Ill take you to court! Your dog went for my child! the woman shrieked, bursting into the garden, her face twisted with fury. Clutched in her arms was a tearful little girl, her dress rumpled, a faint red mark streaking across her knee.
I stood rooted to the spot, stunned. My spaniel, Winston, lay peacefully by the rose bushes, his tail thumping lazily against the grass. Wed raised him since he was a pupclever, soft-mouthed, never so much as growled. Yet here was this stranger, screeching as if we kept a wolf at the gate. Shed already rung the police, demanding the monstrous dog be destroyed on the spot.
My hands trembled, but I forced my voice steady.
Winston wouldnt harm a soul, I said. He adores children. Perhaps your daughter startled him. If you dont believe me, weve got CCTV. Care to see for yourself?
The bobbies nodded, and we trooped inside. The camera above the porch captured the whole garden, including the spot where it happened.
We played the footage.
There was Winston, dozing by the bench, blinking at a pair of robins hopping past. Moments later, the woman and her girl wandered into view.
The child tiptoed toward Winston We slowed the recording, and what we saw turned my blood cold. My dog
The girl was clutching somethingsomething small, metallic.
A taser.
The officers swapped glances.
The video showed it plain as day: the girl creeping up, stretching out her hand, then*snap*. Winston yelped, scrambled to his feet, and bolted in terror. The girl wobbled, lost her balance, and toppled onto the lawn. The scrape mustve come from the fall, or perhaps the thorny hedge shed brushed against.
The womans face drained of colour.
This isnt right she whispered, voice cracking. Sheshed never
One of the bobbies cleared his throat.
Whered the lass get a taser from?
The woman crumpled onto the tiles.
Its my husbands Keeps it in the glovebox She mustve nicked it when we werent looking
The room fell silent. Winston, sensing the storm had passed, padded inside, nosing at my hand as if to ask, *All sorted?*
Poor lad. The nonsense he puts up with, thanks to thoughtless folk.
