PLEASE keep your pet on a leash!
I needed to stop in at a colleague’s office this afternoon on a matter of mutual interest. Parking in front of the clinic, I headed for the front door, where I was greeted through the glass by the cutest little brown dog, about 6 inches high. Barely cracking the door open, I asked her owners, “Do you have a good grip on the leash?”
“Oh! She’s fine,” said the young lady with the dog, at which point she flung the door open, revealing the sweet pup to be totally leashless, not 50 feet from one of the busiest streets in our town.
I cringed.
Earlier, at my own office, I had to warn two pet owners not to let their dogs touch noses, as one had a cough and neither owner knew the temperament of the other person’s dog.
Without a leash or carrier, your pet is vulnerable to attack by a bigger and/or more aggressive dog. Once the fight starts you may be helpless to rescue your pet without a lanyard with which to extract him from the battle.
Or, he might be attacked by an aggressive airborne disease.
When you enter your veterinarian’s hospital, treat every other animal there like a leper. There is nothing to be gained by interaction and potentially much to be lost.
And there is no shame to your pet’s wearing a leash attached to a collar or harness.
It could be a matter of life and death.
MMLEPER
MMLEASH
