".

Abrazos

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