Bullying The Bully-Type

(I adopted a dog about two months ago. He is a very large pitbull/bully-type dog. His face is littered with scars, and he has cropped ears, because he was rescued from a dog fighting ring. Despite this, he is the cuddliest, friendliest dog you’ll ever meet. He loves other dogs and people; his tail is always wagging. I decide to take him to the dog park for the first time. At this park, they tend to have one person overlooking the dogs. Today it’s pretty full, and I enter the park and keep my dog on his leash for the first ten minutes to see how he reacts. At first, he pulls on the leash a bit, excited to meet the other dogs, but I tell him no, and he politely sits next to me. After determining it’s safe, I unclip his leash and he takes off running, excitedly greeting some other dogs and quickly joining them in running around the park. There are a few people walking around, petting dogs. There is also a little girl a few feet from her mother, maybe five or six years old. My dog trots off to her, wagging his tail, and gently sniffs her hand. I smile as I watch him, really happy that he’s having fun, when I hear a yelp. The little girl’s mother has taken her purse and hit my dog over the head. My dog comes bolting towards me with his tail between his legs, and to my shock, the woman is chasing him. I stand up, ready to beat the s*** out of this chick. I’m a woman, and I’m fairly short at around 5’5”, but I also have a lot of tattoos and spend a good bit of time in the gym.)

Woman: “THAT F****** PITBULL BIT MY KID! I’M HAVING IT PUT DOWN! GET THE F*** OUT OF THE WAY!”

Me: “You have about five seconds to get your dog and your kid and get the f*** out of here before I beat the ever-living s*** out of you.”

Woman: “That’s it! I’m going to call the police!”

(She actually gets out her phone and calls them. The person overlooking the park has run over. I lean down and comfort my dog, who’s trembling — especially badly, since he used to be abused. She hit him so hard there’s a cut on his face that is bleeding quite a bit. I turn to the worker.)

Me: “My dog went to sniff her kid, tail wagging, and she hit him over the head with her purse. Really hard. Something must have been sharp on it, because he has a cut. Do you have any bandages or something?”

Worker: “Yeah, I do. I saw everything, too.”

(He runs back to his little building and returns with a cloth. I press it to my dog’s head. He’s been whimpering and trembling nonstop, and I feel awful for him. After about ten minutes, a police car arrives. Two police officers exit, guns drawn.)

Woman: “OVER HERE! THE RABID DOG IS OVER HERE!”

(The officers see me comforting a terrified dog and put their weapons away, confused. One has a taser out as they approach.)

Officer #1: “Ma’am, we got a call about a rabid dog. Where is it?”

Woman: “Can’t you see? It’s right there. It’s a vicious pitbull. All of those f***ers should be burned alive. Vicious dog breed.”

Officer #1: “Ma’am, what did this dog do?”

Woman: “He ran up to my little girl at top speed, all snarling and foaming at the mouth. He lunged at her and bit her.”

(The first officer glances at my dog, who is still shaking but wags his tail.)

Officer #2: “Ma’am, we need to see your child.”

Woman: “WHY? DON’T YOU BELIEVE ME?!”

Officer #2: “Ma’am. Show us the bite. Now. If you care about your kid and she’s injured, we need to give her medical attention.”

(The woman continues to stall. I cut her off.)

Me: “My dog happily walked up to her daughter, tail wagging, and very gently sniffed her hand. This woman ran over and hit him over the head with her purse so hard he has a cut.”

(I lift the cloth to reveal the bloody little cut.)

Officer #1: *to the worker* “Can you confirm either story, sir?”

Worker: “Yeah. The dog was being perfectly nice. This woman attacked him for no reason.”

Officer #1: “All right, ma’am. You’re under arrest. You’ve assaulted this woman’s dog and placed a false 911 call. Not only that, but you just lied to us.”

(The woman began sobbing as she was placed in the police car. The entire conversation, her child had been unattended and was playing with a dog — a pitbull, to be exact. The kid was picked up by family, and I pressed charges. She had to pay for the vet bills for my dog, who needed two stitches. I made sure to treat my dog extra well. Despite this, he still loves strangers. Even today, I get comments and looks when I’m out with him, like, “Vicious dog,” and, “That thing should be shot.” Luckily, he recovered quickly and is back to his happy old self.)