What transpired the day after the dog incident OR You're lucky I don't rip your face off

Please read the post previous to this post for complete context on said dog incident



Ok. So I have such serious anxiety from this all day that I hope my fingers and brain do me justice and allow me to type this out coherently for you all...


Around noon I contacted the township to see what were the steps I needed to take to report the dog. I expected to deal with animal control and was very surprised to find that I needed to deal with the local township police. I hate frickin' cops, I really do. I know they're doing their job, but they're so typically dicks and if they're on your side, still dicks. Some aren't so I cant say all least I offend either an officer of the law or a spouse of an officer of the law. The law is our friend.

Yes damn skippy it is, sometimes.

So the cop showed up around 5ish, right around the time I needed to take a run to buy an item from craig's list (another piece to my already large area toddler cage, it's freakin' huge now!) and came to my door. I pointed to the house and said yes that was their car. He also told me to stay put. I went inside. I watched it all go down from my large front windows in a spot that I couldn't be seen and folded a pile of laundry. I could see her hands flailing wildly as she likely defended her dog with whatever line of BS that she could.

I could see her describe the first dog incident where the Urbilly raised his hand at the dog more to say I'm defenseless than to assault the dog. She must have done those gestures six or seven times. Then I saw her gesture continuously about my husband building a dam of compost on our ditch's property line efficiently blocking the flow of their sump pump creating a lake. Hilarious, but I knew it would cause problems when he did it. They called the landlord. I moved the pile. That's the day I went over to make amends about all the bullshit going down and to talk to them about the dogshit in our yard and him being off a leash. She was defensive then, but we worked it out enough to wave at each other, smile and talk smalltown talk.

I really don't want to not get along with any neighbors. If my house is on fire I want them to call 911, really. And the same for me. I don't pay a butt load for rent to be uncomfortable in my own yard. Nor them in theirs. And it honestly pained me to call the cops on her. I hate doing shit like that in these kind of circumstances. But yes, these kind of circumstances warrant the call.

During all of her defensiveness and hand flailing I could see the cop shake his head no over and over. She was so upset and I hate how bad I feel about it, but fuck you. You're in denial about his aggression, you're in denial that he won't hurt us, you're in denial!

After the cop finished she went inside and he went to sat there for a minute and then drove off. What?! The city cops would have come and talked to me right away and told me the low down. Not this guy. Off he went and so off I went on my errand.

By the time I returned I was almost obsessively compelled to go explain my reasoning behind reporting the incident and how much it pains me to have to hurt her, but the welfare of my family is at stake and I just can't risk another incident. WTF? Pains you? Why should you give a shit about her feelings, Donna? He dog could have mauled your kid. I know. I can't help it. I just can't. Everyone's fighting a hard battle and I have an over abundance of empathy where my husband has none (It makes us crazy by the way, $80 of crazy a session).

So over to their door I marched. Moron. Can't wait until it cools down can you, Donna? Always gotta fix it right away. Fuck. It's certainly a flaw in me. Anywoot. This is where it gets good. As I walk up to the door the dog, who is in a kennel, begins to bark and growl at me, of course. She comes out all defensive and I go into this explanation of how I wanted to talk to her before the cops showed at her door, but he told me not to, and how this was such a hard decsion to make and what kind of spot it put me in. Do I defy and not tell my husband so she can have another chance when she's had plenty? Or do I do the right thing? I felt I needed to explain this, to have her hear me as a mother which she is of 2 lovely girls. But the woman couldn't hear me. She could only yell about the fines, and the dogs on the leashes, and that her little dog has bladder issues and won't pee on while on the leash and excuse, excuse, excuse.

She tried to complain that I'm out in my yard after 10 o'clock in my garden making all kinds of racket? Really? The racket from my watering and digging holes keeps you awake? You're not the victim here. Excuse, excuse, excuse. Shit like that makes me angry and I begin to get loud. Then I get pissed. Then it's on. It became her defending her dogs and me defending myself with the law. And her kicking me off her property.

Now. I really should have not gone there tonight. Maybe a little cool down was in order, but when I'm like that, right that is, I can be relentless. I did truly go over to try and smooth it over a bit and let her know how difficult this was for me. Doesn't matter. She called the cops on me.

I looked out the window after H's bath and saw the squad once again parked in her drive. Damn. After sometime, he walked over into my yard and I met him at the door. He was mad at me. Whatever, Keystone, you don't have to live next to these people. I do. I need them to call the fire department if the fucking house is on fire! He told me what she said, I said my piece about the empathy and all that jive. He understood my side, understood that all she could do is defend the dogs, and realized I am an asshole. He went and got her and mediated the situation. Which went a little like any broken down beaten woman's fight goes.

She dragged up hurt feelings and traumas with her family. Her husband shot himself, her daughters are traumatized and in therapy, the dog is their memory of their dad, etc. etc. etc. Don't get me wrong ladies. She broke my heart with the story. Really awful. Really. But i have my sad story too, and it has to do with my son that your fucking dog charged. My rebuttal? We're all fighting a hard battle, we all have trauma in our lives, hell, I'm in therapy, but nothing changes the fact that you can't control your dog.

She complained about the fines that she could get, whining about how poor she is, well bitch, everyone in this fucking country right now is poor so if you don't want the fine, keep the damn dog on the leash. Not that I want her to have to endure a fine, I don't. But what kind of parent would I be if I didn't hold my ground?

I got belligerent enough at some points where the cop told me he now understood how my empathetic chat escalated to a full blown call the cops yelling match. Yeh. I don't handle stupid well. Especially when you refuse to see reality. I feel if I yell it at you that you may hear me, but I really need to learn that stupid can't hear logic.

So. She was not fined, but sorely warned. She went off crying into her yard. I can't understand sometimes why it is so hard to accept responsibility for your animal or your actions in general. At one point the cop said the kids might accidently let the dog out the from and he may get in my yard. And she couldn't really be responsible for that. I looked at him and said "Really? I don't know about that." He honestly asked me if it was my kid, and my dog would I want to be fined. Well, if the dog caused an incident that harmed someone in anyway then yes, fucker, yes I would expect to be fined. My kid, my dog, my responsibility. Wow. Where the fuck do I live? And now the fucking cops have got my name. So much for under the radar. I guess it's time I get involved with the community a bit more so that he never forgets my name.

At this point I need to find my ass a free or super cheap fence on the Craig's list since we're broke and this is a rental and the Urbilly refuses to put money in to the place that we can't take with us. So the search is on. I really don't know what else to do. I don't even want to look at their yard.




Fuck.

Donna Freakin' Reed



xoxox