Photo by staceyviera.

The Cleveland Park listserv is currently hosting quite the lively debate over the leashing of dogs in public. While that’s hardly a foreign topic for a large D.C. listserv, one post which branched off from the main conversation certainly grabbed our attention.

The poster, who announced her intentions to not “‘stir the pot’ on the latest dog debate,” relayed a story about a man who allegedly kicked a puppy she was walking. In the face. Twice.

I have a giant breed puppy that we are training to work as a therapy dog. My puppy is generally mellow, generally attentive to commands and an all-around good dog — but, at the end of the day, is still a puppy and can be clumsy and hyper sometimes, too.

Tonight, we were walking down Ordway near Connecticut (on leash!), and I asked my dog to “sit” while people walked by us. Ordway is a narrow street, and I try to make sure we take up as little room as possible when there’s heavy foot traffic. My pup stumbled a bit as she was trying to sit down (on mulch), and she knocked into a man who was walking up Ordway. He was startled, no doubt, and rightfully so: It was dusk, and what looks like a full-grown dog just nearly fell over onto his feet! I’d be startled, too, I’m sure!

The man turned to me, pointed his finger in my face and demanded that I learn how to control my dog, lest he call Animal Control. I said he was absolutely right, thanked him for his patience and said have a good night. He then kicked my puppy in the face. He was walking with his young son (who was not involved in my pup’s stumble in any way (who was in fact on the other side of the grown man when my pup took her spill), and he walked about another 10 yards, asked his son to stay there, came back up to me (I was frozen — shocked, really), and he told me if he ever saw me again, he would call the police and Animal Control. I again said that of course, he was absolutely within his rights to do so, and he did it again. He kicked my puppy in the face again.

My puppy stayed seated the whole time, thank goodness, but was getting anxious. This man was yelling at me, pointing his finger right in my face and kicking my dog.

I’m not sure when the normally placid boulevards of Cleveland Park turned into a breeding ground for such behavior, but, uh, we’re going to suggest that the poster go ahead and call the cops to file a complaint.