Control Your Dogs!
I’m going to open this with a little story, so bear with me for a bit.
On October 23, 2023, the Police Department of Canton, Ohio (population: around 71 thousand, and located about 60 miles south of Cleveland) responded to a 9–1–1 call concerning a domestic dispute. It seems a gentleman was having a difficult time with his son-in-law. “I need the police down here . . . right now,” he told the dispatcher. “Because if you’re not, you’re gonna be calling the coroner.”
The police arrived at 9:45 PM to a house in the 300 block of Tyler Ave, SE. A woman was in the front yard, Amanda Bulick, with her three children, ages 7, 9 and 12.
Also present was their dog Bella, a Cane Corso weighing over 100 pounds.
What happened next would doubtless be traumatic for the four people present, particularly the young children. Video footage shows the cops ordering the family to “put the dog inside,” three times. Bella, in the meantime had rushed toward the policeman, barking loudly. When Bella reached the edge of the property, the cop fired three times.
“You just shot my dog!” Bulick cried out.
“Yes, I did,” the officer replied. “It was coming at me.”
Bella, mortally wounded, fled inside the house. The children followed. The children were eventually taken to a neighbor’s house, and another of the cops present tried to save Bella, but she died due to her injuries.
If you care to see the footage of the bodycam of the policeman who killed the dog, it’s here. It needn’t be added that some may find this video disturbing; it’s a dog getting shot.
Now, among those who are discussing this incident on X (formerly Twitter), the overwhelming majority of the participants have blamed the policeman rather than the family. But I think the question of who’s to blame is irrelevant, and frankly ridiculous. The family pet is dead. And the policeman has been exonerated by his department and was on duty the next day.
The question we should be asking is “Who could have done something to prevent this horrifying incident?” And I have to condemn the family for this one.
Full disclosure: I love dogs. I grew up with dogs. Everyone who has grown up with a dog has fond memories of a particular special dog. For me, it was Sparky, a collie-shepherd mix. When we went sledding during the winter, Sparky would run along beside us as we rode down the hill, barking frantically, as if trying to scold us for riding such dangerous contraptions.
He lived a good, long life. I was barely a year old when we first got him. And we had to put him down when I was seventeen. He had gone into shock and didn’t seem to be able to recover. It was time.
Returning to the incident above, Bella (as already mentioned) was a Cane Corso. At 700 psi, the bite of a Cane Corso is the third most powerful bite out of all breeds of dog. In fact, it’s more powerful than the bite of a lion, which comes in at 650 psi. To give you some perspective, a human’s bite is around 160 psi. This would make the bite of a Cane Corso over four times as powerful as ours.
Regardless, there doesn’t seem to be any evidence that Bella ever bit anyone. A neighbor has stated that Bella would bark, but not bite. Of course, the cop had no way of knowing his. And there’s always a first time.
We can insist that we know what would have happened if Bella continued to approach that policeman, but the cop was not willing to take that risk. And the fact of the matter is that Bella’s owner’s control over her 100+ pound dog was, at best, limited. She was not able to recall her or order her to return to the house.
And if Bella’s owner could not control her, then who could?
Even if we assume that Bella was no threat to the policeman, we cannot fault the cop for not knowing this. He knew the dog’s breed when he called it in, and presumably knew what this breed is capable of. And when he saw the dog charging at him, he took the next logical step in protecting himself. There was only one person that could have prevented this tragedy, and Amanda Bulick failed in this responsibility.
Of course, when I shared these thoughts on X, while some definitely sided with me, others were downright hostile in their opposition. I’ve been called vile names, which I cannot share here, or Medium will remove my article. I’ve also been accused of hating dogs.
I do not hate dogs. It’s the owners of unleashed dogs that I have a problem with. I remember once I was pushing my bicycle down the sidewalk near my home. And a couple who lived in the neighborhood happened by with their German Shepherd, not a leash in sight. The dog started barking at me, and came toward me. I interposed the front wheel of my bicycle to keep the dog at bay. And it was several seconds before one of the owners actually moved to pull his dog away from me.
In my apartment complex, there is a man who also owns a German Shepherd. And while he keeps it on a leash, his willingness to properly use the leash leaves something to be desired. I happened to encounter him with his dog as I was crossing a footbridge on our property. He was with his dog, was crossing from the other side. While the dog was on a leash, he was apparently not paying attention and had not pulled in the slack of the leash to keep the dog close to him.
So, seeing the dog approach with the full length of his leash, I stepped back so that he and his dog would have room to pass. The dog apparently interpreted my actions as a retreat and jumped toward me and started barking.
A few days later, I was taking a walk around my block and I happened to see the same man with his dog. Evidently remembering our previous encounter, the dog charged toward me and started barking, dragging his unsecured leash behind him. And by this time, I’d had it with this man and his recalcitrant animal. I started yelling that there is a leash law in Florida.
“She’s on a leash!” he protested. Which does no good if he’s not holding the other end of it. The dog had not pulled the leash from his hand. He had simply dropped in on the ground while he was talking to someone on the sidewalk.
And even though he recovered his dog, he still had not mastered the discipline of pulling in the slack to keep his dog close to him. So, I had to walk around him in the wet grass, giving him and his dog a wide berth. Which is still not right. I have a right to be on the sidewalk. The dog does not.
On another occasion, a man was in the parking lot of our apartment, and happened to have his dog with him. He allowed his dog to wander around the area while he made a phone call. The man didn’t live here. I know all the residents of our apartment, at least by sight. As far as I knew, he had no business here. He simply wanted to place to let his dog out.
Exasperated, and not wishing to have another encounter with an unpredictable dog, I yelled, “Would you please leash your dog!”
He started to protest that his dog was “fine,” whatever that means. But he did recall his dog. I would give him props for that, but he shouldn’t have had his dog off a leash in the first place, least of all on property where he had no business.
Folks, leash laws are not optional. You are not special. And neither is your dog. The laws that every dog owner must abide by also apply to you. And there is no addendum to these laws that says, “. . . unless your dog is friendly.” Yes, I’m sure some will argue that their pwethiouth puppykins sweet angel-baby wouldn’t harm a fly. Yet, there are 4.5 million dog attacks every year in the U.S. I wonder how many owners felt the same way about their dogs.
Of those attacks, around 33 are fatal, around 8 are children, and 3 are infants.
And it isn’t just a matter of protecting others; leash laws also serve to protect you, and your dog.
You might have the most friendly dog in the world. But suppose you’re out walking your dog off his leash, and he happens to see another dog across the street, then runs out into the street to introduce himself. 1.2 million dogs are hit and killed by cars every year in the U.S.
In Florida, where I live, another danger to the dogs that keeps coming up is large bodies of water. If you’re in Florida, and you happen to own a dog, keep your dog away from the water. Alligators happen to love dogs. And they’re fast. They can dart out of the water and seize your dog before either one of you can react.
Thankfully, it doesn’t happen often, but it happens enough. You can comb the internet for heartbroken families who lost their beloved pets to an alligator. And if you want to talk about impressive bite force, an alligator’s bite force is over 2000 pounds psi!
Something else to consider. A number of irresponsible dog owners in my apartment complex seem to think that if they’re in designated smoking areas, it’s okay to let their dogs off the leash. It’s not. Your dog can only be off its leash on your property, or in designated off-leash areas, such as dog parks and beaches, which we have in abundance.
I myself don’t own a dog. I don’t have a fenced-in backyard and my apartment is too small for a dog. If I owned a home with a fenced in backyard, I would absolutely own a dog. But I don’t feel my current living situation would be the best possible home for a dog.
I do, however, have a cat, which is strictly indoors. However, my cat does make the occasional trip to the vet to keep up her shots and in case she gets sick. During these times, she’s in a carrier. Which is the safest way for her to travel, as much as she hates it.
If I happened to be carrying my cat to my car, I wonder how the owners of these unleashed dogs would react. They might be perfectly fine with me, but are they also okay with cats? Because I can tell you this: I’m perfectly happy with you owning a dog. A dog is a great benefit to a person’s emotional, even physical well-being. I wouldn’t dream of denying you your loving companion.
And, as I said above, I also love dogs and have fond memories of the various dogs I grew up with. But under no circumstances will I permit anyone’s dog to harm or even terrorize my cat. If I were bringing my cat to my car, and a cat-aggressive dog starts charging toward me, I will put a stop to it. By any means necessary.
I am transporting my cat responsibly and in compliance with the rules of my apartment and the law. I will not permit anyone’s dog to harm my cat because the owner can’t be bothered to do the same.
Protect your dogs. Okay? If you want to think I hate dogs, fine. If you want to think the restrictions of leashes are unreasonable, would you still think so if your dog happens to get hurt? Not everyone knows and loves your dog. Your dog is a dog; it is not special, except to you.
A dog is a pack animal who sees you as the alpha of his pack. And if he doesn’t, then you have a serious problem, because this dynamic does not work. As such, your ability to recall your dog needs to be perfect. Your dog should stand down when you tell it to. And you should never rely on the belief that your dog doesn’t bite. Not everyone knows that. A dog acting aggressively invites retaliation. And no human being needs to tolerate your dog acting aggressively.
For your protection, the dog’s protection and the protection of others: control your dog. Because no one else can. Amanda Bulick was not able to adequately control her dog, and the policeman that the dog was advancing on has no obligation to try. His only obligation was to protect himself from what he reasonably perceived as a threat.
Bulick has since protested that the officer acted improperly. She insisted that the policeman could have tased her, or used pepper spray.
First, a taser is not a self-defense weapon. It’s a forced compliance device. If an aggressive suspect were charging at a policeman, the policeman would not use a taser due to their notorious unreliability. However, if the officer orders someone to get on the ground, and the suspect refuses, it is then that the taser might be used. It is not used for protection, but to force compliance.
Pepper spray might have been a better option, but that’s usually reserved for unarmed aggressive suspects. Against a dog, particularly one as powerful as a Cane Corso, the handgun is the most reliable option.
Object all you want to. Insist that it’s not right. And maybe it’s not. But you can either take the trouble to adequately train your dog, and properly corral your dog when first responders come to your home, then you can protest how unfair it all is. Or you can insist that it’s not right to have to do all that and have a dead dog. Your choice.