Originally Posted By: antiqueshell
Originally Posted By: Nickdfresh
Most dogs will not attack when dismounted, and if they do, then by all means shoot them in self defense. But that should be the absolute last resort...
There is no way to tell, plenty of dogs attack peds walking slowly or stopped in their tracks.
Bottom line is that the dog owner is responsible in this kind of situation for all consequences.
I said before you have to make sure you have a clear shot before shooting the animal. It would seem that it is a very rural area, and sparsely populated with not much chance of having others nearby. Like another poster said, it is LUDICROUS that the
asinine dog owner has the unmitigated gall to tell the OP to
not come up that public road. This is the problem with many people today, they are forking insane.
Exactly...
Another factor at play here is that many people around here DON'T like cyclists. They are irritated by bicycles on the roads...especially serious cyclists who ride the skinny-tire road bikes like I do. Before the dog got me yesterday, I was also flipped off by a woman in a Cadillac, and honked-at by a pickup truck driver for nothing more than "getting in their way." This was despite the fact that I was as close to the right side of the street as possible, in an attempt to stay out of the way.
Not sure where this hatred of bicycles comes from...most people ride bicycles when they're kids, then give it up when they reach driving age (as I did, then I got back into it a few years ago for fun and fitness). I don't know why they start hating bicyclists, when they themselves, more than likely, had a lot of fun riding when they were younger.
The only thing I can think of is that they are annoyed by the 10-second inconvenience if they can't pass right that second. I can't imagine that sort of impatience, myself. If you're that impatient, you really need to stop and take a deep breath and try to enjoy living life.