I would like to use this opportunity to plead with all of the dog

owners in the Valley, mainly Snoqualmie, where myself, as well as others

I’m sure, are being affected.

We have got to get the dogs around here on leashes or fenced in. I

know dog lovers are thinking to themselves, “My dog doesn’t attack.” It may

be true. Your dog may not have attacked you, but I have been attacked by

three dogs in my lifetime, two of them by owners who claimed that their

animal had never lost control.

The truth is that dogs have animal instincts and when they feel

threatened or sense fear from us, they attack. When I see a dog, my body

temperature rises and I get very nervous. Immediately the canine begins

barking and snarling; this is no exaggeration. It happens every time I pass an

unleashed dog on the street or in their owner’s yard, not fenced in. It’s

crazy. I feel for an owner’s conscience when their dog attacks a young child

outside playing. I can tell you that it is going to happen with so many

irresponsible dog owners in the area. Why sit and wait for it to happen if we

can prevent it?

Please, if you have a dog, simply put it on a leash or fence it in. It’s

the right thing to do, and it’s not like it hurts the animal. I have a

year-old daughter that I enjoy taking walks with, but I have had too many

encounters with “tame,” unleashed Snoqualmie/North Bend dogs that

I am just too afraid.

Alison Cockerham

Snoqualmie