Something happened to one of my beloved chihuahuas earlier, and I had to ditch my appointments today and tomorrow morning with almost no notice (all ECCIE fellows, coincidentally) and rush home to my place northeast of Conroe, praying for my dog and hoping I wouldn't get stopped for speeding.
Some new people moved into a rental near my little cottage in the woods, where my 6 elderly chihuahuas (ages 14 through 16) live with family members who care for them when I'm at my Houston apartment. One of the new neighbors was walking with her dog (unleashed) in front of my house. This woman saw the "beware of dog" signs on my fenced yard, saw my pinchy-hooter little old guys barking in mass behind the screen door at her dog, and evidently thought this was hysterically funny. She wanted a closer look at my pups, so she OPENED MY GATE and came into MY yard, leaving the gate open behind her, so naturally her dog follows her in. (I normally keep the fence gates padlocked, but they have to be left open on the days the lawn is mowed, like today.) Her dog races up the steps to my porch, gets all crazy and frothy-mouthed going at my guys, who are having fits at this invasion, my family is trying to calm everyone down and pull the little guys back so they can close the inner door while yelling at the strange bitch who has no business on the property to get out of the damned yard, but she's too busy LAUGHING at the spectacle, and then her frickin' out-of-control dog TEARS THROUGH the screen door! My chi wee's pour forth and the fight is on. (This sounds humorous, but I'm actually teary-eyed writing it. Still so upset I'm shaking.)
Anyone who's ever been present at a dogfight with multiple dogs knows how difficult it is to separate them. All canine hell is breaking loose, neighbors are coming over to see what the fracas is, and a chihuahua scream pierces the air as my chocolate chi Truffles, the toughest one of my lot who's defending the others, is grasped in the bigger dog's jaws. A blur races across the street and through my open gate, and another wail is let out as this new entrant into the fray jumps in, drags the first dog off Truffles and chases it, and it's owner, into the street and back up the hill to their own house. He comes back and lays down outside the fence (gate now closed) and WHINES pathetically, my wounded Truffles limps over and he licks her comfortingly through the chain link. (All this is related to me by family and neighbors who witnessed the events.)
There's blood and dog saliva everywhere, Truffles has to be rushed to the doggy ER with puncture wounds to her right leg and shoulder. The police and animal control are called, charges are threatened to be filed, my family on the bitch for trespassing and for the damage her dog caused my property and pet, the bitch wants the owner of the dog across the street who "viciously" attached her arrested and is threatening to sue ME, and the police just took reports and told everyone to calm down, go home, and get lawyers. Animal control is investigating and trying to decide which dog to impound, but so far HER dog is still at home!!!!! Huh, WTF? (And I note that the bitch obviously doesn't worry much about her dog, who, according to another neighbor, was also evidently wounded but not taken to the vet and is in the bimbo's back yard with bloody matted fur on it's haunches. This neighbor is calling animal control again tomorrow morning to report the lack of medical treatment as abuse. I feel sorry for the pooch living with an ignorant, uncaring idiot.) Probably all going to be one big, stinking legal mess. My baby is spending the night alone in a cage, attached to an IV, on painkillers, with numerous stitches, and this is a BAD thing for a 15-year-old chihuahua to recover from. Looks like she'll be alright, eventually (please, please, please, dog gods, be kind to a hurt geriatric chihuahua), but my vet bill will be hundreds of dollars, and I bet I'll never see a cent reimbursed, and will probably have to cough up money to fight any spurious lawsuits from the woman, whom I fully intend to beat the living crap out of should I catch her alone walking the neighborhood at night.
Anyway, I apologize to the gentlemen who I had to frantically call with a pitch of hysteria in my voice and cancel with little explanation. Sorry, and I hope you understand. Since I have no human children, my chihuahuas are my fur-kids.
I also want to make one other point here:
The dog who attacked my chihuahuas was a spaniel mix. The dog that rescued them was a full-blooded pit bull. ANYONE who has an issue with pits and proclaims the entire breed as worthless, dangerous dogs who should be put down will have to fucking answer to me first. My hero dog's name is T-Rex, and I'm buying him a t-bone.