City must enforce leash laws

To the editor:

My wife was walking along Forest Street recently when she was bitten by a dog. The dog was on a leash. The owner said the dog had no history of aggression; the dog attacked without warning.

Over the years we have noticed many of our neighbors ignore Oberlin's leash laws.

Immediately after the attack, a third person happened to walk by the scene with her dog off leash. When this unleashed dog ran up to my wife, who was carrying our infant daughter, I drove it away with a stick.

I would like to apologize publicly for upsetting that dog's owner, whose name I don't know, and who otherwise had nothing to do with the incident. At the same time, I would ask my fellow Oberlinians to respect the leash laws. They are there for a reason. As this unfortunate incident illustrates, any dog, no matter how well trained, may be capable of acting aggressively and unpredictably, especially around strangers.

Peter Thomas

Oberlin