In Which the Cruel Prey On the Weak

Only a short post today, as I am busy busy busy, running around on errands and trying to squeeze some work in the meantime.

This morning I saw a woman hit her dog in the dog park.  The woman was very large, and the dog was very small.  The dog clearly did not want to be in the park, as it was sticking close to her owner and growling at every dog that came close.  One dog would not back away, and so this woman's dog snapped at it.  It wasn't a fight, but it was clearly building to one.  At this point the woman grabbed her dog by the scruff, picked it up and smacked it hard on the head three times, whap whap whap.  Then she paused for a few seconds, looked at her dog, and smacked it again.  I gasped.

This dog did need to be disciplined, as it was quite possibly starting a fight, but it did not deserve to get hit.

1. The dog didn't want to be in the dog park in the first place.  It's all very good and well to want a dog that likes to go to the run, but some dogs just don't do well in places like that, and you have to take your cues from them and know not to drag them into situations they don't want
2. Hitting the dog only makes it afraid of you.  It doesn't teach the dog what it did wrong in the scenario, it only teaches it that you might hurt her.  Dogs are not so different from small children, really, and just as with small children, where do you think the dog is learning violence from?
3. You have a very small window of opportunity to teach a dog a lesson—something like eight seconds after it commits the act you want to correct.  So pausing and then hitting her doesn't even have the excuse of being a correction; it's just cruel, plain and simple.

After the woman hit her dog the last time, she threw her back to the ground, and mumbled, "stupid bitch."  Then she watched the dog cowering, and yelled, "STUPID BITCH!"

Horrifying.  Disgusting.  And unfortunately, there's not much to be done.  I told the woman not to hit her dog, but she ignored me.  Much like parents with children, dog owners don't like to be told how to raise their dogs.  Unlike parents with children, it's a lot more difficult to report abuse.  Sometimes you just have to sigh and remind yourself that the world is a much better place than this.