A man assaulted my puppy and legally theres nothing I can do about it
I have a ten month old Miniature Schnauzer called Pepito (Peppy), he is as any teenage boy would be, he is a bundle of energy always pushing the limits. As all Schnauzers are, he is very vocal. He tells us when he is excited, he tells us when someone is in the property and he tells us if he is confused. He even barks at my sister when she comes and visits, and he loves her, i.e. he is just a vocal puppy.
I live down the road from Fairview Park, one of the few parks in Melbourne where you can exercise your dog off the lead. Peppy has been visiting this park since he was 3 months old and is very well known, before he was desexed he was christened the name "Happy Humper".
Two weeks ago I was in the park and was watchful of Peppy as he doesn't like children riding scooters, as most small dogs don't as the vibrations and noise scares them, plus there are usually screaming children attached to them. I was talking to another dog owner and was watching peppy who was 20-30 metres away from me sniffing around for food. A man passes me who is powerwalking and swinging his arms around, windmill style. So what does Peppy do? He goes up to this fulling grown man, probably in his 40s and starts barking at him. Let me tell you this, Peppy does not have a deep scary bark, he has a bark that matches his teenage age, it is high and breaking. Peppy has also never bitten anyone or attempted to. Even when he was full of hormones before his procedure he never was aggressive to any person or dog.
I started yelling at Peppy to "Leave it!", which means stop what you're doing, whilst I was running over to him. Before, I could stop it, the man kicked my small ten month old puppy in the face, not a ninja kick, not a full blown attack kick but still it inflicted enough pain and shock that Peppy ran into someones backyard and hid. I confronted the man and told him not to kick my dog. I'm assuming he didn't think a young girl would have the guts to stick up to him, but hey you mess with my dog (or anyone's pet really), and I will come at you with the full force of my fury. Amongst me yelling at him that a) you don't kick my dog b) you don't hurt any animal c) my dog was not attacking you, he dog me that my dog deserves to be lashed, yes, as in whipped. I informed him that lashing and any behaviour like it, is animal cruelty and is illegal.
I understand that people may not like being barked at by dogs, I myself was terrified of dogs until I was 13 years old. However, my dog did not attack you, I would rather you yell at me then hurt my dog in anyway. Ever since this experience, I have been wary of going to the dog park, as this man in question lives opposite me. I have changed my schedule to take Peppy at a different time, but hey this man somehow goes running every time I take Peppy down there.
This dog park is across the river from the Main City Trail, a running and cycling track that goes along the river, it is the perfect place for all the runners jogging their way through the dog park. I understand that hey you are allowed to run in Fairview Park, but I ask that maybe you consider those dog owners with dogs still trying to get used to the world. Just as I consider you when I go on the City Trail, and have to keep my dog on a tight lead as I get angry runners passing me and cyclists coming so fast that they've clipped me several times. Hopefully Peppy doesn't remember the experience, but for me it has caused me to be wary of those who don't see animals as deserving the same respect as humans.
