Our eight-pound rescue dog, Shlomo Hercules Pepper, has written an appeal to the Malibu community, begging them to provide a simple partition at the Trancas Dog Park, so that he and his eight-pound brother, Lottie, and 20-pound sister, Lucy, can play in peace, without fear of attack by large dogs. Please allow us (David and Denise Pepper) to translate Shlomo’s soft-spoken bark.
Dear Malibu Community, before I appeal to you humans to partition the local dog park, please allow me to share some of our traumatic experiences that involved big dogs in Malibu. Over the years, me and my brother and sister (we’re all rescue doggies) have been attacked on four different occasions, and for no apparent reason, unprovoked, by big dogs, each in the range of 80 pounds. Each time, we had to be taken to the Malibu Animal Hospital for emergency treatment of our severe (at times, profusely bleeding) wounds, most of which were life threatening. In all four attacks, the owners of the big dogs (Malibu residents, and you humans know who you are) stated that their big dogs were merely “playing” with us. They also had the audacity to claim that their dogs are the most friendliest, docile animals, and this was the “very first time” anything like that has ever happened. One owner even claimed that she was trained in the medical field. She went on to say that, since I was still breathing, but not bleeding, I was perfectly fine. Tell that to the vet, who did X-rays and blood tests to evaluate my dinky frame, as well as order injections and prescription meds to relieve the pain (he’s a very honest and ethical vet, who does not recommend tests arbitrarily). He told my owner it was a miracle I did not have broken bones, internal bleeding or contusions, which usually occur in such attacks. Yet, I was in shock and trembling. I suffered and whimpered for two months, even when barely moving. The owner of the large dog never owned up to her responsibility and has never even paid the bills that my owner had to pay for her dog’s vicious attack, not to mention her lack of control of her animal.
All that said, could you people please, please, please install a partition in the dog park? Since the dog facility already has two independent entry locations, even a small doggie (i.e., me) can reason that, at some point, someone obviously had the foresight to consider adding a simple, straight fence to separate the dog park into two equal areas. Every other dog park that my owner took us to has a partition. I’m sure that the powers that be would not want to be accused of dog discrimination. It doesn’t take a doggie rocket scientist to figure this out. Big dogs and small dogs should have the same canine rights regarding peace and tranquility.
Shlomo Hercules Pepper
Translated by David and Denise Pepper