Post #186 - The Bully Dog Incident

On Tuesday, 19th September 2023 I experienced an awful incident during a volunteering session at one of my local parks. A group of us were tending the rhododendron beds which are located a fair distance away from the park lodge; there were four men aged between sixty-five and seventy-one plus myself, the only woman. It was during the lead up to the XL Bully Dog legislation.

At about 10:45ish two light skinned mixed race guys plus a young child of about five or six years of age approached us with a juvenile puppy Bully XL dog on a lead. They were apparently "touring the local parks to show people what nice dogs they were really." At first one of the gentlemen in our volunteer squad, let's call him Steve, went over to pet the huge thing, agreeing, saying that "yes it's the owners, not the dogs - all that kind of bullshit etc." The blokes wouldn't leave. They kept hanging around trying to provoke a reaction. I had been cowering at the back, hoping that they'd piss off, but they wouldn't. Eventually, I blurted out: "I hate those dogs - they're bred for violence."

Cue: absolute mayhem. One of them starts threatening me and my colleagues step in to protect me - I'm literally cowering behind the council branded brown bin. I'm yelling "I'M AUTISTIC!? LEAVE ME ALONE!?" One's filming the whole shebang on his phone, stating that it's going out live on Instagram. The other shouts at me to stop swearing in front of his autistic son, which is rather ironic and quite frankly, why is his son not in school as it was term time.

The Estate Manager, let's call him Dave, turns up and remonstrates with  the men, who by now are accusing me of attempting to attack his dog with a garden fork. Yeah - like I'd do that to a weaponised dog that could literally rip my throat out!?  One of the blokes calls for my dismissal (er, I'm a volunteer!) stating that I am a "disgrace" or suchlike.

I depart, in tears. My would-be groomer, Mr X, drives me home where my husband, Mr C, and son, Master C, are watching TV (my son is off sick from school). Mr X sees my house's interior for the first time - it was untidy and as such, I have always hugely disliked visitors. He later delivers a bunch of flowers. I was supposed to have attended a guided bat walk that very evening, but I get a refund as I'm too distraught to return.

The next day, which was Wednesday, Mr C and me are choosing bathroom flooring in the next town when he receives a call from Dave, the Estate Manager. Apparently eight or so blokes and their Bully XLs have turned up on masse. They are calling for my sacking!? Err ... I don’t work there!? Mr C confirms that I won't be returning and Dave states that it's a shame that he's lost a member of his team. We then drive straight to the Police Station to report the incident as a Hate Crime.

I don't actually return until March 2024, but keep in touch via WhatsApp with Mr X, who really steps up his grooming campaign after Mr C's sudden death on 1/1/24.