Should My Dog Be Put Down?... by The Vegan Entrepreneur

One more bite and we will put your dog down! Is what a girl threatened me with today.

Our Dog, Lilly, comes from Romania. She's about four years old and has been with us for about 7 months.

She's been living on the streets for the first year, God knows what people did to her. Then taken for slaughter. There are just too many street dogs in some countries.
After being rescued by a Dutch girl from The Netherlands, who saved 130 dogs from the slaughterhouse, found sponsors and put them all in a shelter.

Fast forward to about a month ago. Lilly walked loose in the park, like every night. She always stays close to me and really shows her boundaries. She also can be very jealous, but so far I've seen, never anything aggressive. Until that day.

I was playing with Samba (fake name), a dog from one of the ladies in the park. Samba is the cutest dog you can imagine, the type of dog that you normally stereotype as aggressive but she's the opposite.
We were playing together and Samba was really happy and playful. That got a little bit too much for Lilly and she snapped at Samba, leaving samba with a big scar on her forehead and a little bit of blood. Also, she likes to keep her distance a little bit from Lilly.

Now, Yesterday!
Before I tell you what happened yesterday, let me tell you about our regular night walks these past weeks. We arrive in our local park, full of dogs, it's paradise! But, we keep running into this woman with 5 maybe 6 dogs on a leash. They always bark aggressively towards Lilly.

Yesterday we came back from a big, long walk in the forest and Lilly, as always, is without her leash, walking close to me. Then one of the lady's dogs (a Galgo), came storming at Lilly. Pushing herself way further then Lilly likes. Lilly runs away, a second dog from the same lady (also a Galgo) came running and pushing Lilly. She defended herself and in the process, I just discovered after our night walk with Lilly, hurt one of the Galgo's.

I assume the lady has been waiting for me because of today we were pretty laid and she already sounded angry from the start.
She directly told me that my dog was aggressive (she bites, yes), she spent all afternoon at the vet. Her dog had a big fever and that this is already the second dog Lilly had bitten.

That's true. She did.
The first dog, 100% My fault. Not even Lilly's.
I knew she was jealous but I never saw where her limit was.
Now I know.
I prevent anything from that happening until I know it's safe.
In 99% of cases, excluding tumors that can distort the brain or anything sick, my dogs actions are always my responsibilities.
I allow how far I let my dog go. I allow if my dog can be free or can't be free.

If I don't know my dog good enough. That's my fault, not the dogs.
And the same goes for every single dog owner in the world.

But, the second dog. Absolutely zero fault in that.
I feel sorry and sad for the dog. I'm one of those sensitve vegan's obviously. I showed my concern, asked her if her dog was okay and then she started to blame Lilly for her dog's problems.
She screams: "It's the second dog, one more dog and they will take the dog away from you". And she walks away...

Off course, I go after her.
Why is it that most people walk away from an argument after starting one? It just doesn't make any sense...

I tell her that this was not Lilly her fault.
She might have caused the bite, but she didn't cause the fight.
She was defending herself.
It's like me and my brother. He used to hit me, then scream my mom and by the time my mom turned around, she would blame me. Then my brother would laugh behind my back and point a finger at me.

Yes, I hit my brother, but he is the one that causes a problem.

Her dog attacked my dog. My dog defends.

I'm sorry her dog is hurt, but really, why are so many people so unreasonable and lie to themselves?

For every argument, she came over the top with something so unreasonable. Which is something a lot of people actually do, all the time? Whenever I have her in a corner and she just has to admit something, she magically jumps out by saying the first thing that comes to mind.

She talks about a medical bill of 150 euro. I ask her: "It's it about the money?", she says no. She doesn't want my money.

I ask her what's the problem then?

She answered: "The problem is that your dog already bit two dogs and one more dog and she will be taken away from you when we all file a complaint".

First of all, I have no idea how the law actually works. I really hope it's not that easy and I have some faith in our political system... But, you never know. People still do things today that I think should be forbidden and they are seen as standard... So how animal rights are sorted out, I honestly have no clue. It's not what it should be, that's one thing I know for sure.

So, back to the girl.
I tell her that it's her dog that caused it. Her response, guess what?
She says that I tell her, her dog should be put down.
You see the logic there?
How can I discuss or come to an agreement or anything?

She walked away, screaming something else I couldn't understand.

So what's the takeaway? Please, everyone... Speak your minds. Speak your truths, be proud of your opinions but also be humble enough to understand that there are so many things in this world that you don't know anything about.

Be strong, but be open. And if you want to start a discussion, then sit down and even if you are wrong, that's okay.
Talk it out. In most cases, you will see it's not all that big and live goes on. Don't let your fears break you by losing control of the situation and potentially saying things you will regret.
Things that could end a friendship, a relationship or a business deal that you really want.

Always take a step back, analyze, process, and then answer.

It might not come naturally to everyone but I'm not sure it comes naturally to anyone. Riding a bike didn't come naturally to anyone, you learned it. Reading didn't come naturally, you learned it.

These are all skills.

And if you want to live a happy life.
Having people around you that you feel awesome with.
And not always go into these endless and draining discussions that don't bring you any result.

Then start your journey today.
Learn the skills you need to control your emotions.
Don't let your emotions run you and get results in life.

Goodnight everyone