PET PEEVE #1

I like dogs. Truly, dogs are great. It's their owners I don't care for.

I was walking north on Nickel Avenue the other day when I saw two hipsters biking towards me, their big black dog galloping beside them, lead trailing in the street. I rarely shout things to complete strangers like, “keep your dog on a proper leash!” Only this time I made an exception. Sometimes the moment just moves you and you have to go with it. Anyway, one of them gave me a stinky look like, who the hell are you to pass judgment on me and frolicking Fido?


He tells me the dog is harmless.


Okay, a) bullshit. I was bitten in the leg by a German Shepard two years ago and the owner was almost as surprised as I was. I don’t care how long you have had your pet, animals are unpredictable things. And, b) what about the dog’s safety? Nickel Avenue sees a lot of traffic. What happens if some irresistible squirrel thing catches your dog’s attention and it goes galloping after it into a speeding minivan? What then, eh?
Big dummies.