OK. I’m finally forced to admit that some dog owners are less considerate and more aggressive than their pets. 

Four times in the last couple of months my small leashed dog and I have been charged and harassed by larger unleashed dogs — three times while taking a walk on a Maury Island road and once in the parking lot at the Burton Marina. Meanwhile, the owners are yelling at their dogs to stop — with no effect. Each time I’ve had to pick up my dog to protect it from the “nice” dogs. “They are just playing,” say the owners, as their dogs jump at me and my dog. Then they tell me that I’m a problem when I tell them that their dogs need to be on a leash.

Vashon and Maury Island are not Alaska or Wyoming, where you can apparently shoot a grizzly from your back porch or hunt grouse on the back 1,000 acres. This isn’t Palin and Cheney country. It’s a small island with 10,000 people and a lot of pets. The law requires leashed dogs and responsible behavior from their owners

After this, I’m packin’ pepper spray — and I’m locked and loaded. 

— Charles “Buzz” Blick