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Friday, April 15, 2005

We have some feral children that run around the neighborhood here, not on leashes or anything. My experience with children is that they are seldom experts on animal/human communication, and sometimes things get pulled or smacked or roughly handled that really shouldn't, so I don't like the kids around Oscar when I'm not there ready to jump in if Oscar misinterprets their behavior as time to play-fight or worse.

One of them, about 4 years old, rode his little bike (with training wheels) up to my car when I got home and said "today your dog was nice to me." Now, that's great, but the "today" bothers me a little. So I said "well, his job is to protect me, so don't go up to him or go in his yard, because he doesn't think you're supposed to be there and he could really hurt you." and he's nodding and saying "okay" and walking up to Oscar in the yard.

So I beat him to the dog, and held onto him, and the child pet him. Oscar was a trooper, but got put in the house as quick as I could. A few minutes later I glanced out the window and the child is pulling at the dog's leash, so I stuck my head out the door and said "don't play with that, the rope is broken in some spots and I don't want you to hurt your hand" and he said "oh, I won't hurt myself".

He's going to be a man when he grows up. I can tell.

This child was completely alone. Normally there are older kids who watch the little ones, one in particular that Oscar loves, and on occasion, there are even... I think they're called "parents" who watch the kids. Those don't actually keep the kids out of the street or anything, but they feign embarrassment when I have to swerve to keep from hitting a bike or something.

Now, Oscar likes kids. He's seen all the kids in the neighborhood, and we're talking about a dog that starts crying when he hears a baby cry on tv. Nevertheless, he's incredibly strong, and very enthusiastic with his play, and could very easily hurt someone without meaning to, and if someone does something Oscar sees as threatening to me or his home, he could very easily hurt someone very badly and mean it.

And while I don't think someone who looks like this

is going to hurt the child, I'm more than a little peeved that there wasn't an adult to be seen (I don't even know which house this guy belongs to) that I could say "don't let him near the dog".

GB wasn't home, but I'll talk to him tonight to see if he has any suggestions, short of barb-wiring the yard....

And I obviously got the camera situation straightened out, so here are the pictures from yesterday's post. Just mentally insert them. Thanks.






And in case you didn't see, this comment was left on a slightly older post:
This is Andrew Jordan's mommy-- I just want to say thanks to all who have sponsored 'Drew' in his first MS walk-- we are very appreciative and it is such an important cause for us. Besides Doug, I have a cousin in Indiana that has MS, as well. Thanks so much for your generosity; it warms our hearts to say the least.
Sincerely- Holly Williams

7 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Feral children"

I like that moniker. Its been my experience that unsupervised kids are usually the first ones to get into trouble. Not just juvenile mischief type stuff but injured or, heaven forbid, abducted. Judging by the remarks the young lad responded with he has a bit to learn about humility and confidence not to mention a respect for other peoples property. I'd be willing to bet that that childs parents, as unattentive as they are, wouldn't hesitate to cry foul if the little rebel got hit by a car, bit by a dog, or wondered off down by the creek and became another 'statistic'. I'll talk to him, first as a neighbor, then as a policeman and if that doesn't work I'll call child services and report neglect.

GB

2:52 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Feral children is TOO perfect. I have true horror stories about the accusations against my dog(s) by those Loco Parentis types. You are wise to be cautious. On another note, sorry to hear about your health problems (belatedly). Trust I will still see you at MSW?
Kendra

7:05 PM  
Blogger Catherine said...

"Feral children" is perfect!!! Our old neighborhood was crawling with feral children, happily in this one the kids are all well supervised and I know all the parents.

I think if I were you I would turn into the bitchy neighbor and hunt down these parents and tell them their kids are NOT allowed to trespass in the yard, period, and start yelling at the kids to stay out. I'd rather be the Mean Lady than take the chance that some kid will poke Oscar with a stick in the eye and he will defend himself.

7:36 AM  
Blogger Leslie Shelor said...

I keep my dog under strict control, just because even adults don't seem to know how to behave these days. I worked at a busy tourist store where people let their children run wild and I could never figure why they didn't realize what could happen with cars, misbehavior in a confined environment and strangers!

Hope your health issues are resolved soon!

8:54 PM  
Blogger Donna said...

I love the "feral children" term. We looked at a house once and the realtor told us there were 42 kids on the street--in other words trying to show us it was a "family friendly" neighborhood. Well, the only children I like would be the one child to whom I gave birth!! That realtor lost himself a sale that day!

A friend of ours had a "feral child" trespass on her property and drown in her pond. Tragic, but the family sued my friend for causing harm to their child. We are talking about a pond in the center of several acres of fenced land with "No Trespassing" signs all around. The kid was trespassing. *sigh* I'm sorry he drowned, but the responsibility there was with the kid, not our friend.

2:46 PM  
Blogger Donna said...

I love the "feral children" term. We looked at a house once and the realtor told us there were 42 kids on the street--in other words trying to show us it was a "family friendly" neighborhood. Well, the only children I like would be the one child to whom I gave birth!! That realtor lost himself a sale that day!

A friend of ours had a "feral child" trespass on her property and drown in her pond. Tragic, but the family sued my friend for causing harm to their child. We are talking about a pond in the center of several acres of fenced land with "No Trespassing" signs all around. The kid was trespassing. *sigh* I'm sorry he drowned, but the responsibility there was with the kid, not our friend.

2:46 PM  
Blogger vi said...

that is a very cute puppy butt....
I think feral kids should go the way of feral anythings...
taken to the shelter until their parents decide to finally find them
that being said......
dh was feral as a kid, his parents moved and didn't bother to take him!
( he was in school at the time they moved.....)
he had WONDERFUL parents....NOT
vi

6:51 PM  

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