Conflicts in the life with pets

I have been a veterinarian for sixteen years and through all this time I have been the witness of many conflicts among people, due to the pets. The fights or aggressions between cats and dogs, night barks or meows, etc, make that the neighbours fight or that the complaints, between the passers-by, who feel damaged by the action of a pet animal, arise.

As in each side of life, there are a lot of rules and laws about having pets, in fact there have already been articles doing with this matter in this paper, however, the behaviour of our pets is ruled mainly by their instincts missing that rationality that their owners should have in order to minimize as possible the disturbs made by their pets.

So, some of the practical recommendations to avoid the problems caused by our pets would be:

1. To avoid that the dogs are free in spaces where there are more animals or people (parks, promenades, etc.).
2. Do not allow your children to touch or play with unknown cats or dogs.
3. If your dog has been aggressive with animals or people before, walk it out with the muzzle.
4. If your dog has fought before with a neighbour’s, avoid meeting him/her. Reach an agreement to do different walks or to walk them out at different times.
5. If your dog barks all the time, when it is alone or against any external stimulus, especially by night, ask advice to a professional.
6. If your dog is on heat, extreme the measures and avoid she escapes from home and take her out always with the lead.

To sum up, let’s have common sense and be responsible. In my opinion, the way in which a pet is had is the prolongation of the owner’s personality. So, if someone is not well-mannered when driving, and does not behave politely or show no respect for the others, he/she neither will do in a responsible way with his/her pet. The other day, I watched how a dog, which was walking free, jumped onto a Yorkshire which was tied up to a baby’s chair, in the tumult, both the baby and the grandma fell down to the floor, nobody was damaged although it was something disagreeable which could have been avoided if the aggressor dog would have been tided up. The serious thing was that the owner of the animal who provoked the incident eluded his responsibility and went away, instead of helping the baby and the grandma or apologising.

You cannot imagine the amount of incidents the kind I have been witness of due to my job: “your dog has raped mine”, “that’s yours which has provoked him, the so bitc...”. Please, let’s behave with the rationality our pets miss. To live in community is not so difficult with a little respect, sensibleness and well-manners.