I never expected that I would get sprayed with bear mace. At the time I shaken and in excruciating pain, but now it definitely makes for a funny story! (Plus it makes me sound like a badass).
I got sprayed with bear mace right outside my parents house in the Seattle area. My boyfriend and I were getting ready to makes the three-hour drive down to my sister’s house in Portland to return her two lovely, hyperactive dogs that my mom had been dog-sitting for the past week. I opened the back door to let out Caper, a handsome cattle dog, and Diamond, an sweet, invasively snuggly pitbull-whippet mix.
They hadn’t been out for a walk all day and they joyfully ran down the driveway and onto the street. I wasn’t worried about cars, since my parents don’t live on a busy street. I noticed a lanky teenage boy walking a black labrdoodle and carrying what I thought was a large silver-colored water bottle.
Caper and Diamond were SO EXCITED to play with another dog so they ran towards them. I laughed and called after them so I could put them in the car and head out. The teenager went wide eyed and sprayed a green-brown cloud of bear mace.
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? WHAT IS THAT!?” I yelled, horrified. I ran into the cloud to rescue the dogs and bring them inside, only to be immobilized myself. I felt my eyes force shut and sting with pain and heat. I put my face in my hands. He offered a weak sorry’s in apology. I managed to pry my eyes open enough to stumble towards parent’s front door. I heard the door open. “Collin?” I called. “I just got pepper sprayed”.
“What? Really?” I blindly let him lead me inside. He helped me undress and stuck my head under the shower head. After awhile he left to take care of the dogs.
I kneeled down into the cool water that had risen up to my ankles and splashed my eyes. The heat gradually seeped out. I dried off and looked in the mirror: My eyes were a bit red, but overall I looked normal.
Collin told me later that he found the dogs blinking and rubbing their faces on the carpet. He bathed them, then bathed them again for good measure.
My mom was freaking out. She called the cops (because the guy just left after sprayed the dogs). For the first time I gave a physical description of someone for an official police report.
The teenager, accompanied by his mom, came back looking just as shaken as I was. His mother explained that he has autism and was attacked by a dog in the past. They gave him the bear mace as a form of self-defense.
He went up to me and said that he was so sorry, that he didn’t have a single violent bone in his body. He burst into tears. We hugged.
The police were required to come in person anytime a person calls 911, but I let them know that the issue was resolved and that we would not be pressing charges.
My boyfriend and I drove to the three hours to Portland with Diamond snoring in the backseat and Caper sitting on my lap. They had a long day, but got just as excited as usual to see my sister and her husband. They were shocked about what happened, but happy that their dogs were safe.
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