The game that they want us to play

I wanted to share a personal story with all of you.

Without going into a whole lot of detail or history, a couple of days ago, my dog (a lab) ran through our invisible fence, into a neighbor's yard. she collided with a much smaller dog (collie), and bit him. The collie ended up breaking his back and had to be put down.

There is more to this story.. and this is not at all about who is right or wrong. The dogs collided and the smaller dog died. It was very sad and very unfortunate.

So as you can imagine we have all been devastated and we feel very awful. The neighbor is understandably upset and grieving. Throughout the last couple of days we have talked with them a couple of times, we paid their vet bill, gave them our very serious and sincere condolences. Before this morning, we were at a point where we thought that the only thing that was left to do was for all of us to find our way through the rest of our individual emotions and healing and move on.

Well today we find out that they cited us. They called the police. Before I go into what we are now faced with "legally" I need to make it very clear that the neighbor gets nothing from this.. except for I guess a very weak and revengeful sort of satisfaction knowing that we now have to deal with our very out of control legal system.

So now onto the citation that we received. As a result of this one incident, with our one dog, we are now in a position where we are being legally reviewed and responsible for every single dog law that exists, for both of our dogs (including the one that had nothing to do with the accident). There is the vaccination law. The dog tag law. The registration with the state law. and of course the citation for us not "confining or properly controlling our dog" law. I have been very anti law these days. And I don't do vaccinations. So "they" are using this one accident to hit us for every single law that they can for both of our dogs. 3 out of the 4 have absolutely nothing to do with what happened.

Do you see the game that they are playing? My neighbor.. and so many of us. Are doing exactly what they want us to do. To hate each other and be divided. To allow anger to fuel our actions. To seek punishment for each other. All while THEY collect more and more of our money and take away more and more of our freedoms.

We live in a place where everybody loves dogs. If my neighbor had unresolved anger or concern they could have called us up every night for the rest of the year and we could have talked it out. Worked it out. Instead they wanted some kind of revenge (that they get no benefit from physically or materially) and called the police.

I am not saying that my dog was innocent. I am not saying that as an owner I couldn't have done something better to contain my dog. What I am saying is that to me it feels like as a society when accidents or unfortunate things occur we don't even consider handling things in a united way. We don't even consider handling things our selves. Instead we end up doing exactly what they want us to do. And THEY are the only ones who benefit from that.

We must unite as a people. We must embrace the power that we all have. The power of love. The power of support. The power of acceptance. The power of working together.

Your dog is still alive?

I am an animal lover and I treat my dog like the king he is....I can understand your stress and I honestly feel for you and more so for your nieghbor, because He Did Nothing wrong... His dog was on his own property, minding its own business....

I hate to seem so harsh but i hope If you take anything away from this it is that you Must keep your dog leashed or chained outside if it will not stay on your property...

Very respectfully,

~meathead

reply to post by Mike Stivic


the point of this story has nothing to do with that. the story about who is at fault could go on and on and on. that is not the point of this. i am not here to blame.

i am here to try and explain why this type of reaction and behavior results in exactly the kind of thing that THEY want. that we must start taking responsibility for everything that happens in our LIFE and work together as humane loving people, even through difficulty. Seeking revenge from an external source does nothing.

reply to post by nltkn


I agree with you.

Yes, it's a very sad situation. But what has your neighbour achieved? Is calling the police going to bring his dog back? No it isn't.

Having said that I have a dog myself and if I was in your neighbours position I would be distraught.

reply to post by nltkn

the point of this story has nothing to do with that. the story about who is at fault could go on and on and on. that is not the point of this. i am not here to blame.

I can understand why you do not want to get into who is to blame....

i am here to try and explain why this type of reaction and behavior results in exactly the kind of thing that THEY want. that we must start taking responsibility for everything that happens in our LIFE and work together as humane loving people, even through difficulty. Seeking revenge from an external source does nothing.

I assure you there is no government plot to turn neighbor against neighbor taking place IN THIS INSTANCE.

In fact it is your behavior and that of your dog that elicited this reaction. I would consider myself lucky to still wake up with my dog every morning. You broke the law, and you are dealing with the repurcussions. If your neighbor was really seeking revenge he would have asked for your dog to be put down. He probably filed suit to protect himself by putting this incident on record should any of your other dogs decide to run through your electric fence.

I am not trying to argue with you, and apologize in advance if i am coming across that way.

~meathead

Editied to fix quotes

reply to post by Mike Stivic


I'm not clear what was done. The dog broke through a barrier that is supposed to be effective. Maybe sue the invisible fencing company.

reply to post by nltkn


That may be the dumbest thing I've read in....well....ever. You have caused your neighbor emotional distress plus loss of property and you're complaining because you've been cited? Idioicy knows no limits apparently. If you don't vaccinate your dog, you are posing a health risk to the public should that dog (whom you obviously can't restrain) contracts rabies. You haven't followed the law about licensing your dog which you are required to do. You are, in fact, breaking the law on several fronts and trying to get sympathy for it disguising it as some kind of non-exsistant conspiracy. Now, is your neighbor kind of a butthole for calling the cops? You bet. But you sitting there trying to make us view you as some kind of victim or target may well be the most unbelievably idiotic post ATS has seen.

Congrats, you just passed up the people claiming to be aliens for the prestige in the Gray Area.

reply to post by nltkn


The fact is your invisible fence did not work.

You were not outside with your companion when he/she escaped into your neighbor's yard.

I have a chain link fence and when I let any of my dogs outside, I stand on the deck and keep an eye out on things.

Having a dog is like having a toddler, you have to keep an eye on them 24/7 when they are outside, even with a fence.

I have just lost my dog from old age 19-20. We had him for 15 years. To some of us, "they" are just not a "pet", a "thing" but almost like a child, innocent and loving beings.

Your dog had no business going into your neighbor's yard. You should have made sure your fence was working.

In our town we are allowed three animals. That is the set limit as to how many furry babies we are allowed.

With four dogs you probably exceeded your city's "animal" limit.

Your neighbors are probably where I am at, heartbroken and trying to heal. You not being on top of things brought them this heartache.

I take having an animal companion very seriously. It is like having a two year old toddler that never grows up. Would you trust an invisible (electric shock) fence to contain your two year old child and not watch them?

For the first time in 48 years we will be dog less. My husband is 66 and I am 58. Our 19-20 year old dog died July 12, 2010. We talked about getting a senior dog, but as I have stated, having a dog is a real 24/7 responsibility we realize we are no long up to.

For all you "pet" owners out there. If you have a small dog or cat, don't leave them outside even for a minute unattended. Coyotes are now becoming more of a common sight even in our suburban and urban areas and they can and will jump a fence and grab your little dog. Our dog was a 72 pound English Pointer and we have coyotes we can year every night, so when we let our senior big guy outside in our fenced in backyard, I stayed right with him.

A lady I work with had her small #zu grabbed by a coyote at dusk. They found the dog but too late.

One last thing on this rant..............I hate those claw collars, they are horrible. Anyone putting one on their "dog" should have to wear one for a week themselves.

reply to post by KILL_DOGG


Excellent response. I was going to rant about vaccinating too.

The people out there that refuse to vaccinate their dogs and give them regular heartworm medicine chance their dog passing that frap onto other dogs.

I just wish people would wise up and become responsible "pet owners"...........I hate that term, my Odie wasn't "a pet" he was my buddy, my furry baby.

That is another expense. Our Odie was healthy right up to the end, but a senior dog or a dog with health problems will run you vet bills, just a like a human going to see a doctor.

Once a dog is 7-8 they should see the vet twice a year or more if problems come up.

I think the 'history and detail' is important, actually. It sounds like your dog ran out and attacked another. Does it have a history of aggression? Was this caused by some possible negligence on your part? Could you have prevented this but failed to, or perhaps didn't want to? This is what the police are investigating. To them you could be a dangerous dog owner.

What do you mean by 'don't do vaccinations'? Am I to take it literally to mean that you don't give your dog(s) vaccinations that it needs to prevent disease? That's not just dangerous for the dogs, but for other animals and humans if it can cause aggression...

You say the thread isn't about these details but rather about your neighbours or society in general, but I think it must be about these details if the premise doesn't work in the first place. Your neighbours may not be seeking revenge, but genuinely trying to stop dangerous dogs. If this is the case, you can't blame their reactons on TPTB.

Well guess what..I live in an apt that allows dogs, and alot of times when I take mine out, we are charged by other dogs because idiots don't seem to know what a leash is. It really pisses me off. You are lucky your neighbors didn't shoot your dog. How hard is it to tie him to a chain? They have every right calling the police on you, because their dog would be alive if it wasn't for your irresponsible actions. Most people I see have no buis owning a dog. As far as fines/laws regarding dogs, yea I agree there. But this all could have been avoided.


Deebo