Woman Tangled In Dog’s Leash Falls And Dies
Taking your dog for a daily walk is a great way for both you and your best friend to keep fit.
I’m sure those of you who do get to the park regularly have seen dog owners riding a bike with their dogs, on leash, running besides them. No doubt some think it’s cute, while others an accident waiting to happen.
If San Jose this exact scenario played out at the Los Alamitos Creek Trail, but this time ended in tragedy. A man on a bike with his two Siberian Huskies in tow were out riding when they passed Beverly Head on the trail, their leash got tangled around her. The 62-year-old woman fell and died the next day.
Head, who walked in the park daily, had always been uncomfortable about bicyclists riding with their dogs running leashed besides them. However, there is no law against it, no crime being committed.
Here are the details from the Mercury News.
Now, two weeks later, Bob Head is mourning his wife’s death and wondering why there wasn’t a way to prevent it. He is desperate to find the cyclist, who stayed to help the mother of three known for her deviled eggs and Halloween decorations, but left once paramedics came. Propelled by Head’s frustration.
The freak accident is sparking a question among some city leaders about whether it would be reasonable to enact a law that would make riding a bike while walking a dog a crime in San Jose.
” I want closure,” said Head, 65, a retired General Electric engineer, whose voice is filled with anger and grief.
San Jose police investigated and say in this case, there wasn’t a crime.
In San Jose the municipal code does state dog owners must have “direct physical control” of their dogs on leashes up to 20 feet. That applies while owners are walking their dogs, it doesn’t state anything about whether the owner can be on a bicycle.
Head didn’t like seeing dogs on a leash while their owner was riding because she felt it was cruel to the dog. She had seen a little dog trying to keep up with its owners, stumbling along. What a tragic turn of events, Head was concerned over the welfare of the dog yet ultimately the safety issue it presented to people is what killed her.
Mona Favorite-Hill, spokeswoman for San Jose’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services, said her office has been talking about the unfortunate turn of events, too.
“There was no way to anticipate this,” she said. “We’ve never thought about it before. If there was such a law, how would we enforce it? The only thing we would be able to do is put up signs and put out an education campaign.”
Kathy Sutherland, Councilwoman Nancy Pyle’s chief of staff, said the office began Monday investigating whether the current municipal code.
We extend our condolences to the Head family. What happened to Beverly Head was obviously a horrible accident, the question is, could it have been foreseen? Should there be a law against dog owners riding a bike with their dogs in tow? Give me a bark.
* Photo courtesy Head Family/ Mercury News
I feel terrible for the woman — but seriously, pass a law against riding bikes with dogs? It’s “cruel”???? Give me a break…accidents happen in all walks of life. Why not outlaw walking out of the house?
There are also perfectly safe bike attachments made specifically for this purpose such as the WalkyDog or the Springer. Hopefully San Jose won’t go into panic mode as tends to happen and just ban everything without research. My dog very much enjoys his runs next to my bike with the WalkyDog.
I could see making legislation requiring a bike attachment like a springer or walkydog (they keep the dog much closer to the bike and keep more control over the dog’s range of motion) or reducing the length of the leash attached to the bike…. but i dont think banning it would make much sense.
Maybe make certain trails available to biking dogs .
I only bike with a springer because i find it much safer for both me and the dog… a leash can be very dangerous on a bike since it is so long, it gives the dog the ability to get in front of the bike, behind the bike or 6 ft radius of the bike (for a standard leash), lots of things to get wrapped around or get stuck on.
Well, I am very sorry for the woman and her husband. The article doesn’t say how long a leash the dogs were on, obviously for better control – they should not be on a leash as long as 20 feet. I would want them leashed comfortable close to prevent them from crossing in front of the bike. Maybe they were. If they were, why did the cyclist go so close to the woman? Again, not clear from the article.
But also this. Accidents will happen. I had Dubs (quite a small dog) on her leash waiting for obedience class. A woman who stopped to talk backed up without looking and caught her heel on Dubs leash. Down she went. (and fortunately was not hurt.)
Sad. But probably unavoidable. Unless like the previous poster suggests – we just all stay inside.
Dubs Mom.
This is a sad situation, but the part that to me is wrong is, why this guy cannot be held accountable for this lady’s death. If a wreck causes a death, the driver of the vehicle who caused the wreck can be charged with the person’s death. If this guy was riding his bike while leading his dogs and this lady got tangled up in the leashes, fell and died, Her death was his faught. Since this is a trail that allows both walkers, runners and bikers, the guy on the bike should have not crowed the lady causing her to fall and die. It just not seem right for him to leave the scene and not pay no consequences for his actions that directly caused her death. This lovely lady is dead, her family is morning and the guy on the bike walks away as if nothing happened. It just don’t seem right at all.
I have had two negative experiences with youngsters riding bikes witht their dogs. One. The teen riding his bike rode straight up to me, while I was walking my dog. My dog became completely spooked by the large bike and stranger, plus the strange other dog, and a dog fight ensued. I was dragged on my back across the street and injured. The teen should not have approached me while I was walking my dog, and he was with his dog/jbike combo.
Two. A youth, age 12, was riding his bike and walking his dog. He passed another dog who was in a yard with an electronic fence. The two dogs got close enough to each other that they pulled the boy off the bike. Then the “fenced” dog escaped his fence, and it was on a very busy street. The boy was simply not able to then corral the now loose “fenced” dog, on this busy street to get him back in his yard. His own dog was going ballistic. ME? I saw the whole thing while in my van, with my own dog along for the ride, and two children, so there was absolutely nothing I could add to the situation.
From the other comments it sounds like there may be ways to successfully walk and ride at the same time but I have informed my family that it will never happen with my dogs. So I am not saying that it may not be “right” for others, but I have only had negative experiences with it.
Hmmm…..the LAW states the owner must have “direct physical control” while the animal is leashed…I pawsonally think a cyclist towing a leashed animal is ONLY in control of the BIKE…not the animal…if I were on the jury I would say the LAW was not being followed.
Just barking my 2 cents.
Cisco Kid
I feel so sorry for Beverly and her family, especially her grieving husband.
The cyclist should be charged with something, maybe criminal negligence or some other charge that could apply, he shouldn’t get away with scott free. Sure it was an accident, but he caused a dangerous situation due to his carelessness and should be held accountable. Yes accidents happen, but that brings no comfort to Mr Head and his family.
I’ve seen the bike attachments for dogs and while they are better than a leash, in my humble little opinion it’s just not a good idea to bike with your dog running along side. For one thing your going faster on the bike than you would on foot and you may not see am impending hazard until it’s too late. Also the dog might tire out before you do and you could be causing harm to the dog. Walking your dog is a good relaxing way to bond with your friend, but with the bike there’s no one on one interaction. I personally would rather go on a bike ride and not have to worry about the dog, then take the dog on a good walk. I suppose some people just may not have time for both.
Condolences to the family, but passing another useless law isn’t the quick fix. We exercise our dogs on the bike whenever they need an extra boost of an energy burn that we can’t give them because they can easily out run us. To call it cruel is ridiculous, unless someone is dragging the animal along, or forcing it beyond its limitations. You can’t make laws to try to protect people from every unfortunate event in life. I feel that perspective has been lost within the emotions of this unfortunate event.
I personally think it should be illegal to let your dog drag behind you when you’re on your bike, and maybe a leash length limit, but otherwise, that’s a stupid law.
How awful for the lady and her family. It should be against the law for biking and trying to take your dog along. Walk with the dog.
Biking dogs is great exercise, this was an accident. You can’t make everything illegal. What about that little girl who got strangled to death by her dog when it grabbed her scarf and tugged on it? Illegal to wear scarves around dogs?
You can’t avoid all accidents. I think the biker could be held accountable, but I’m sure he’s fighting plenty of demons – how would you feel if you’d killed someone on accident?
You simply can’t make everything illegal or we, and our dogs, will all be stuck inside.
I am with Carissa and Kolbe. Give me a break. While it is a tradegy that someone died and I feel awful for the family; GIVE ME A BREAK!!!!! First, there is breed banning, which is ridiculous in itself. Then there are laws that tell us how many dogs and/or cats we can own (which to me then we should have limitations on how many children people can have; it also infringes on our constitutional rights). The last time I checked this is still America and we are still a “Free” country. I also run my dogs with a WalkyDog attachment. I have a 100 pound which has pretty much torn tendons and ligaments in my shoulder; we have no dog park in this retarded town, and I have a hard time walking him with my shoulder pain. SO, the only way to give one of my dogs a really good workout is with me on a bike with him attached with the WalkyDog. I also use it for two of my other dogs. I do not think its cruel, unless the dog is truly not enjoying it. I have to pedal faster to keep up with two of my dogs because they are running-I would say they clearly enjoy it. Oh, I have an idea, why don’t we pass a law that tells us when we can pee and poop too…….GOOD GRIEF, things are getting out of control. Dogs cannot just be dogs-then people wonder why they have such “behavioral” problems…….
This was a terrible tragedy and I understand the concern. Our dog loves to run with the bike. We do this at a park, but not on a small trail and not with a long leash. He is very close to the bike if not actually in the lead of the bike. He is so fast, we have to try and keep up with him. I think as with any situation, people need to use care whenever people and dogs are together.
“Also the dog might tire out before you do and you could be causing harm to the dog.”
This is why you are supposed to condition your dog to increasing distances and go at the pace the dog wants to go. You don’t drag the dog along for 10 miles doing 25mph. I usually go about 1 -2 miles and I go at whatever pace my dog wants to go at.
“Walking your dog is a good relaxing way to bond with your friend, but with the bike there’s no one on one interaction.”
I disagree. My dogs are always learning, and the one I bike with has learned “Left” and “Right” and other directional cues from our bike rides. Do you have a high-energy herding breed? “Relaxing walks” just don’t cut it for the daily exercise my dog requires. You are also implying that people who bike with their dogs never take them for walks… just plain false.
Sorry for the direct-quoting but I just felt the need to address all the anti-bike comments from those who have never actually biked with their dog before.
I was just making some general statements, I’m not anti-bike. I like going for a bike ride, but having my dog attached to the bike just isn’t for us. I’m sure most people who bike with their dogs take the proper precautions and have a safe and enjoyable outing with their dogs. Some people however, may not be aware of the hazards that might befall them when they bike with their dogs, like the guy who caused this poor woman’s death.
I don’t have any problem with people biking with their dogs as long as they’re safe about it, and judging from the comments above it seems that all of you are going about it the right way.
I also agree with those against creating new laws, especially if those laws can’t be enforced. After all, no law in the world can help people who don’t use simple common sense.
Mollydog I agree. There are some people who seem to be OK with using just a regular leash to bike with their dogs but I think the hazards involved with that outweigh the convenience — as seen in this particular article. Proper attachments keep the dog close, there’s nothing to get tangled in, PLUS your own center of gravity is maintained even if your dog spies a squirrel or something — with a mere leash you could be on your butt in about .5 seconds.
There are responsible and irresponsible people doing everything and anything, my apologies for coming off confrontational (it wasn’t my intent but re-reading it, yeah that’s what it looks like). Just wanted to illustrate some positives and how this particular individual obviously wasn’t doing something right for such a horrible thing to happen.
I think this was an unfortunate accident. The bike rider meant no harm to the poor woman. Huskies are strong dogs that can run with a bike for exercise. Even if someone got tangled in the lead you would think they may fall but death?? Come on.
Reminds me of texting while driving. Or riding a motorcycle without a helmet. Bikes and dogs don’t mix. Use your head for something besides a hat rack.
Carissa & Kolbe ,
I didn’t take it as confrontation at all, you have your experience to draw from to show how biking with a dog should be done and how enjoyable it can be. Quite frankly I wouldn’t trust Molly or myself to go biking without a mishap even with the correct equipment. We’ll just stick with our walks, that works for us.
I feel sorry that the lady was involved in the accident and condelences to the family. Banning the biking with the dog is ridiculous. People that I see biking with their dog have very well trained dogs. I see more people with the small/little dogs that have no training besides walking on the leash. The owner gives the dog too much leash and then the small/little dogs have to show how big they are by running, lunging, barking and just being plain aggressive. They have caused more problems with my well trained large dog than any dog running along side a bike. Lets ban the small/little breeds and that will fix the problems. Makes as much sense as banning exercising your dog by running it along side your bike. Now here’s a thought: Why not ban stupid people from owning dogs? That would be the one ban that would fix all the problems associated with dogs.
This was a very unfortunate accident. Some dogs should not be leashed to a biker, but his 2 Siberian huskies could handle it. Huskies would have no problem keeping up with the bike and would be happily barking while they run. However, it is up to the human to have some common sense. I know there are responsible bikers on the road, but many of them aren’t, They seem to think that they don’t have to follow any rules. Just the other day, I came to a 4 way stop, and there was a car already there that should have gone first, I stopped to wait for that car, and a bike came up after me. The bike didn’t bother to stop, but kept on going. If the car before me had taken his turn as first vehicle, the biker could have been hit. He had a jacket on that mentioned Jesus, and I can only assume that he was anxious to meet Jesus from his behavior. I won’t even get into the pre-school age children in my old neighborhood who were given bikes and then proceeded to ride them in front of cars. I have watched many of those children narrowly miss getting killed because their parents didn’t teach them anything before handing them the bikes. Bikes, like cars, do have some responsibitlity that come with them, and as long as bikers follow those rules and use common sense, many “accidents” could be avoided. The biker that killed the woman, albeit accidentally should be held responsible, and it shoud be a hit and run since he caused the accident and then left the scene. I might add that many potential accidents could be avoided if the bikers and walkers had separate trails, but I know that isn’t always possible.
This story needs a lot more detail. It is unclear if the walking lady or the biker was at fault. She may have stepped in their path for all we know.
However, the biker should be charged with leaving the scene of an accident if that is what he did. He may have thought it was minor and left after help arrived and he was no longer needed. It would take a brave person to step forward after the story in the paper and it is possible that he doesn’t even know what happened.
I don’t think banning people from biking with their dogs is reasonable. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to encourage responsible behavior and education for both the bikers and walkers using the trail.
Yes, indeed an unfortunate accident. JMHO. I just don’t feel you have control of the dog while riding a bike. Seems to me like the same as texting on your cell phone while driving. Some people are better multi-tasking than others but why take a chance? This person had two dogs on leash while riding his bike. How unfortunate for all involved.
I love dogs, since I was an infant my family and I have shown, trained and breed them. I also love bikes. Combining both is fun but can also be very dangerous. I am supporting this new proposed law 100%. A bike is a vehicle just like a car. Our focus should be completely focused on operating that vehicle. Actually I would like to see the law expanded to include tricycles, skateboard, roller blades, roller skates, etc. Of course any medical devices like wheel chairs would be exempt.
Although this was considered a freak accident it is possible for this to occur again and that would be tragic. When I really think about this it is difficult to believe that this has not happened before and/or in the past. I bet there has been a lot of accidents maybe even resulting in physical injury before.
If I’m not mistaken. The main issue was that the
assaulter never stayed around longer than to call on their cell phone for help , and drove away unidentified. Bicycles are in part a moving vehicle
and are under dmv law while on public paved roads. Although most people do not have two dogs on leash by bike with an unwieldy control it is their responsibilty in any accident to owe up or in other words not to hit an run.
If I’m not mistaken. The main issue was that the
assaulter never stayed around longer than to call on their cell phone for help , and drove away unidentified. Bicycles are in part a moving vehicle
and are under dmv law while on public paved roads. Although most people do not have two dogs on leash by bike with an unwieldy control it is their responsibility in any accident to owe up or in other words not to hit an run.
i definitely feel sorry for both of them…i think, however, banning is a bit ridiculous. i would never let angel run on a leash with me on a bike, she’s too unruly. if the dog was really wellbehaved and knew how to stay beside the bike, good.