May 26, 2008
Happy Memorial Day
Mom & Dad, married 30 years and still in love.
Self-Portrait, resembling my mother.
Our Family Photo.
Family Togetherness, sitting around a fire pit.
Our Memorial Day Weekend kicked off Friday night with Family Game Night in the living room. Doug, Dawson and I played monopoly (the version with electronic debit cards) and had a blast charging each other exorbitant rents in the multi-million dollar range.
At one point my husband declared himself “Donald Trump With Great Hair” and I laughed so hard I nearly peed. Dawson was having the time of his life, simply because rolling dice is one of his favorite things to do. I cannot count the number of times he rolled box cars and I challenged him to a game of 6-5-4, but then my brilliant child said, “Mommy, I can’t count to 654.” Point taken. Maybe next time.
Saturday was my lazy day, but no sooner than I wrote those words on this blog, the Bonded Messenger guy stopped by to deliver my Avon products (yes, I sell Avon. It’s a fun hobby, really.) and we had an incident.
Murphy escaped from the house when Dawson opened the front door, and he was so excited that a stranger was here, he just wanted this guy to pet him. However, my very happy, hyper dog jumped up (Murphy is just a little thing, mind you) in his excited state, and Mr. A-hole Delivery driver decided it was okay to kick my dog, not once but several times, and Murphy bit the man’s thumb to protect himself.
Imagine my shock and panic as I’m trying to get my Murphy back in the house without getting kicked in the head by Psycho Man. As I’m yelling, “Stop it! Don’t kick him, let me get him!” this guy is dropping the F-bomb (in front of Dawson, no less) and threatened to have my dog taken away.
“Now I gotta go to the fucking cops and report you.” Psycho Man yells. My neighbors next door were outside in their yard, witnessing the entire thing.
“If you didn’t kick him, he wouldn’t have nipped you.” I shrieked. I felt terrible for Murphy and terrible that my dog bit someone (which has never happened before, other than playful nips when we play with the ball in the backyard). Instantly I felt tears stinging my face. I got Murphy in the house and grabbed a bandaid for the nut job, but he backed out of the driveway before I got back outside.
Freaking out, I call the Sheriff’s Department to tell them what happened, and the dispatcher tried to calm me down saying they have no authority to take a dog away. She patched me through to the Humane Society and I explained everything all over again to the Humane Officer. He reassured me that since Murphy is up-to-date on all his shots and is licensed, and because this is a first incident, everything is fine.
Two hours later the Humane Officer called back and said that the guy went to the hospital for the bite. Apparently, this guy is from out-of-town and was screaming at the emergency room receptionist “for taking too fucking long” and was hollering at her when she asked for his insurance information. According to the officer, he insisted that they send the hospital bill to me, but because this man is self-employed he is SOL. Thank goodness, I wouldn’t pay it if they did bill me. That man abused my dog!
The Humane Society officer told me that when he got to the ER to take the man’s report, he said that he had spoken to me already and wanted the guy’s version of the story.
“The first words out of this guy’s mouth were ‘She probably said I was kicking the dog…but ah, that’s not true. That dog attacked me for no reason.’” Humane Officer told me. “Right away I knew he was lying and he seemed like a crazy person. Why would he say that right away? He definitely looked guilty. He kept swearing at the nurses and they had to call the liason police officer to keep the guy in line.”
When the Humane Officer told Psycho Man that my neighbors witnessed the whole thing, he changed his story not once, but twice. In any case, Humane Society protocol is that no matter the circumstances, when a dog bites, he’s automatically put into a ten day quarantine (poor Murphy, being punished for defending himself).
So, now I have to take him to the vet three times this week and keep him in the house for a week and a half. Regardless of the fact that I have a fenced in back yard, I have to take him outside to do his business on a leash. I was so mad, I called the company this guy was contracted with and filed a complaint. I never want to see him on my doorstep again.
Needless to say, after all that commotion, I was elated when Doug got home from work and said his co-worker (and best buddy) had invited us over for a burn-out. Visions of S’mores, fire roasted hotdogs and wine coolers danced in my head. It was just what I needed. Save for the monstrous mosquitoes that decided to attack my sweet flesh, I had a great time. (I sprayed myself with enough bug spray to kill an army of insects, and still got a few bites.)
Sunday afternoon was spent at my parents’ house. We had a cook-out and I became the designated four-wheeler operator, giving rides to the kiddies on the trail my Dad created through his very wooded back yard. The mosquitoes at their house were a million times worse. I actually considered bathing in Deet.
After a few days of chaos, I’m happy to hang out at home today. In a few moments, Dawson and I are heading out for a long bike ride (because we can’t take Murphy for a walk like we planned.) Poor little dog. I’m thinking of renaming him The Boston Terrorist, because he’s being treated like a dangerous threat to society. Stupid quarantine.
How did you enjoy your holiday?
Stuck in the house for ten whole days. Poor Murphy. :-( (More weekend photos here and here.)
Posted by Dana @ 10:15 am • The Mommy Files
RSS feed for comments on this post.
TrackBack URI
May 26th, 2008 at 12:04 pm, seven Says:
Oh, that’s so terrible about your dog. I wish people would think… Duh, if you kick a dog, it’s gonna defend itself! I’m glad the police & Humane Society people realized that that guy was a wack job.
May 26th, 2008 at 4:54 pm, Dana Says:
Yeah…I’m glad, too. My little Murphy is the most lovable dog you could ever meet. That guy was insane.
Danas last blog post..Happy Memorial Day
May 26th, 2008 at 5:00 pm, Cheryl Says:
Poor Murph. Poor Dana. I would have been a puddle of snot and tears myself. The Donald Trump crack made me scroll back up to see his picture, and then I laughed harder.
Cheryls last blog post..The Boy Who Has My Heart
May 26th, 2008 at 5:22 pm, Dana Says:
He’s a funny one, that Doug.
May 27th, 2008 at 9:10 am, Roxanne Says:
That poor dog! Anyone with common sense can tell when a dog is being aggressive and when it just wants to play. That driver was definitely in the wrong! He had no right whatsoever to kick Murphy, and I hope that he gets fired from his delivery job. I’m so glad that everyone sided with you on this, but I’m also sad that your dog has to be quarantined for so long.
Hugs to all of you!
Roxannes last blog post..What a weekend!
May 27th, 2008 at 11:56 am, capello Says:
dude. what an effin’ psycho! i hope he loses his job.
capellos last blog post..So Far Away (So Far Away), Far Away for Far Too Long