2 years ago I was out jogging with my dog when we were attacked by 2 Rottweilers. They weren't interested in me, but went after my dog, savagely biting her on the neck, face, body and hindquarters. I couldn't find a stick, or a rock, or anything with which to beat them off. Instead, I was kicking them as hard as I could but as I was just wearing running shoes, they didn't even notice. The attack probably only last 2 or 3 minutes but it seemed to go on for hours before their owner called them back.

Had he not done so, I truly believed they wouldn't have stopped until they had killed my dog. Fortunately, she was a long haired breed so wasn't seriously harmed (physically) although she had numerous puncture wounds and required many stitches and weeks of medication. Mentally however, she was never the same dog, going from a friendly, lovable soul to a timid, nervous wreck. She died just over a year later, at a comparatively young age.

I confronted the owner at the time and he was full of apologies but admitted that despite having a dog-run on his property, he let them out just "so they could run around". As I made my way home, a lady came out in her car to let me know she'd seen the whole thing from her deck, that it wasn't the first time these dogs had attacked and that she was afraid to walk her own dog in the neighborhood because of them. The two of us filed a report with Animal Control.

And what a complete waste of time that was. Even though there were three, count them three previous reports of these Rottweilers attacking other dogs, the judge decreed that all he had to do was compensate me for my vet's bills. No fine, no attempts to euthanize the dogs, or stop him from keeping dogs, nothing. We were told that until they actually bit a human, there was nothing that could be done. The a-hole even asked for, and was granted, time to pay. This is despite him living in a $250,000 house with 4 cars in the driveway.

I still consider myself a dog-lover, and have two dogs now. But I carry mace when I walk them.