February 2, 1999 was Hawk's last day on earth. Some time during the afternoon, the 6 year old male Boxer escaped from his owner's fenced yard in the upscale Hartford, CT suburb of Wethersfield. As he wandered around the neighborhood, a group of Dept. of Transportation workers became alarmed—after all, he did look awfully like a pit bull, didn't he?
So the DOT laborers called the police, and pretty soon Hawk was being chased by uniformed officers, a veterinarian, and an animal control officer who eyewitnesses report stayed inside her car. Wonder of wonders, Hawk did not take kindly to being chased. He did not appreciate being sprayed in the face with pepper spray, or poked with a 4' pole with a tranquilizer dart at the end (the drug was never administered). Most of all, he did not understand why the policeman attempted to run him down with his cruiser.
He had never bitten or threatened anyone in his life, so he was probably baffled at the chain of events. He was foaming at the mouth according to the officers while he ran from his pursuers for over 90 minutes. We all hope he did not suffer too badly when the Law shot him once in the shoulder. Hawk was able at that point to run home to the safety of his yard, where he retreated inside his pen.
So the police, ever mindful of danger to the neighborhood, entered the yard and shot Hawk once more as he lay in terror. This time the marksman was finally able to eliminate any threat as he watched a pet beloved by his family bleed to death from a direct hit to the jugular.
Friends—this really happened. Not in a Third World country, but on an ordinary day in a USA suburb where people argue over politics and pay their taxes. It is not the stuff of fiction. Though the owners have contacted a lawyer, Hawk is beyond help. And I know that other stories about other Hawks can be cited by the readers of this column.
I only write this to ask that Boxer clubs across the country try to educate the public in their local area—the veterinarians, the local dog pound workers and administrators, the police, the animal control officers.
These are the people who may be in a position to save your dog's life one day, in the (unlikely) event that he finds himself in harm’s way due to ignorance and some kind of misplaced vigilantism. We should be sending flyers with photographs on them to show the public what a Boxer looks like and how he behaves. Hawk was NOT a pit bull.
Indeed, we are all painfully aware that many so-called pit bulls are themselves maligned unfairly. No one needed to fear Hawk. Rather, all of us should instead be terrified that Hawk's awful story could be repeated on our own quiet road, or city square, or woodland path. Please make Hawk's last moments a legacy to help protect our Boxers against the sort of brutish violence that defies understanding.
Stephanie Abraham
P. O. Box 346
Scotland, CT 06264
