Bike commuter attacked by dog let out of car

August 27, 2012 • Posted by: Michael McKisson

A bike commuter was attacked by a dog this weekend on his way to work after its owners set it free from their car to chase him.

Cyclist Jimmy Payne was on his way to work Saturday morning at about 4:45 a.m when he noticed a slow moving red convertible on Palo Verde Boulevard just south of Glenn Street.

Payne said the red convertible was moving slowly toward him, but made a u-turn to get in front of him. He said when he passed the car he heard someone inside whistling and then heard the dog bolting from the car.

Payne said in an email that the dog was grunting and snarling when it attacked and was trying to bite his feet for about 150 feet until he was able to outride it.

He said he didn’t get a look at the people in the car, nor did he get a plate number because he had already passed the car and was trying to get away from the dog.

According to Payne, his fiance, who had to ride through the area 30 minutes later, called the police, but were told there wasn’t anything they could do. He said the police suggested calling animal control.

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7 comments

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TelemachusSam

Front and rear facing bike cameras would really help. Try the GoPro at REI.

Red Star

Not to get anybody off the hook, "Close Encounters of the Dog Kind" http://www.ecovelo.info/2010/09/09/close-encounters-of-the-dog-kind/

samG

gun. chinese restaurant. done

Red Star

It's not clear from the narrative whether it was a TPD 911 operator or an actual officer who stated there was nothing that TPD could do. In a way it doesn't matter. There seems to be elements of animal abuse, animal off a leash on public property, and assault. At the very least. Red Star would file a report with TPD's internal affairs division and see what happens next...

Frank Tellez

I have some tips for dealing with dogs. First don't panic. Dogs aren't that coordinated. It's hard for them to bite a moving leg and run at the same time. Two, ride in a s pattern. Dogs run fastest in a straight line so if a dog is coming up behind you ride to the left then to the right of the road and back. It is hard for a dog to change directions in a sprint so every time you change directions he will slow down a little until he gives up. If you are being chased by a pack there will always be one hero dog that tries to get in front of you. Don't let him. Ride towards him then away, then towards him again, away. This is the s pattern. If you do this he won't be able to get in front of you. If he does you are trapped like an animal in the wild. When you tap your brakes so you won't run into him his friends jump you from behind. So run him over. F that dog. He's trying to kill you so kill him first. Speed up and try to run him over. Do not tap your brakes. Don't worry it's hard to run over a dog. What will happen is he will get out of the way and get scared of you. If you do run him over you will crash but he will be F'ed up and that's what he deserves. His friends might jump you or not. Usually they lose their courage if they see their hero messed up. If the dog is coming straight at you speed up like you are in a joust and he will stop, turn around, then chase you. Do the s pattern. The dog will not jump in the air and bite your face. That would be cool, but no. Just ride right at it. Also, there is a law that says dogs must be kept in their yards at all times. If you do run it over you will win in court. Call the cops if you feel like it. All dogs in Tucson must be kept in their yards. I have a new neighbor who's dog always tries to kill me. I've called animal control many times. They get a fine for letting the dog out of the yard. Nothing happens to the dog.

Martha Retallick

Yup, it's the "not our job" shuffle again. You call the police and they tell you to call animal control. And animal control is about as useful as teats on a boar. What you do is contact an attorney and make sure you have the case number before you do. Every 911 call gets a case number -- just ask for it. Then have your attorney notify the city and the county that they could be held liable for failing to protect your health and safety. This is no idle threat. Pierce County, Washington, just got rung up for almost $1 million for failing to protect a neighborhood from loose pit bulls that ended up attacking a women inside her house while she slept. Just do a search on the Sue Gorman case and you'll see what I mean. If you'd like to learn more about dog law, go to: http://dogbitelaw.com/ Here's another useful resource: http://blog.dogsbite.org/ Whatever you do, don't let this incident slide. Shout about it far and wide. After all, we deserve protection from dangerous dogs. BTW, some of us are going to be marching this fall. Join us via: http://walkforvictimsofpitbulls.blogspot.com/ See you there.

Jamie Riehle

Siccing a dog on someone isn't a police matter? Seems like attempted assault to my amateur eye. Sounds like the Tucson police were once again uninterested in protecting the rights of a cyclist. I'll bet that if the same two people sent their dog to attack a child walking on the street that it would certainly be of police interest. Very disappointing, but not surprising, response by the Tucson police. By and large, they still seem to be very much anti-cyclist/cycling.