You love your child and you'll protect them no matter what. However, if that danger involves angry strangers, it may be wise to move away from them as fast as you can, along with your children. After all, some people can be unpredictably violent. Recently, disturbing footage from China highlights this point well, showing a dog owner beating people uncontrollably. Among those people happened to be a mother, who was with her two young kids.
Police investigate case of dog owner beating people
Reportedly, the man had an argument with a woman as he had let his dog roam around, and the woman was worried about her children. However, it quickly escalated into him physically beating people -- the mum included -- in front of her two young kids.
The 23-year-old mum, known only as Xie, narrated the scary experience in a post on social network 19lou.com.
Exactly what happened?
As stated in Xie's post, one Saturday evening she was taking a walk outside with her daughter, aged 3, and son, aged 6.
Without warning, an unleashed dog approached them. It began barking and chasing Xie's son.
Her son tried to run away from the dog, and at some point hid behind his mum.
Just as the dog's owner came by, Xie, in order to protect her children, kicked at the dog. The dog's owner, a 31-year-old known only as Jin, was infuriated, and began a verbal argument.
"This dog is my son, why did you kick him!?" shouted Jin, pointing towards Xie.
"Your dog has shocked and was barking at my son. It was bad enough for you to unleash him, couldn't you have acted with a bit more responsibility?"
Their argument didn't take long to escalate into violence. After hearing this, CCTV footage showed Jin pinning Xie onto a nearby car, where he slapped her and delivered a few punches to her head.
An eyewitness, known as Mr Wang, came to Ms Xie's aid. He tried to separate the two, but the dog owner didn't stop beating people, verbally abusing them too.
However, Jin didn't stop there...
Apparently, Ms Xie asserted that even after the fight ended, Jin came back as she was trying to get away, worried about her kids.
CCTV footage showed that Ms Xie was halted in her tracks and assaulted yet again.
This time, Jin pinned Xie onto the road, punching her again. Her son stood there helplessly, while her daughter began wailing again.
Another eyewitness, Mr Sheng, came to help separate the two. He was angered at Jin's discriminatory insults, and taunted him to fight him instead.
Eventually the police intervened and the man was arrested.
Ms Xie, meanwhile, suffered some serious injuries, including fractures to her fingers.
She further explains in her post that her current job in the IT industry needed continuous keyboard use. The fracture from the incident has badly impacted her work.
Tips for responsible pet ownership
Parents, the whole chain of events stemmed from the fact that the dog owner couldn't control his dog properly in public, especially around kids.
Responsible pet ownership includes training and socialising your pets correctly so that they don't bite or intimidate people.
Here are some ground rules you can follow:
- Choose your type of dog carefully, and don't buy from impulse.
- Don't leave your pet alone when young. Let them socialise with other people and pets as a young puppy. That way it'll feel calm when nearby other people or animals.
- Treat your dog well - don't make it feel threatened as you raise it, as this could make it defensive and aggressive.
- Teach your dog basic instructions. "Sit," "stay," "no," and "come" are all simple words that allow dogs to understand their owner's expectations. These instructions can also be made part of fun activities which can forge trust among pets and their human owners.
- Run and walk with your dog often so that it's healthy and is mentally stimulated.
- Refrain from playing very excitable games, such as wrestling.
- Leash your dog in public areas. Be sure to have an adult who is capable of controlling and restraining your dog walking it. Others will also see that you are in control.
- Don't bring along too many dogs - preferable less than three - in public areas.
- Maintain your dog's health. Ensure that he gets his rabies and other vaccines on time. Also, do routinely check for parasites and get veterinary care when needed. After all, your dog's feelings impacts its behaviour.
References: asiaone, pearvideo, AVMA, NSW government
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