Pet owners in Omaha and Council Bluffs raise awareness to dog walk attacks
COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (WOWT) - In an instant, walking the dog can go from a good exercise to a traumatic incident. Recently pet owners in Omaha and Council Bluffs experienced the same kind of frightening moments.
You won’t see an excited six-year-old Lilly pulling on her leash.
“She doesn’t really want to walk around the neighborhood anymore,” said Patty Woods, Lilly’s owner.
Patty suffered a pavement burn and small bite but saved Lilly from serious injuries.
“It got on top of him and wouldn’t let go,” said John Higgins, Dexter’s owner.
In Omaha, Dexter fared worse in a different incident as John Higgins and his wife walked on a midtown sidewalk.
“And the dog came across the street and attacked us,” said Higgins.
John remembers a large mix breed dog on a leash that its female owner couldn’t hold on to.
“And I was trying to pull him away as I fell to the bush, and I was kicking the dog as much as I could,” said Higgins.
After both dog incidents, owners of the injured pets say stay alert. The first thought you might have for protecting you and your pet from an attack while out on a walk is pepper spray.
But the humane society suggests something far less irritable for the nose and to humans.
“And that noise probably will work better than the pepper spray. It will be more immediate. Sometimes pepper spray doesn’t react as quickly as people think it would,” said Steve Glandt, Nebraska Humane Society.
The human society has a report of Dexter’s attack and the owner of the attacking dog left a written apology at the scene so an animal control officer will be contacting her.
“The lady could not hold the dog,” said Higgins.
In Council Bluffs, animal control and Patty don’t know who owns the dog that attacked Lilly and walked away without leaving a name or number.
“I want him to come and apologize to us, I want him to take ownership of this,” said Wood.
While their dogs do the sniffing, pet owners must keep an eye out so a relaxing walk doesn’t suddenly become a fight for survival.
Besides having vet or doctor bills to pay, another reason why the owners of the injured dogs want animal control in both Omaha and Council Bluffs is to take action against the owners of the dogs that attacked.
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