Wild dogs pose real danger

Packs of dogs are in the news.
Nationally, there was the horrible case of a boy whose cries for help were ignored by neighbors as a pack of dogs killed him (that's really two stories -- one about the viciousness of dogs, the other the callousness of people). Locally, stray dogs have been killing chickens kept by two East Side women and roaming Penn Avenue, where three people were bitten and other neighbors were afraid to leave their homes. A month ago, a Poland man was attacked on Boston Avenue by two Rottweilers.
In St. Louis, 10-year-old Rodney McAllister, a fourth-grader, was mauled to death on the basketball court of the park across the street from his family's apartment March 5.
Neighbors reported they had heard the sounds of "something suffering out there," but no one was disturbed enough by the cries of a boy being eaten alive to investigate or call police. A passer-by found Rodney's body the next morning. Rodney's death came about a week before the 37th anniversary of the death of Kitty Genovese, the New York woman who was stabbed to death over a 35 minute period. No less than 38 persons witnessed some part of the attack or heard her screams for help, yet no one called police until after she was dead.
Valuable lesson: It was thought that the nation learned a lesson from Kitty Genovese on March 13, 1964, about indifference, but it was apparently forgotten by the time a pack of the dogs set upon Rodney McAllister and no one lifted a finger.
Some lessons should never be forgotten.
It should not take anything as dramatic or tragic as a lost life for people to realize the necessity of remaining involved in their communities.
Neighbors should not tolerate menacing dogs roaming their streets. They should report them promptly and as often as is necessary. Dog owners should accept the responsibility of ownership by training their pets properly and by confining them at all times. Even domestic dogs can become dangerous when they are allowed to run loose, especially if they fall in with a feral pack. And police and animal control officers should continue to respond aggressively to reports of dangerous animals loose in neighborhoods.
The proper response now could avert a tragedy later.