CHL-holder writes about protecting family from wild dogs in park

Wed Nov 17 08:11:49 2004:

I can’t help but comment on what I’m reading about this issue of parks banning guns. If I’m attacked by man or beast while I’m in the park system, would they agree to be responsible/ liable for injury that occurred on their property because I was denied my right of personal protection?

Recently, my wife and I took our dog for a walk in the park, and encountered a small pack of dogs which we had known to be collecting there over the last few days (we walk our dog there every day).

When first spotted, they were about 50 yards away. As we continued to walk, our dog became alarmed, and began barking and acting like something was very wrong. We looked back at the pack, and saw that the Alfa male was trying to slip up behind us.

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I told my wife to keep going, because IF something bad happened, I hoped she would be safer. I looked back again, and the Alfa male (I’m guessing shepherd-lab mix, weighing 50-60 lbs.) was now 50 feet from me, with his head down. He WAS coming after us.

What to do here, and where will the results lead? Because we go there every day, we have the phone number of the park office, and I called them as this dog approached. Their response? “We know about the dogs, we called the warden couple days ago.”

I wasn’t going to wait days for a dog warden – we could have lost life or limb right there and then! I pulled the .22 I am licensed to carry and fired a shot into the ground in front of him, hoping to scare him off. Thank Heaven it worked.

Thanks to having my concealed carry license, nothing bad happened to us. I found my wife and dog in the parking lot, and got to go home and eat lunch with my family, instead of spending the day in the hospital, with a veterinarian, or worse.

Rick