Broke My Own Rules

I am human. I make mistakes. Sometimes I don’t even take my own advice. This time I was desperate/frustrated/annoyed that I could not rent out a great 1 bedroom apartment that we just renovated with new windows, redone hardwood floors, new kitchen and bathroom. I was renting it for $725 per month and then dropped it to $695 per month with a couple showings, but no applicants.

Finally a guy shows up with his pregnant girlfriend. Very well spoken. He is a contractor and made decent money. She had a full time job. Things were looking good

. Until he tells me he has 2 pit bulls. I knew that I knew I should never take this guy. But it was coming to the end of the month and I was going to lose another month’s worth of rent, so after he convinced me they would be OK and not a problem, I agreed.

That decision bit me in the ass, (figuratively). The dogs were very aggressive to anyone in the yard. They tore up the grass and even cornered a neighbor lady and wouldn’t let her move until the tenant called them off. The final straw is when the neighbor saw the tenant hit the dog with a shovel in the head when it was barking. Now I have animal control calling and wanting to get a warrant to break down the apartment door to take the dogs. Multiple trips to the apartment later, the dogs are mysteriously gone when animal control shows up.

Repeat after me: never, never, never take aggressive dogs. No matter how sweet the owner says they are, these dogs were bread for their aggressiveness, it is tough to train this out. I have nothing against the dogs, but they are by their nature aggressive. This is no different than trying to teach a pet alligator not to bite. By the way, if a tenant ever says they have a American Staffordshire Terrier, that is simply another name for a pit bull.

3 comments

#1DarinApril 2, 2010, 11:54 pm

If Pitbull’s existed during the time of Greek Mythology, Cerberus would not be the beast guarding the gates of Hades, a Pitbull would. Ditto for Rottweilers.

If it were up to me, owners of these genetically deviant beasts would be thrown in jail for negligent use of a deadly weapon.

But Michael Vick likes them so they have that going for them, which is nice.

#2John HoffApril 4, 2010, 4:24 pm

You’re not the only one who paid for your mistake. Sounds the neighborhood paid as well. And which neighborhood would that be? I’d be VERY surprised if it wasn’t MY neighborhood.

#3Scott FicekApril 4, 2010, 7:21 pm

John-
It was not in North. But that was a good guess, since I do see a lot of these aggressive dogs in that neighborhood when I am there. As I stated, this just reinforced my rules of never having dogs.

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