Bob Berube may be the fastest draw in Park City.
If you're a dog owner, you might see him as a pepper-spray-slinging villain. But if walking with mutts doesn't melt your butter and you just like to amble along the town's paths and trails, maybe he's your Clint Eastwood.
In the past several months, Berube has pepper-sprayed two off-leash dogs and has raised the hackles of dog owners. So much so, that someone has taken to putting up posters around town with Berube's picture and phone number.
"Warning," its banner headline screams, "This man has been known to pepper-spray off-leash dogs."
Since the posters have gone up, Berube is feeling a bit threatened.
"Now my picture is out there, and it's scary to walk the trails, wondering if I might be targeted."
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Good on Bob.
I think it’s perfectly acceptable to spray pepper-spray at a malicious stray dog that’s in the process of attacking you, but it sounds like the dogs were just harmlessly wandering around the neighborhood.
Also, if you don’t dole out punishment (i.e., pepper spray) immediately after or during a dog’s transgressions, it won’t understand that it has done something wrong, and instead of correcting its behavior, you are just being cruel to the dog. If those dogs were just strolling around the block, something they are probably accustomed to doing, and a random guy sprays them with pepper spray, they can’t be expected to understand how to change their behavior and avoid being sprayed the next time around. The experience will only confuse, scare, and hurt them.
I agree with the mayor, who was quoted in the article saying, “It’s legal for him to do it if he feels an imminent threat. But I’m concerned about his definition of imminent threat, and I’m concerned about his notion of vigilante justice.”