COLUMN: Beware of dog
Freedom to roam and explore the streams, forests and fields was a gift my brothers and I learned to love and appreciate when we were growing up on a small rural Alabama farm 65 years ago.
At times when we weren’t locked down at home working in the fields or taking care of our daily chores, we dared to take on the roughest, toughest challenges we could dream up.
There was no night too dark, no ditch too wide, no tree too high, no hole too deep or briar patch too thick to hold us back. But our mother was always there to warn us of a danger we hadn’t thought about.
“Listen boys,” she’d say. “Watch out for a mad dog. If you see a strange animal slobbering at the mouth, run for cover.”
“Yes ma’am,” we’d answer. “Ain’t no mad dog gonna bother us. We‘ve got our own two dogs for protection.”
Off we’d go in a dash – crossing fields, jumping ditches, zigzagging through trees, crossing streams and squeezing through the briars – until we reached our destination.
What we didn’t realize then but do now is that a dog doesn’t have to be mad to bite.
That’s why this week, May 18-24, has been proclaimed “National Dog Bite Prevention Week.
Its purpose is to reinforce the importance of pet responsibility.
Today, most dogs are treated as a member of the family. When is the last time you’ve been approached by a barking dog and told by its owner that he or she won’t bite.
Most owners don‘t think their dog will bite. Unfortunately for the 4.5 million victims of dog bites and attacks each year, this isn’t the case.
A well-known insurance company reported 35 dog bite claims in Alabama in 2013 costing more than $698,000. The same company paid $104 million as a result of 3,700 dog bite claims filed nationally during the same year.
Responsible dog owners are reminded:
•Never leave a baby or small child alone with a dog, even if it is a family pet. Children are often bitten by a dog in their own household
•Ask permission before touching or playing with a dog
•Remember that any dog can be dangerous and any dog can bite
When thinking back on it, our mother’s caution about mad dogs was well founded even though us boys went about our fun-loving ways oblivious to the danger.
Clif Knight is a staff writer for the Hartselle Enquirer.