Rich and Sue Cairn: Protect your dog and others

We love dogs. Yet dogs bite 4.5 million humans each year, mostly children. Eight hundred thousand need medical attention. Dogs also bite other dogs. Being bitten is terrifying. If you think that your dog would never bite, then know that the American Veterinary Medical Association says: “Any dog can bite: big or small, male or female, young or old.”

Rabies vaccine shots cost $17,000 and four doctor visits. After insurance, we just paid $3,000 out of pocket due to a dog bite. If a dog bites someone but they can’t identify its owner — or if the owner gives false contact info, as happened to us — then the victim must get a rabies shot. By the time symptoms appear, rabies is 100% fatal.

There is a simple solution. Keep your dog on leash when you leave home. Follow local rules. (At Amethyst Brook, dogs must be on leash after 10.) Go to a dog park. If your dog doesn’t socialize well at the dog park, then it definitely needs to be on a leash other places. If your dog is anxious on the leash, then it is anxious off it. Anxious dogs bite.

We love dogs. We want them, and people, to be safe. Dog owners need to respect others, four-legged and two-legged.

Rich and Sue Cairn

Amherst