Dog attacks raise his fears (not pit bull)

http://www.seacoastonline.com/news/11172006/nhnews-ph-r-dog.fight.html
Dog attacks raise his fears

By Karen Dandurant kdandurant@seacoastonline.com

RYE -- Perkins Road resident Robert Kennedy fears that one day a dog allowed to run free in town is going to attack and hurt his small friend, a friendly, gentle Chihuahua named Bella. "Whenever I walk her, big dogs run up to us, but the thing that stuck and made me speak out happened a few days ago," said Kennedy. "I was walking Bella about 5:30 p.m., when this big black Labrador ran up to us and tried to go for her head. I scooped her up and the dog jumped up on me, putting his paws on my shoulders trying to get to her." Kennedy said he was really frightened either he or Bella would be hurt.

He said he vaguely remembers hearing someone call the dog off. "But it happens all the time," he said. "Bella used to love to walk down Central Road because of a little stream there, but dogs are loose there all the time so we don't walk that way anymore. It happens on the beach, too. I hardly ever see dogs leashed at the beach."

Perkins is asking Rye dog owners to obey the leash law. He said he knows that most dog owners are responsible and that the trouble comes from just a few. "But it is a problem for us," he said. Acting Police Chief Kevin Walsh said his officers do enforce the law when they see a violation. He said he will contact Kennedy and work with him to resolve the problem. "I know that officers will (pick up an unleashed dog) when they see it and bring it to Sagamore Animal Hospital," said Walsh. "... We get calls and if there's a violation, we will warn or ticket the person." Walsh said the town's leash law indicates that dogs must be on a leash or under the immediate control of the owner/guardian of the animal. "I have tried telling people when I see them outside and their dogs are loose to use a leash," said Kennedy. "All it gets me is a dirty look. They say they have invisible fences, but the dogs run right out into the street, so I hope they didn't spend a lot of money on them. Also, I'd hate to see a dog get hit by a car." Kennedy said his mother sometimes walks Bella, and that makes him nervous for both of them. "I'm not sure if she could scoop Bella up quickly enough, and I worry she or my mother will be attacked," he said.