Dog Whisperer needed

We need the Dog Whisperer.

Not for this dog —

— but for the two dogs that did that to him. And their owner.

This is the second time my friend Marcia’s dog Kimmee has been attacked by her neighbor’s dogs.

All three dogs were on leashes, but both of the attacking dogs were (1) larger than Kimmee; (2) on extendable leashes that were fully extended, leaving their owner with little control over them; (3) even with proper leashes, too large and strong for their owner to control both of them at the same time to begin with.

And this is the second time.  The other dogs’ owner should know better.  Marcia had taken Kimmee outside for a poo, and suddenly around the corner came here came the neighbor dogs at the ends of their leashes, their owner obviously not paying a great deal of attention to what her dogs might encounter out of her sight, running ahead of her as they were.  Even though she knew her dogs had attacked Kimmie just a few months’ previous, to the tune of over $300 in veterinary care.  This time was worse (& the vet’s bill reflects it).

The photo heading this post was taken at the vet’s (Diamond Animal Hospital), where we took him for treatment, after Marcia had already cleaned up a lot of blood and washed Kimmee’s wounds with Betadyne against infection. Luckily I usually have my camera with me, so I could take a few photos to document his injuries in case the other owner tries to evade responsibility.

Here’s a close-up of his throat, where the worst injury was. Even with Kimmee’s fur in the way, you can see how deeply the puncture wound went.

Here it is after he was treated, with some kind of gizmo (can’t remember what it’s called, & the paperwork’s with Marcia) to help keep it clean & draining. Luckily the bite from whichever dog got Kimmee by the throat didn’t go all the way to his trachea, or Kimmee might not still be alive.

The other worst injury was to his right back leg and the loin area right in front of it. His hair disguised a lot of it —

Leg & loin area before shave & treatment

After treatment

— but after it was shaved so the vet could clean it, you can see all the puncture wounds from a pretty strong bite, right down into the muscle.  Kimmee’s going to be pretty damn sore.

There were a number of smaller wounds as well. Here’s the top of his head and ear, pre-treatment —

— and post-treatment.

By the end of the evening, Kimmee — dripping blood from draining wounds, sore from his numerous bites, and logy from anasthesia — was pretty damn miserable: not at all the happy ebullient dog that I’m used to seeing.

I’m pretty angry.  All of this could have been avoided, had the neighbor actually cared enough to take proper care for her dogs and to ensure that they not be a danger to others around them.

The vet’s bill to care for Kimmee’s numerous injuries last night, and for antibiotics and pain meds while he heals, came to $470. Marcia’s got a limited income, so it came off my credit card.  We’ll be billing the attacking dogs’ owner. And I, along with everyone else including the vet, are encouraging Marcia to report the attack to Animal Control.

A full set of Kimmee photos are in my Flickr photostream.

Wishing you a speedy recovery, Kimmee.

A note about the dogs involved

Kimmee is a pit or bulldog mix, we’re not sure exactly: he was an orphan on the streets when Marcia took him in.  Both his attackers were pit bulls.  I’m not a big dog person, but I had a coworker years ago who was a great lover of pit bulls, and I think it’s a great breed.  But as the vet said to us last night, pit bulls were bred aggressive — to fight other dogs — and if you don’t want them to be aggressive with other dogs, you’ve got to teach, train, & socialize them from puppyhood.  I’m pretty certain that’s not how Kimmie’s attackers were raised.  Like I said, Dog Whisperer needed. Needed also: neglectful owner — who reportedly also leaves her dogs alone all day in her apartment to bark bark bark all day — given one hell of a big reality check.