Dog Bite!

I was bit by a dog yesterday. And bit but good. There’s a deep puncture wound in the left hand thumb muscle and a puncture on my wrist. What happened? Well, it started when a friend of mine found a gorgeous red nosed pit bull peeking around the corner of her garage. Not really knowing what to do, she called me and I told her to bring the dog over. Since I’ve dealt with strays before, I definitely wanted to help. The minute she was let out of my friend’s van, this beautiful girl bounded up to me like I hadn’t seen her in years. She was so affectionate and sweet. I noticed that she had very stretched out teats that were full of milk, so she must have given birth not that long ago. (Unfortunately, no puppies were found after inspection of the garage and surrounding neighbourhood.) I started calling her “Baby Girl” as she had no collar or tags. Baby Girl was so very dehydrated and cleaned out the water dish I filled for her. She was also emaciated but wouldn’t eat. I think she was just excited to be somewhere warm and have some affection bestowed upon her. I called animal control and was waiting for them to call me back to let me know when they would be coming to get her. At first, Baby Girl and my pup Landon were okay with each other, but keeping them separate was needed as Landon wanted to play with her but she wasn’t interested. He kept trying to engage her and she was having none of that. She’d snap at him and he’d back off for a moment and then be right back in her face. It got to the point where they were fighting over a ball and it got extremely escalated. Not wanting either dog to get hurt, I stepped in to separate them. That’s when I got bit. I can’t say that I was scared of either of them when I stepped in as I know both were just defending themselves and neither was interested in me. I just really didn’t want either dog to get injured as I know Baby Girl must be still recovering from giving birth and I didn’t know if she had any outstanding conditions. And of course, I didn’t want Landon to get hurt as he’s MY baby and if she had any transmittable disease, I didn’t want him to get infected. The fight was awful and my mom literally had to hose both of them down to get them to stop. After I rinsed my hand and wrapped it up to stop the bleeding, we called animal control again as they hadn’t called back by this point. We had the dogs separated with Landon in the house and Baby Girl in the patio, both whining to get out.

I didn’t cry when I was bit (although I channelled my inner sailor and swore a ton), but I cried when Baby Girl was whining to get out of the patio. She must have been terrified not knowing what was going on. She didn’t have her puppies, she was hungry and thirsty, and was locked up, as I imagine that is how she spent most of her life.I have a feeling that she was used for breeding given the size of her stretched out teats. I just don’t understand how anyone can do that to an animal. I sincerely hope that I am wrong about her living a hard life, but I know deep down that I’m not.

It’s funny because I could understand how an event like this could make someone afraid of dogs, pit bulls in particular, but I am not. I love Landon with all my heart and I wish I knew how Baby Girl is doing. The thing is, I don’t know which one bit me, so I find it hard to place blame on either dog. Both were just defending themselves.

I think Pit Bulls are a beautiful, loving, loyal, and trust-worthy breed of dog. I also think that they are completely misunderstood by humans and have been wrongly punished and abused at the hands of humans. A favourite saying among animal rescue groups is “punished the deed, not the breed.” I whole-heartedly agree. Not all dogs are going to get along just like not all humans get along. And I can say confidently for a fact, that I would do exactly the same thing today as I did yesterday to prevent injuries if something like this should it happen again. Would I have a pit bull as a pet? Absolutely. Of course my dog and any potential new pet would have to meet and get along. Wouldn’t matter if the new dog was a poodle or pit. I encourage everyone to just try and understand that not all pit bulls are vicious. Just as not all golden retrievers are docile. It’s all in the upbringing of the dog and the circumstance at the time.

Baby Girl, wherever you are, I hope you know that you are loved by me and that I will never forget your sweet face. I wish you all the best and hope that your future is a happy one.