I was picking up a cat yesterday from the Spay Neuter Clinic (another one of super trapper Allen’s catches for an elderly woman on North Avenue) when I encountered a conundrum. There was a lady already in the clinic with two basset hounds. Another lady arrived with her daughter, who was probably only five to six years old, and a young lab dog. The lab was only past puppy stage and like any lab was bouncing all over the place, wanting to visit the basset hounds and just generally excited about everything.

I was standing over in one corner of the waiting room while the woman held on to the dog and tried to fill out paperwork at the counter. She finally got the dog (I’ll call her “Maggie”) to sit quietly beside her while she finished the check-in papers. The woman was standing so that her back and Maggie’s backside were to the little girl. She could not see what the girl was doing. The little girl proceeded to go up to Maggie and pull back her arm and hit the dog as hard as she could right above the tail. She did this several times and after each time, Maggie would begin to bark and jump around again and the mom would yell at Maggie. After each smack, the little girl would move up beside Maggie’s head so her mother could see her and not know that she had caused Maggie’s distress. At one point, the mom seemed to think that Maggie was doing something to the little girl and asked the girl if she was alright, if the dog had hurt her.

I watched all of this in horror along with another man who was standing beside me. I thought, isn’t the mother going to stop her from attacking this dog? But, of course, the little girl was being sneaky and doing it where her mother could not see her.

I also thought, “Isn’t someone going to do anything?” Then, finally, I realized that if someone was going to intercede, it would have to be me.

As I was trying to figure out the best thing to do in such a public place, the little girl then moved back again to Maggie’s tail and began kicking the dog as hard as she could. After the kicks, she started stomping on the dog’s tail. At that point, I could no longer remain a silent observer (in fact, I couldn’t even figure out the correct response at that point–I just acted) and as the child was pulling her hand back to hit the dog again, I grabbed her arm and said, “No, don’t do that.”

Well, Maggie was barking and the mom still had her back to us, so I don’t think she heard or saw the exchange. Or maybe she did and just didn’t care. She did not say anything to me even though I had raised my voice and disciplined her child. The little girl looked up at me as if she suddenly knew she had done something wrong. I stood there trying to decide if I should approach the mother and tell her what happened. I stood there trying to think of the right words. What were they? How do you tell someone that their child is torturing an innocent animal?

The little girl then changed her behavior completely and began petting Maggie and even said aloud, “I’m giving her kisses,” and proceeded to kiss Maggie on the nose, all the while watching me to make sure I saw her. At the time it seemed so manipulative, but this was a small child. Did she have that capability or was she just mimicking things she had watched adults do? Harm Maggie when her parents could not see, love her when someone was watching.

At that point, as I had made my mind up to tell the mother what had happened, the technician came out with my trapped cat and we hurriedly proceeded out the door to keep the kitty from getting stressed with so many dogs in the waiting area.

As soon as I left, I felt that I did not do enough. The whole time I was thinking, is this how the little girl is treated at home? Just the way she pulled back her arm to hit the dog reminded me of a child doing something in imitation of an adult. Had she observed other adults do the same things to the dog and was she just doing what they had done? I can bet that she is hitting and kicking Maggie at home where no one can see and then, perhaps, even claiming the dog has harmed her.

The whole ride home I kept thinking about Maggie and the little girl, wondering if one or both of them went home to an abusive atmosphere. I berated myself for not doing more, for not calling the mother’s attention to what was going on, for not telling her that she needed to teach her daughter to love and respect animals, not beat them.

What if, because I didn’t speak up, Maggie someday bites the child and is euthanized for being a “vicious” dog? What if the child’s abusive nature was the result of her own abuse at the hands of the adults around her? What if, not only Maggie, but the child is in danger?

I have gone over and over all the scenarios in my head and I just keep wishing that I had said something to the mother, even if she did hear me and chose to ignore my confrontation with her daughter.

As I write this, I am worried about Maggie and sadly, about the little girl, too.

In the future, I know that if this happens again, even if I am not sure how to handle the situation, not sure what words to use, I will say something.