Aggressive dogs like Skyler don't belong in city parks... or out in public

Granted, laws involving unleashed dogs at city parks -- i.e., areas not designated as off-leash areas -- aren't high priorities in the Rainier Valley. When it comes to a police presence at Rainier Avenue South and South Henderson Street and Genesee Park, the crime-ridden intersection wins in a Nixon-versus-McGovern landslide.

Does this mean that the municipal codes requiring owners to tether their dogs should be ignored?

When it comes to Skyler the tan lab-mix: Hell, no. Put a leash and muzzle on that dog.

We saw Sklyer -- the dog's real name -- break away from owner's side around 5:45 pm at Genesee Park... the area on the other side of Genesee where Seafair and the Danskin's triathlon take place. Skyler sprinted about 30 yards and went after a lhaso-looking mix. When the lhasa's owner attempted to pick up his dog, Skyler veered 10-plus yards more and went after my pooch. Growling and bearing fangs, Skyler then lunged at my dog.

Skyler didn't get within biting distance of my dog. Good thing for Skyler that he didn't: I had my container of pepper spray in my hand. And I had no compunction against unleashing a stream of peppery pain in Skyler's face.

Meanwhile, Skyler's owner -- a nondescript, middle-aged woman -- stood at least 60 yards away. "Skyler!" she screamed. "Get back here! Come!" She couldn't be bothered to scramble over and regain control of her dog. Skyler returned to her area, but continued to stalk my dog. "Skyler, leave it!" she screamed. Didn't "leave it" fail five minutes earlier when Skyler broke away?

Irresponsible dog owner, what the hell were you thinking?

She reluctantly leashed up Skyler when it became apparent -- after attempted two attacks -- that he couldn't co-exist with other leashed canines. One suspects that Skyler's behavior this afternoon was the norm versus an exception.

For the edification of Skyler and his inept handler, Seattle Municipal Code (SMC) 9.25.084(G) says it is unlawful for an owner "to permit any animal when unprovoked on public or private property to:

(1) Bite a human being causing less than severe injury as defined in SMC 9.25.023E of the Seattle Municipal Code, or bite a domestic animal, or;

(2) Chase or approach a human, on property other than that of the animal's owner, in a menacing fashion or apparent attitude of the attack, which may include but is not limited to any one of the following behaviors: snarling, bearing teeth, growling, snapping, pouncing, lunging, attacking or attempting to bite.

Sound familiar, Skyler's owner? Although he looked part lab, Skyler was all Cujo in his demeanor and actions. If Skyler's owner chooses to enforce her dog's right to go off-leash commando and if Skyler sinks his fangs into a human or kills a dog, the human risks running afoul of SMC 12A.06.060, Negligent Control of an Animal:

(1) A person is guilty of negligent control of an animal if he or she has possession, custody or control of an animal that, because of the person's negligence, inflicts bodily injury on or kills another person or another animal.

(2) "Negligence" includes, but is not limited to, failure to comply with or violation of any provision of Section 9.25.083 or Section 9.25.084.

(3) Negligent control of an animal is a gross misdemeanor.

Think we're joking? Check out the Seattle Municipal Code for yourself:

http://clerk.ci.seattle.wa.us/~public/toc/table.htm

Normally, I don't identify offenders with this much specificity. But aggressive dogs shouldn't be untethered, particularly in public places. The unfortunate thing is that Skyler's owner doesn't appear to find anything aberrant about her canine's behavior... and, worse, doesn't appear to find it necessary to obey the law and keep him on a leash. Perhaps Skyler belongs in his own Skinner box where he can only inflict self harm.

Addendum: A reader asked for a description of Skyler. Here's what I recall: short-coated, tan lab-mix short ears and a long tail. Mostly, I remember curled-up lip, lots of flashing teeth.

Did heat stroke cause your lapses in judgment?

Granted, the National Weather Service (NWS) issued an "excessive heat warning" after this weekend's record-busting temperatures (95 degrees yesterday, 98 degrees today). Maybe the heat fried your brains.

Or maybe you lack common sense.

Let's begin the What What The Hell Were You Thinking Weekend with an incident that took place around 10 am Saturday in an alley between 33rd and 34th Avenues off South McClellan Street. We saw you and your spouse enter the alley with two unleashed dogs. The smaller of the two romped freely on the street; he was uncontrolled and unrestrained. When I gasped with visible shock, you condescendingly asked something stupid like "Are you terrified?"

Yes, lady, I am terrified... that your dog will run into South McClellan Street -- an arterial upon which the No. 14 travels. South McClellan Street was busier than usual yesterday with people traveling to Genesee Park to unload their bicycles for the Danskin's triathlon and shoppers cruising the during the Mount Baker community sale. And amazed that your husband tethered one dog, and permitted the more adventurous of the two roam without a leash.

People, what the hell were you thinking?

Maybe it didn't occur to you that shoppers trolling the area probably paid more attention consulting their maps then they were on the look out for a dog whose owners thought going off-leash commando represented their libertarian values. According to 9.25.084 (A), Offenses Related to Animal Control, the Seattle Municipal Code (SMC), it is unlawful to "permit any animal, except cats and pigeons, to be at large, or trespass upon the party of another."

Your dogs shouldn't have to conform to your declarations of independence against controlling your dogs. Leash your pooches.

Next, during What the Hell Were You Thinking Weekend takes notice of unknown chucklehead(s) who tethered his or her sweet-looking, mixed-breed dog to the disabled parking sign in front of the Rainier Valley Rite Aid around 10:45 am. You left your dog without water in an unshaded spot with an eastern exposure in 88-degree weather (93 degrees "real feel").

What the hell were you thinking?

Seattle Municipal Code 9.25.081(F) says it is unlawful to "tether or confine any animal or in such a place as to cause injury or pain not amounting to first degree animal cruelty defined in RCW 16.52.025, or to endanger the animal." This means you.

Heat stroke as a defense carries little weight to the law... and doesn't help a dog afflicted with illness, injury, or death because of your careless, negligence or recklessness.

The National Weather Service's "excessive heat warning" remains in effect in the Puget Sound area until 10 pm Monday, August 16.

Why would you let your dog run unleashed on Genesee?

It was a little after noon today. A dozen dogs were in the entering and exiting process at the Genesee Dog Park.

Imagine our amazement when we saw a dog -- a puppy, actually -- scampering without a leash along the park perimeter on South Genesee Street.

As Jay Leno said to Hugh Grant during the famous 1995 Tonight Show interview after the star of Four Weddings and a Funeral was arrested on solicitation charges: "What the hell were you thinking?"

In the chaos of the comings and goings of the off-leash park, the untethered puppy could have -- and fortunately did not -- run into the path of a car traveling along South Genesee Street. Anybody familiar with the area knows that drivers have lead-foot tendencies when driving on Genesee. If the producers of the Tru TV program Speeders hooked up with the Seattle Police Department and ticketed the offenders, the Citizens for Off Leash Areas (COLA) would have revenues for a lifetime of poo bags. Does this sound like the place to let your canine go off-leash commando?

No dog owner wants to see any puppy splattered on the pavement on Genesee. The city of Seattle has a mandatory leash law, Seattle Municipal Code 18.12.080(B)(12) (Animals running at large prohibited):

Any person who takes a dog into an off-leash area must have physical control of the dog by means of an adequate leash when entering and leaving the off-leash area and must maintain voice control over the dog at all times while in the off-leash area.

As Paulie Walnuts would say, "Capiche?"