Mercantile Employee Attacked By Dog
Decatur Metro | May 12, 2009Andisheh forwards a note from the owner of Candler Park’s The Mercantile on DeKalb Ave asking for help.
Good morning, Neighbors. On Saturday morning at 9:15 am one of our staff members, Martine, was walking down the sidewalk in front of San Fran Coffee. A patron of San Fran Coffee was sitting at a table with his big black dog. The dog suddenly lunged and attacked Martine and bit the holy bejesus out of her leg. We had to send her to the hospital for a tetanus shot and examination. Her leg is bruised badly and the skin is broken. The bruise is larger than a softball. There was a 6 year old child walking 3 feet behind Martine who could have been attacked!
The guy was a male in his mid 30’s, medium build, black hair. He drove a black SUV. His dog was a larger breed, possibly Rottweiler or rott-mix with a black coat. The guy said his name was Sam Johnson. He swore up and down his dog had his shots. He jotted down his phone number and BOLTED. I was not present at the time, but our retail manager, Gloria, tried to get him to stay. Martine was hysterical and Gloria was trying to take care of her and the guy got away without anyone getting his tag number. The phone number he gave us is disconnected! The fact that he bolted and gave us a fake number causes us great concern.
We have got to talk to this guy. We need to ensure his dog really does have his shots. We simply want to talk with him. Please put this information out on your hotlines and list servs. Anyone with any kind of info can email me at Janea@themercantileatl.com or call the shop at 404-378-0096. If I am not available, ask for Gloria. Two of the ladies who work at San Fran Coffee know this guy by first name. His name really is Sam and he does come in the coffee shop pretty regularly. I am guessing he lives in the area and someone will know him or know where he lives.
Thanks so much for your help.
Latest from Decaturish
How horrible! =( Coincidentally, on the Oakhurst Yahoo groups, a woman also posted information about her dog being bitten at the dog park. The attack dog was a big black dog…more info: http://mercyattack.blogspot.com/
My guess is that unfortunately the dog has bitten someone else before, so the guy was worried his dog would be put down if this was reported to animal control or the police.
Employee needs to call her county health dept. ASAP to see what needs to be done (or not) in terms of rabies prophylaxis after a bite by an unidentified dog with an undocumented record of rabies vaccination.
There are a lot of irresponsible dog owners out there, including a few really who seem to use children’s playgrounds in Oakhurst as their own personal backyard where they let multiple dogs run loose and unsupervised. People really need to remember that dogs are animals, not babies or children (I have three dogs and I can’t tell you how many heartbreaking possum-mole-chipmunk-squirrell- and yes, I admit it, rat funerals I have thrown because of them and their basic animal instincts). The littlest things can trigger the sweetest, best-trained dog’s natural aggression and we just need to be grownups about what our little pets are capable of.
BTW, please forgive dangling participle.
Why dog owners feel they must have their poochie with them ALL THE TIME AND EVERYWHERE is beyond my comprehension, especially if they do not keep them firmly leashed and under control at all times. I am glad when I see any announcement that dogs/pets are not allowed at festivals and other occasions, because it means I don’t have to watch out for slobbers, bites, and piles of crap along my way to enjoying something in a park or other venue. The dogs are NOT enjoying the festival or the coffee break, they are just there because they were dragged there by their owners or caretakers. As for the license required for dog owners to take their animals to free-range “dog parks,” I don’t see anyone checking for a license, and I have seen several serious dog fights in these parks. People, have some common sense, please!
Since when do you get a tetanus shot after a dog bite?
Dirty wounds require tetanus shots, unless you’ve had a tetanus booster within 10 years.
I was attacked by a stray pit in ’04 and was asked at the emergency clinic when I’d had my last tetanus shot. I had no idea, so they gave me one.
When an off-leash dog attacked me and my dogs in ’07, I didn’t need another tetanus shot.
Any stray dogs reading this: you have until 2014 to bite me before I need another shot.
People who do gardening and other soil-related work also need to get a tetanus shot or booster on the same schedule.
Andisheh, stray dogs are going to have your number now. Better watch your back.
I’m with Carolyn…
Typical scene — me at coffee shop… someone’s dog sniffing me at close range
[owner] ‘Oh don’t worry, he’s just getting to know you…’
As if having an animal sniff me over is otherwise pleasant provided I know I am not going to be attacked.
Just to provide a counterpoint, we often take our dogs to functions in downtown Decatur and elsewhere. While they do not jump on or harass anyone, they do tolerate (and seem to enjoy) the attentions of an endless stream of kids and adults who ask (or sometimes don’t) to pet them. They’re also good about pooping before we go, so that’s not an issue (the one time one of them did poop in public, we immediately picked it up).
This story proves that there are certainly irresponsible dog owners out there, but that’s not justification to stigmatize every dog or every dog owner.
I’d rather be attack by a dog in Atlanta than by a human in Atlanta. Those humans can be killers.
I’m a dog lover, but I feel that Martine needs to get that guy to pay for her hospital bills AND the dog needs to be put down. Any dog that jumps and bites like that for no reason has got problems and will do it again. It stinks, but it has to happen.
Has the dog and its owner been found yet? Hope so!
If you get bit by a dog, you should just shoot it and kill it.
End of story, and the dog can be tested to see if it’s rabid…
Actually, I’m not sure you can test for rabies in a dead animal, so it’s better not to kill them. If they haven’t had rabies vaccination, they need to be caged and observed for 10-14 days (I think that’s the procedure). Rabies vaccinations don’t need to begin immediately after an animal bite, there is some delay allowed for that, as I understand it. I have been bitten by dogs 3 times and by 1 hamster, and none of them had rabies, thankfully. As for whether or not you could read Decatur Metro from prison, Andisheh, I think Charles Manson has his own website, so probably you could. But you would miss living at home, so nix the gun solution until there’s a really good reason for it.
Actually, the only way to test definitively in the laboratory for animal rabies is to euthanize the animal and test the brain. Whether or not a dog has been vaccinated, if it stays alive, it has to be quarantined and observed for a sufficient period of time (around 2 weeks, can’t remember how much) greater than the incubation period of rabies is in dogs to make sure there’s no sign of rabies. For most wild animals, there’s no clear incubation period or signs of rabies, so you have to just kill the animal and test the head. Some wild animals don’t get rabies or there’s no rabies for that species in the U.S., so you don’t have to do anything.
I deserve to get bitten for rescuing my frail, old. leashed dog from a mauling by loose dog?
I’d tell you what I think of that remark, nelliebelle1197, but Decatur Metro deletes those sorts of comments.
Andisheh, what was your wrist doing in the dog’s mouth? If your dog was leashed and under voice command, you should have been able to end the dogfight without causing yourself bodily harm.
My dog was a big dog and under voice command but I didn’t take him places where I knew poorly informed and oblivious dog owners would collect. So we didn’t go much to festivals or dog parks or hang outside the coffee shop. decaturdeconstruction’s comments are more disturbing and inflammatory. really, is that yet another reason to own a gun, to shoot poorly behaved dogs? what a culture.
Hey, DM, I did say I overstated! I was sort of being sarcastic, not serious, but obviously that doesn’t come out too well in posting… damnable intertubes. Why can’t you read my mind?
Ah, there’s that difference between spoken and written language again. (And, yes, I know–I’m an ass.)
I tried that same approach back in my dating days. Didn’t work too well then, either.
It’s not the DOG’s fault — it’s irresponsible dog owners I am talking about. I would never stigmatize any animal for its natural behavior, but would be in favor of dealing forthrightly with any dangerous behavior (such as this biting dog that is being discussed). I have owned plenty of dogs during my lifetime, of several different breeds, and I don’t remember ever taking any of them to a place where we were likely to encounter other people at close distance. A walk down the street or in a park or on a trail (on a leash) is quite different from entering a crowded public space and expecting whoever is there to accept and accommodate the animal’s unpredictable behavior. Please think about this some more before you take your dog to downtown Decatur and public events. Just because people say something polite doesn’t mean they aren’t thinking otherwise…
If I spent my life obsessing about what every person I met was thinking, I’d never leave the house.
Children are unpredictable. So are a lot adults, frankly, especially when they’ve been drinking. Should they steer clear of downtown as well?
You obviously never met me.
Reductio ad absurdum
@CAROLYN
Sorry to here you being so negative about dogs in general, but one of the reasons I, and Im sure many others are attracted to oakhurst and areas like it, is because its so dog friendly. You should not have a dog if you not willing to spend a lot of time with him or her. Dogs are social animals and are less happy when they left alone, not when they are “dragged there by their owners or caretakers” as you seem to think.
jfm
So, you mean when my neighbor’s dog charged and attacked my dogs, and I got bitten on the wrist breaking up the fight, the correct response would have been for me to return home, fetch a gun, and shoot my neighbor’s dog?
That makes perfect sense — way more sense, in fact, than the conversation I had with them where they apologized sincerely and promised keep their dogs on leash.
End of story! Justice served!
I wonder if they’d let me read Decatur Metro from prison.
Actually, you shouldn’t break up a dogfight like that period. It’s dangerous and you deserve to get bitten.
I think the other poster is actually talking about a dog that jumps up and attacks a person with no visible provocation. When dogs fight each other, there is usually a provocation; we just can’t always tell what it is since we aren’t dogs.
Yowser!
The gun solution was decaturdeconstruction’s, not mine.
Andisheh, yes, I realize that the gun was not YOUR suggestion. You did the right thing to rescue your dog from its attacker and “have a talk” with the owner of the other dog.
Ditto. Nelliebelle’s comment is completely inane. I’m hoping something just got jumbled between thought and keyboard.
Au contraire, I love dogs. It’s the irresponsibility of SOME dog owners that ticks me off. Here are the names of the dogs I have owned and loved, from childhood to the present: Peggy, Patty, Bingo, Wendy, Charlie, Jake, Greta, and Chekhov. If you think I feel negative about dogs in general, I wonder how and why I cared for and loved all of those dogs?
No, actually you both are inane for speaking without knowledge. Once again, when you own a pet, it is your responsibility to know how to handle that pet and other pets who may be aggressive towards yours. I have a dog with with doggie Aspergers, so i have actually read up and worked with trainers on how to handle aggression.
You are never supposed to break up a dog fight by putting your hand anywhere a dog’s mouth. You are actually supposed to grab them by the hind quarters and drag them apart. Another option if possible is to try to throw water on hose them down. Getting near the mouth is the very last thing you should do. Any trainer worth their salt tell you that. In fact, a quick internet search will tell you that. I perhaps overstated, but you, Andisheh, were being unnecessarily snarky yourself.
OK, cool the jets people.
Even though I do know the safer way to break apart a dog fight, I’m not sure if in the heat of the moment I would perform it correctly. And nellie, I’m pretty sure you started this by saying “you deserve to get bitten” instead of something like “you’re more likely to get bitten.”
I wasn’t aware of dog fight karma. Is there an Idiot’s Guide I can pick up?