I rarely lose my temper these days.  I think I am too old to let myself get worked up.  Today was an exception.

For the second time a neighbor’s pit bull put its teeth into the side of my dog Sun’s neck.  Sun did what she did about two years ago.  She remained still, only growling a bit.  She seems to know not to fight in general and not to fight from such a position.  I stepped back the full length of the leash.  The female of the house realized what her dog was doing and hollered “Brindle” repeatedly and came running.  She picked up the smaller white dog and continued hollering as she retreated with the small dog.

Her hollering brought the man of the house out.  About ten feet short of the street scene he was able to call Brindle off.  We were on the side opposite of their home and aligned with the home that comes before becoming aligned with their house.  We were more than fifteen feet from an imaginary street zone that would have fronted their house.  Just like last time.

The sun was out on this freezing day and Sun and were taking our usual short block, one-mile walk afternoon walk.  I was enjoying the blue sky and the melting snow.  Just like the last time, the attack was a bolt from out of nowhere.  I should have looked as I rounded the corner to glance toward the house as I usually do.  I have intercepted my dog-walking on occasions when I saw that the pit bull was out, a rarity.  It is usually to be heard barking indoors.  If I see the dog,  I turn around.

What caused my mini-volcano to emerge was the lack of contrition or apology.  As I began to move away, I stopped to complain loudly about their not controlling their dog.  “I have right to walk down the street!” I hollered.  Then I kept on going for three or four sentences. “What kind of citizens are you?” came out as a scream.  I think I said something about dangerous pit bulls in my third utterance.

The lady went ballistic on me.  I countered with “What if my dog or I had been hurt?”  (Sun was fine.)  Because Sun was not injured, she saw no wrong.  Neither the lady or the man expressed regret.  I think that is why I was so angry.  They should have been apologetic.

The man said what he said he had said last time.  “If you would just let your dog come play with Brindle, all would be fine.”  I walked away speechless.  I do not remember his saying that last time when Brindle attacked when I was walking with Brian Nakosone and Sun.  Today’s episode was nearly a carbon copy of last time.

I do not plan to bring Sun into their yard or even close on the street.  I have no appetite for a dog play date with Brindle. A hundred yards later brought me to the corner and Ragin Lane.  My thoughts were centered on my rare outburst.  I rarely lose my temper, but I am glad I did.  I hope some his close neighbors witnessed the little street theater that I acted out.  Losing my temper felt strange but therapeutic.  Maybe humans are designed to lose tempers from time to time.  I used to pretend to lose mine with a class at school.  Doing so seemed to wake them up a bit, though any teacher who regularly loses his temper would not last long in teaching.

Pit bulls are dangerous.  Their defensive owners are dangerous.  In a skinny minute I would put my dog down if it were malicious.  A dog is an animal.  People should not be threatened by the malicious breed. In November an elderly man was attacked by two pit bulls belonging to two separate owners in York as he decorated his yard for Christmas.  He spent about two weeks in the hospital and faces more surgery.  Mayor Eddie Lee conducted a hearing to try to enact an ordinance governing malicious dogs.  It went nowhere as pit owners came out 100 strong to defend their breed.

Rare is the day when there is not a story about a murder in the Charlotte area.  Rare is a week without a story about a pit bull attack in our area. Guns are tolerated.  Pit bulls are tolerated.  I just do not see how so many can be blind to common sense.  Putting pit bulls and guns ahead of citizenship is not rationale.  What goes on in their heads?  I suppose Brindle was cuddled and given a treat.  I am OK and Sun takes aggression in stride, but lunatics inhabit suburbia.