Leash Laws for Kids
Glindy and I were shoe-shopping at
Wal-Mart last night. Things were going pretty well, with the minor
exception of Glindy walking a bit wider of me than I'd like in the
face of on-coming shopping carts.
As we we were standing in the checkout line, though, a toddler came
rushing up to us, screaming and waving his arms wildly, clearly
intent on reaching Glindy. While Glindy stood quietly, taking this
in calmly, I had no intention of some maniacal child traumatizing
my dog.
I stepped in front of Glindy, blocking the child with my body, and
held my hand out in front of his face. "No!" I said firmly. "Don't
touch the dog!" This unsupervised and persistent child tried to
circle around me, but I kept in between the child and my dog, and
continued blocking. Eventually, he gave up, and wandered off.
I have *no* idea where this kid's parents were during this
exchange. It seems surreal to me that I have to keep a
well-trained, well-behaved dog on a short leash in public, while
feral offspring of our planet's top predators run amok.
Most people won't admit it, but I'll bet leash laws for children
would be well-received by the general public. Anyone else want to
start a petition?