I should have gotten a clue about people and their attitudes toward animals last spring when I was out for a drive in the country with my wife and three-year-old son on a Sunday afternoon. It was a beautiful spring day. I saw a groundhog on my left run across the road. I tapped on the brakes so I wouldn't hit the groundhog, but I didn't want to brake too fast because the car behind us was close. The groundhog made it across the road. I noticed that the car behind us slowed way down.
We drove on, and pretty soon I noticed that the car behind us was closer than before I hit the brakes for the groundhog. I could see a woman behind the wheel in my rear view mirror. She stayed on my tail. I saw a little patch of a shoulder when I stopped for a stop sign. I pulled over to let her pass. Instead of passing, she pulled up next to us and asked me if I had happened to notice the groundhog back there. "Yes," I told her.
"Well," she said. "Did you give any thought to braking for him?"
She didn't wait for an answer. She powered up her window and drove off. I yelled, "I did!" but she didn't hear me. I hit the heel of my hand on the steering wheel and cursed. I was mad because this person had almost forced me to make a choice between running over a groundhog and getting rear ended, but she wanted to be self-righteous about sticking up for defenseless animals.
I have to give her some credit. She proved me wrong about one thing; Every few years when we have the controversey about culling the deer herd in the park, I always say that people wouldn't care as much if the park officials said we had too many groundhogs in the park. That woman didn't just care about the adorable deer. She cared about all animals.
I was surprised to find myself confronted about animal cruelty. I think of myself as softhearted when it comes to animals. I can still remember years ago, helping my Uncle Jim on his dairy farm. He told me I should be a monk when he saw how upset I got when he twisted a cow's tail to get her into her stall for milking when she didn't want to go.
A few weeks later, Rose and Michael and I were out for a walk on Easter Day. We saw a dog in a front yard. We decided to cross the street. The dog was on a leash, but I could see that the stake that the leash was tied to was pulled out of the ground. Rose and I did not even have to say anything to each other. We both just started to cross the street. Michael had another idea. He said "Dog!" very loudly. The dog heard him, and began to growl. The growling did not frighten Michael. He just kept yelling "Dog!" and laughing. This got the dog growling louder and running around his yard. Michael laughed louder when the dog got more excited. The dog started barking.
Rose tried to get Michael to be quiet. When the dog heard her yell, "Stop it, Michael!" she lunged for Michael. The dog was a pit bull terrier. I was not fast enough to get between Michael and the dog, but I was fast enough to grab her chain before she got to Michael. Yanking the chain made the dog angrier. The dog turned her attention to me. She jumped at me with her jaws open and went for my neck.
I put my arm up to deflect the dog, and she clamped onto my forearm with her teeth. I fell back from the impact. We rolled around and tussled for a few minutes. It took several tries, but I finally managed to get ahold of the chain again, crossed it under the arm that was in the dog's mouth, and wrapped the chain around the dog's neck. I got my knee on the dog's chest and pulled on the chain with my free hand. Once I had a good grip on the chain, I just had to hold it and keep the dog from getting out from under me. I had to press down hard with my arm and my knee to do this. I kept my grip on the chain and kept on pulling after the dog stopped moving. It seemed like it took ten minutes to cut off the dog's air. I didn't let go until I heard an old guy yelling at me to leave his dog alone.
I looked up and saw the old guy coming at me with a knife. When the man got close to me, I kicked his legs out from under him. I was out of breath from fighting with the dog. The old guy was stunned from the fall for a second, then started yelling about how much his back hurt. When I caught my breath, I got up and pried the knife from the old guy's hand.
Just as I got the knife away from the old man, the police rolled up. They saw me holding the knife. They got out of their car, drew their weapons, pointed them at me, and told me to drop the knife. I dropped it right away. Rose tried to explain to the police about the old guy coming at me with the knife, but they told her to stay back. Another police car rolled up just as the police ordered me to get on the ground with my hands behind my head. Michael thought all of this was great. He laughed and hollered "Police man!" and "Police car!"
The old guy got up and kicked me in the ribs While I was on the ground. Michael stopped laughing, and shouted "No!" Rose ran for the old man and tackled him. The police pulled them apart. They put handcuffs on all of us. Rose put up a fight. She did not want Michael to wander off. The police took the cuffs off of Rose once they got her calmed down. They placed the old guy and me under arrest for assault, and told us that we could talk to a judge.
The cops who booked me told me that the judge was taking Easter Monday off, so I might not see her until Tuesday. Rose and I had both maxed out our credit cards, so I couldn't make bail.
The guys in my tank at the jailhouse saw the bandage on my arm. They figured out right away that I was the guy on the news who killed the dog. The TV news story had an interview with my victim. The old guy who owned the dog, Walter Anderson, got on TV and cried about losing his only friend in the world who never hurt a living soul. The guys in my tank had many questions about the incident, including "Why did you have to kill the old brother's dog, man?" And, "Why did you have to kick that old man?" One guy asked this question in such a way as to let me know that I better come up with a satisfactory answer. It took many tries before they understood that I wasn't out to kill anybody's dog, I just wanted to protect my kid from getting his throat ripped out. They finally understood that I had to do something when old Walter pulled a knife on me. I also got a little respect and admiration for winning a fight with a pit bull terrier.
Rose told me when I got home from jail that when she called my office to tell them that I wouldn't be in, my boss decided to go my bail. Rose told me how she remembered the incident. She said that while I was fighting the dog, Walter came out of the house and saw us. She heared him yell, "Leave her alone! Leave her alone!" He then went back into the house and got his knife. She apologized for not doing anything about it. She said she was busy restraining Michael from getting involved in my fight with the dog.
Rose told me that Michael started asking questions while she was driving him home. He wanted to know where Dad was, and why they put the handcuffs on behind my back, and when was Dad coming home.
Rose also told me about the visit from Britney Klein of Childrens Services while I was in jail. Britney had to check on us because Michael was in police custody while they had the handcuffs on both of us. Rose convinced Britney that she was a responsible parent, and that she panicked for a second when she thought her child was in danger.
Rose told me that the odd part of the conversation with Britney came when Britney asked about me and whether Rose wanted me back in the house. Rose said that she and Britney went around in circles about this. Britney seemed to think of me as a threat to Rose and Michael because of my violent behavior. Rose did not understand this until Britney explained that violence against animals is often an indicator of potential abuse against family members. Rose explained to Britney that I don't hit my wife or child and that I'm not the kind of guy who keeps a dog around so he can kick it. She told Britney that I protected my family against an attack by a vicious dog, and that I did what she expected me to do. Rose said Britney seemed to have a hard time understanding this. She thought that killing the dog was extreme, that I could have protected my family without resorting to murder. Britney told Rose that we should have let Animal Control officers handle the problem.
I thought I was sunk when my attorney asked me why I didn't have Rose call Animal Control and wait until they got there when the dog attacked Michael. Robin Jones asked me this at my first meeting with her. She told me she had a deal worked out with the prosecutor that Walter would drop the assault charges against me if I would drop the assault charges against him, but he still wanted me prosecuted for killing his dog.
Robin talked to me about my case.
As your attorney, it is my responsibility to make you aware of what you are up against, Mr. Wilkins. You seem to think this problem will go away when everyone realizes that you were just doing your job as a parent when you protected your young son from a vicious dog. You probably think that people will think of you as heroic. Some people might think of you as heroic, but the prosecution will try to paint you as an animal abuser.
I started to say something, but she held up her hand for me to be quiet.
People love animals, Mr. Wilkins. It has gotten all out of proportion. Now, you describe yourself as a person who learned respect and reverence for life from your parents. You don't want to abuse any animals, and you don't keep animals because you don't need to. You think if you keep a dog for hunting or to protect your home, you should treat the dog decently. You think if you keep a cat to control rodents around the house, that it is not fair to pull the cat's tail just for fun. You think if you don't need an animal around for any of these purposes, it is extravagant and unfair to keep an animal as a pet. You think that if people don't want puppy mills, they shouldn't buy dogs to keep as pets.
I see your point, but it's not good enough anymore. We have to show that you love animals. It won't help that the prosecution will be able to put your neighbors on the stand to testify that they saw you throwing rocks at squirrels to discourage them from getting in your trash bin. It won't help that they will be able to produce a story that you posted on the internet about how you gave up betting on horse races. Animal lovers don't like people who bet on horses. They don't like people who list bullriding as one of their interests on Facebook.
Frankly, Mr. Wilkins, I don't understand people and their love for animals. I think it's an easy way out. It's pathetic. People keep animals for companionship because they don't want to deal with all of the conflicts and problems that come with having people as companions. When I see people driving around with a dog on their lap, and see the lick marks on the car window, it just makes me ill. I saw a bumper sticker on a car the other day that told the world that the owner of the car loves their granddog. We need to present our case in such a way that a judge will see that you did not have the option of restraining that dog until help arrived. I said judge because I don't think we have any hope with a jury. No one will admit to not liking animals.
I agreed to present my case to a judge instead of a jury. I told Robin about Rose's conversation with Britney Klein from Childrens Services. I told her about the woman who confronted me about not braking for the groundhog. Robin and I agreed that a jury would be likely to have people who think it is murder to kill a dog. Robin told me that she was disappointed that it has to be that way. She wants to make a case to the public that they have gotten crazy with their love for animals. She told me that she has been waiting for a case like mine since she was in law school, and read a story in the news about a guy in Kansas. The people in the town where he lived wanted him prosecuted because he killed his dog and ate it.
"We're not going to win the case if I get on a soapbox, though. Why is it okay to raise a chicken or a hog on your property for food, but not a dog?" Robin asked me.
She went on to tell me about how the laws regarding self defense have changed. You pretty much have to have someone with a stranglehold on you or a knife in your ribs before you can use deadly force to stop the attack. I asked her if having a dog's jaws clamped on your arm qualifies.
"That is the legal point we will argue, Mr. Wilkins. The burden of proof is on the prosecution to show that you willfully killed the dog. If we claim self defense, we will have to show that you had no other option than to kill the dog. They will argue that you could have waited for the police to arrive, and let them remove the dog from your arm."
I found out at another meeting with Robin that Walter Anderson didn't just want me prosecuted for killing his dog, but he filed a civil suit for loss of companionship.
Robin Jones told me that the self defense argument isn't as strong in a civil suit. She said that the burden of proof to show injury was lighter for the plaintiff, and that it's expensive to defend against. She suggested filing a countersuit. I wanted to go through my whole life without suing anyone, but I didn't see any other way.
Robin was still mad at me for talking about the incident with the guys in jail. She told me to keep quiet about the civil suit until it was settled.
I got an acquittal on the criminal charge of killing the dog. The judge had to tell Walter to be quiet. Walter got upset and started yelling when he didn't see a jury in the courtroom. The district attorney told him that it's the defendant's choice to have a jury or not. I think Walter's outburst helped my case. He got on the stand and told how he heard a commotion out in his yard. He went outside to see me strangling his dog. He started to talk about how I kicked his legs out from under him, but the prosecutor cut him off. Robin whispered to me and explained that the prosecutor didn't want Walter to talk about that because the charges had been dropped and it would give Robin a chance to ask him about how he pulled a knife on me. Robin did not ask Walter any questions.
Rose and the first police officer to arrive at the scene gave their testimony. My attorney decided to not put me on the stand. Instead, she called an expert witness. Walter's civil suit mentioned that the dog I killed had a pedigree, and that he lost income he would have had from breeding her. Robin subpeonaed the dog's pedigree. The expert witness testified that even if I had waited for the police to extract the dog from my arm, they probably would have to kill her, anyway. He said that pit bull terriers have a difficult time letting go once they clamp down. Their muscles seize up, or something.
Robin wanted to win the criminal case for killing the dog before we filed the countersuit in the civil case. The civil suit had me puzzled a little. How can a dog be both property and a companion? We will probably sue Walter for letting the dog pull her stake out of the ground, resulting in an injury to my arm and psychological trauma to Michael. Robin told me that she wished we had had a dog with us when the dog attacked. Robin thinks that it will be more difficult to negotiate a settlement with Walter's attorney because Michael was not injured. She thinks we will be lucky if we can negotiate to compensate Walter for the money he lost by not being able to breed the dog I killed. This made me think of a story my dad used to tell about his buddy in the Army who killed a guy while he was on guard duty and the court martial punished him by fining him the cost of the bullet he used to shoot the guy.
I would like to have a trophy of some kind when this is over. I guess I should be content with the scar on my arm and the fact that I managed to avoid killing a groundhog while not damaging my car. I had to kill a dog, but my son got through the incident without a scratch. I want Robin to get me the dog's chain in the settlement.
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