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Fiction, © Copyright 2000, Jim Loy
Police found Killer, a pit bull owned by Mr. Jonathan Spieler, hanging from a tree limb by his leash. The dog was dead from strangulation. Police Officer Brian Johnson said, "I don't see how anyone could hang this dog. Everyone around here knows that the dog is vicious. How could anyone handle one end of the leash with the dog at the other end. He would get eaten alive." Officer Johnson would not go so far as to claim that the dog had perhaps hanged himself. Killer's death would seem to be a mystery.
That was the newspaper article. Let me tell you what really happened. I was walking by the Spieler house when Killer came running toward me, barking and snarling, trailing his leash. I knew the dog was dangerous. In the past, he had killed a couple of other dogs, killed a sheep, attacked a cow, and injured a mailman pretty bad. When Killer came after me, I ran for my life. I tried to climb the tree next door. When I got partway up the tree, I felt a tug on my pants leg. I pulled myself over a branch, and I pulled the dog right up into the tree with me. He seemed to have a strong grip on my pants leg, with his teeth. I lost my balance, and fell out of the tree. I must have knocked myself out. When I came to, there was the dog, dead, hanging from the tree. He must have got his leash caught on that branch, as I pulled him up and over it. Anyway, I didn't want to explain all this to the police. I just went home and left Killer hanging there.