A tough catch

I don’t know anyone who works as an animal control officer, and I sure as hell wouldn’t want to do the job, but I saw something pretty funny yesterday. It all happened as I took The Boy to his baseball game near the Moana Pool.

We hit the Ballpark Market for a Gatorade and some of the best seeds in the world (Jim Beam Barbeque) and headed down Baker to the field. Right next to the pool I saw an animal control truck in the parking lot. There was a brown pit bull that was making its way across Baker from the same lot and limping on three legs. I figured it had just stepped on a thorn because it had gone through a dirt area with junk like that in there (that was confirmed a few minutes later as I saw the dog on all fours). The animal control truck was exiting the lot onto Baker to pursue the dog. Meanwhile, another car had stopped while the dog was crossing and the driver was thinking about getting out until he saw the truck and he continued on. I did the same.

As I got to the practice area to drop The Boy off, I saw the dog cruising up the little inlet road near a pediatric dentist’s office. It entered the field complex and continued around the main field and back toward the Babe Ruth field. The animal control truck came in a minute later and veered the wrong way. Having seen the entire thing, I attempted to flag down the officer and tell her where the dog had gone. I figured she’d have it trapped back there since there was a fence and apartment complex blocking the dog’s escape. She didn’t notice me and continued back toward the pool and Moana Lane.

Other things happened, as often is the case in life. While waiting for the game to start, I saw more action on the dog front. There were two animal control trucks and a regular RPD squad car cruising around the entrance to the field. I was on the other side of the field at this point, but couldn’t help laughing and telling a bit of the story to my dad while we waited. He laughed too so we watched the officers look around for a dog that was nowhere near where they were looking.

Then, drama. The Boy (who uses my glove that I wore in high school and got for $20 at Long’s Drug in Elko) came over to me and had a problem. The glove bit it. Finally. A lace had torn and we were stuck. He asked me to go home and get my glove so he could use it. We live about 7-10 minutes away and there was 30 until game time, so I obliged. I drove a slightly different route home – Peckham to Lakeside instead of Moana to Lymberry to Lakeside – and when I approached Plumb Lane from Virginia Lake, I saw the same brown pit bull walking down the street.

I started cracking up at the thought of all those animal control officers – and even a regular cop – looking around about a mile away from where this dog was enjoying a leisurely stroll toward Sushi Boat. It even made me think the dog was on its way home. I hope it’s doing well and hasn’t hurt anybody, but damn that dog schooled some people.