Feral dog pack attacking public in Los Cristianos

[aspasia]

The situation has not improved from the post I made HERE last year. The dogs have attacked passers-by, some of whom have needed medical attention for bites. The Ayuntamiento says it has taken three of the pack off the streets but increasing numbers of dogs are being seen abandoned, and they are biting people.

One of the most recent was in Avda Londres, the road that goes up past Victoria Court 1, when five barking dogs approached a pedestrian. "I stayed still", said the victim, "thinking they'd go away and not bite me, but it didn't happen. One of the dogs bit my leg and I had to go to the health centre to get a tetanus injection and to have the wound seen to".

The Servicio Canario de Salud (SCS) confirmed that the woman who was attacked had an inflamed bite when she attended the centre, and that they gave her medical attention, an anti-tetanus injection, and antibiotics.

The woman denounced the incident to the Guardia Civil in Playa de las Américas, where she added that the dog which bit her was rummaging in the rubbish of nearby bins in Avda Londres.

Arona Ayuntamiento said that it had captured three abandoned and dangerous dogs using traps with food inside. The Concejalía de Seguridad has contacted the Cabildo to try to find a definitive solution within the jurisdictions of both administrations, said the council.

[Janet]

Arona Ayuntamiento has decided, some might say "at long last", to deal with the problem of abandoned and stray animals in the municipality. The council has called for applicant companies to tender for the job of dog catchers to find and remove dogs from the streets and thereby offer a service that has been loudly demanded by many in areas that have seen a great proliferation of abandoned animals. The call for tenders was published in the Boletín Oficial de la Provincia (BOP) on Tuesday. JA

[Guanche]

I't all well and good getting them off the street, but what happens then? The worst the economic crisis go's on the more dogs are going to be abandoned. With Ayuntamiento's barely able to pay for basic human needs and staff not being paid the up keep of refuges will be very low on the agenda, if being on it at all!  I fear that, sadly, these dogs will be put down through no fault of their own.

[Janet]

The Cabildo has cancelled a controversial authorization that would have allowed these stray dogs to be shot in the Montaña de Guaza area. Consejera insular de Medio Ambiente, Ana Lupe Mora, yesterday revoked the resolution after what she called the "social alarm" that had been generated by the announcement that the dogs could effectively be hunted and shot on sight. She reiterated that the Cabildo's intention was to resolve the problem of people threatened by feral strays rather than to create such distress, and that the measure had anyway only been intended as a last resort. It is, however, now cancelled, and Arona will resolve the issue by means of the dog catchers as I posted previously. JA

[Janet]

Whatever their plans are for these dog catchers I hope they get it together soon because last night another woman was injured. The attack happened in C/. Nido in the Montaña Chayofita area above Avenida Suecia and the dog responsible is said to be an abandoned one. I don't know whether this implies it was a dog unrelated to the Guaza mountain pack, or whether they're spreading their activities more widely these days. The woman, 73 years old, had an open bite wound in her leg: her injuries are said to be "not serious", but were sufficiently serious to require emergency services assistance. JA

[Michael]

What can someone carry legally to defend against these dogs?

I imagine that strolling down the street with a baseball bat might be frowned upon.

[poker]

A walking stick should be enouf to deter them  i would have thought ?

[Janet]

I don't P. On this occasion it sounds as though it were one dog, and not in the area of the feral pack, but I wouldn't want to face down half a dozen or so large angry dogs with just a walking stick ....

[Michael]

Not that I fancy finding out the hard way but I wonder how the pack would react if you dropped one?

[Guanche]

Not that I fancy finding out the hard way but I wonder how the pack would react if you dropped one?

Thing is Michael you have to pick the right one first time. The alpha dog or bitch, and you have to make sure you hurt it enough that it won't come back, because if it does! Also if you kick a dog in public, even if it's eating your leg, be prepared for the wrath of dog lovers!! I speak from personal experience.