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Police charge Mission Hill man with whacking dog in the head with a baseball bat
By adamg on Tue, 07/21/2020 - 12:20pm
Boston Police report a man who has had issues with his roommate's dog allegedly responded to the dog attempting to nip him by going up into the attic and getting a baseball bat with which to bash the dog in the head.
Police say the man admitted striking the dog with a bat, at 165 Hillside Ave., but denied that he did so in the head. Witnesses said that while the dog tried to nip the man, the dog did not actually make contact, whereas the man did. He was arrested on a charge of cruelty to animals, police say.
Police add:
The witnesses stated the dog let out a loud yelp before fleeing the residence frantically.
Police say they joined the owner in a search of the neighborhood for the dog, but without success.
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Comments
I hope the dog is not badly injured.
The article doesn’t say.
Somebody rescue that poor dog
Somebody rescue that poor dog away from that house and into a loving, stable home.
Hey buddy
Do what you can to avoid a jury trial.
Sounds like the dog had a bad
Sounds like the dog had a bad feeling about this guy, and was proven correct. I hope it's OK!
if he was bit....
really bad call by this guy to whack the dog. but if he had been bitten then it would definitely be a huge liability for the owner. animal control + quarantine is a minimum requirement for an incident, which is barely a slap on the wrist, and doesn't even consider if there was some kind of medical issue after a bite.
sounds like a very poor reaction by the person in question, but it's also not cool to have no control/training over your dog in that situation too.
serious question - if the guy were to be bit, and then hit/kicked the dog, then could he still be arrested? i am guessing no.
it's a fine line with this type of incident.
Which raises the question ...
What was he doing when he was bitten? If you are in a household with a dog, they rarely go after you unless they are being antagonized.
Completely without enough info
An abused dog in a new home with new people will bite the new people. The new people aren't antagonizing the dog. If anything they're trying to help but the dog comes from an abusive situation.
This scenario happens all the time. The solution inst to use a baseball bat obviously. However, declaring a dog biting people as needing to be antagonized is absurd. There are plenty of reasons a dog might bite someone out of the blue.
And yet...
...there are dogs that are aggressive and territorial and will nip people without provocation. My neighbor's dog is like that. She loves me and has never bitten me, but she's currently wearing a muzzle because she's bitten too many people.
Which raises an important question
If a large vicious pitbull is charging you (or your kids) but has yet to actually bite you, are you required to wait until it starts ripping apart your flesh before taking any offensive action to the dog? That doesn't seem reasonable.
no excuse
There’s no excuse for doing that to the dog. Not a fine line at all. If the owner of the animal doesn’t have control over it, that is a police and licensing matter. Next time the dog attacks he should call animal control at the BPD.
In this case, it’s not clear that the dog attacked him at all. It sounds more like a warning shot to me. That might’ve been more than a human in question deserved.
add a child into the story
i don't disagree at all.. but if there was a kid - would you still not react, feel the owner had no responsibility, and then wait until well after an incident for police and licensing?
i'm a dog lover and dog owner with kids in the city and i can tell you with 100% certainty that i would react (to both dog and owner) immediately. without question or hesitation. my dog was bit a couple of months ago and i kicked the aggressor squarely in front of his owner and a police officer.
i'm not justifying this guy hitting the dog in this way. not at all. but if a dog is aggressive towards people (that you live with) then you also have a responsibility to set the dog up for success.
all that said, maybe the guy is just a d!ck so who knows...
a kick out of fear is one thing
that may or may not be justified, but going up to the attic to fetch a weapon?
that is something else.
Kicking a dog in retaliation isn't a good idea, either.
Whacking the dog over the head with a rolled-up newspaper or magazine is whole other matter--one won't hurt the dog by doing that. Hitting the dog over the head with a baseball bat?!? That's going way too far, imho.
So you viciously kicked a dog in retaliation.
You shouldn’t be allowed to own a dog.
Judge Gilbert Sullivan rules...
My object all sublime
I shall achieve in time -
To let the punishment fit the crime -
The punishment fit the crime;
And make each prisoner pent
Unwillingly represent
A source of innocent merriment!
Of innocent merriment!
Who said retaliation?
Kicking a dog to deter an ongoing attack is not "retaliation"
Key part of the story ...
The guy went to get a bat out of the attic and then hit the dog with it. Doesn’t sound he like was fearful, sounds more like he was mad the dog nipped at him and decided to get the best of him.
I agree people need to control their dogs, but people don’t also get to beat dogs without repercussions.
Wow!!!
The guy who went to get a bat out of the attic and then hit the dog with it sounds like he's seriously in need of an attitude adjustment, and to learn some self-control. He has absolutely no business around animals. Here's hoping somebody reported him to the MSPCA.