Meter Reader Pepper Spraying a Dog

Hi C J,

Wow, I've never felt so compelled to respond to a post as I have to yours. I don't care how scared that man was of the dogs, he should have turned around and left the yard. Then he should have gone to the front door, knocked and if no one was home then he should have left a notice of him being there and that he will be back on ____ date so please have your dogs inside!!

I remember once living in Wylie and the meter reader had to come into my yard with two husky's back there and the husky's would not let him in the yard. He QUICKLY turned around are went right back out. He never came to the door, I'm assuming he came back at another time.

I don't care what that electric company "says" they have the right to do, rules can be CHANGED and harming a customers animals is one of them!

I understand he must have felt threatened but he obviously had enough time to pull out the pepper spray, aim and spray as he should have haD enough time to walk out of the yard. And in all honesty, if he was THAT scared, he would have just quickly left the yard, he couldn't guarantee the pepper spray would even have an effect on the dogs so for his own safety he should have turned around and left.

Whatever battle it takes to get this man fired or in some sort of punishment, it needs to happen. If your friend has to, next time call the cops on this man! If he's soooo scared that he can't walk into a yard w/out harming some dogs, then he needs to notify the owners or the company needs to send a braver meter reader out.

I've seen our reader come into my yard many many times with my dogs barking like crazy and he acts like they're not even there! That's how it should be - I'm sorry but if it were me I'd be pissed and wouldn't for one second let this man get away with that.

I understand if he were walking OUTSIDE of a yard and the dogs came up then yes, spray OR if a mailman is walking through a neighborhood and a dog comes up being aggressive then yes SPRAY but in this case, there were other actions that could have been taken! I hope your friend has a lawyer and even if she can't switch companies, she can always demand a new meter reader better be coming to her house next time!

Yeah, I have to agree with the previous poster. I too have a dog, and my dog is a breed that has been labeled as dangerous, so I am definitely not scared of dogs. If in the event that I felt threatened though, I too wouldn't hesitate to pepper spay another dog. It wasn't quite clear either if the reader had entered a fenced in area to where the dogs were to read the meter, or if the dogs weren't curbed at all. I am a BIG advocate in that people should follow the law in keep their dogs on a leash etc. If they were in the yard though if definitely could have been handled better.

I agree with the previous posts about a person having the right to protect themselves if they feel threatened. I carry pepper spray when I walk with my children and would use it if any animal came too close and I felt threatened or my childrens' safety came into question. While I do not advocate being cruel to animals, I do think the meter reader probably felt like one or both of the dogs were threatening. I don't think he would just go around pepper spraying dogs for no reason. If I were in your friend's shoes, I would speak with someone at the company and come up with a plan to avoid the dogs and meter reader coming in contact in the future.

that's crazy and pure lazy!! we have a 80 lb boxer who is the biggest lap dog there is but she will bark at anything moving. we also have locks on our gates to our backyard to prevent anyone coming in. we have lived here for 5 years and if the reader ever comes and the dog is in the back they have always come and knocked on the door and asked to get in the back.they've always been polite and i've always thanked them for asking. i would be pissed and hello they are on your property which means you can protect yourself and your dog, how about a big can of pepper spray? :)

I am sorry for what happened to your friend. However, did she mention what the meter reader said her dog was doing to cause him to spray the dog? I would imagine they don't go around with their pepper spray, just spraying every dog they see who barks at them. I don't mean to be negative, but I do know that I carry pepper spray with me when I take walks and would not hesitate to use it if I felt threatened by an animal (and I have two dogs myself, so I'm not afraid of dogs or anti-pet). I would have your friend try to find out what exactly the dog was doing to cause the reader to spray the dog, THEN decide whether he acted out of line. If it WAS just for barking, then yes, pursue it and see that he get disciplined/retrained. If he truly felt threatened, then schedule the readings and make sure the dog is not out there or else it could happen again.

ABSOLUTELY have a lock on that back gate! It's true, the readers have a job to do and it could be potentially dangerous seeing how they are entering peoples' private property to do their job....they have to be prepared to protect themselves for that reason (dogs are trained to stop people from entering private property, right?) so I would say for everyone's safety, stick a little lock through the latch on the gate. We leave ours unlocked obviously when my husband is doing the yard or whatever during the weekend, but keep it locked otherwise. That would prevent someone who's as casual as a reader from entering without giving the family the opportunity to bring their dogs in or at least stand outside with them.

I think any workmen should come in a yard without asking. I had a reader try to come in my yard one morning. I heard my dog barking a different bark than normal. That's when I saw the reader. For his own safety he should have asked first. My lab is the sweetest family dog ever. My kids lay on her, hug her and do all the crazy things kids do to dogs. We have even had her at softball games with people all around and kids hovering over her and petting her. It doesn't bother her one bit. However, when a stranger approaches in certain situations she goes wild. I have no idea if she would actually do something because I don't let it go that far. However, if someone walks in my yard I can't control her actions.

They also need to ask permission because I don't want some strange man in my backyard if I didn't know he was going to be there!