When the weather is at this perfect balance of mild and dry, I love to walk as the rest of the year is pretty much a no-go for a comfortable stroll.
I live in the area of Vergina, and my neighbourhood provides a nice, challenging walk of various gradients, but I fear that I will have to abandon my walks, and it's not because of dirty, cracked pavements or the cars that park fully on them… the spanner in the works comes in the form of sharp teeth and loud yapping…
There seems to be a common practice for dog owners in my area to allow their pets the freedom of coming in and out of their home, something which I am vehemently against. There are several streets where I have recently had yapping dogs follow me down the road, nipping dangerously at my heels. So far, these have been small dogs and puppies and if I truly felt the need to defend myself, a swift kick would do it (not my preference I hasten to add.)
But whilst I am an adult, small children playing in the area could end up the victims of a dog attack. Furthermore, there are several large and vicious looking dogs that are straining to get out at me, and there is a very real possibility that they could achieve this with enough pulling, barking and ferocity.
Dog lovers won't like what I am about to say, but I say it out of fear of an inevitable attack one day. No matter how loved or part of the family you feel your dog is, at the end of the day you can never, ever guarantee that it won't turn. There I said it! Dogs are animals and by their very nature they are unpredictable and work on a survival instinct that will kick in rather suddenly and violently where there is a perceived threat – real or otherwise. I therefore implore dog owners to keep their dogs on their premises. It is not right on any level to allow them the freedom to roam around the neighbourhood unsupervised for the safety of others, and the dogs themselves who are at risk of causing or becoming victims of a car accident.
My sister has a huge, soft, fuzzy, marshmallow cloud of a dog. He is a smiley, gentle, good-natured Samoyed and everyone who knows him knows he is the loveliest, friendliest thing. But, even she tells people with children to exercise caution, despite the fact she trusts him implicitly because, as she says, 'at the end of the day he is an animal.' I think she has the right attitude of love for her pet, balanced with caution, that at the end of the day, no animal is truly under the control of a human.
I am both sad and angry that I may not be able to walk around my area without feeling fear and intimidation from dogs that can come and go as they please, and I can only hope and pray that their yapping and nipping at my heels is the worse anyone in the area will witness or experience… but what if it turns out not to be?
First appeared in The Cyprus Weekly - 15/02/14
