Even with all the traffic, both pedestrian and automobile, I would describe the background din as calm today. Even when the streets are packed, driver behavior is extremely polite, rarely necessitating use of the horn. People on the street don’t engage in loud banter. Anything that disturbs your fellow city inhabitants is rude, and most people in Tokyo seem to make an effort to adhere to this code. That’s why the blood curdling screams cut through the midday air so clearly. A mother screaming “Tasukete!” (Help me!) at the the top of her lungs. We ran towards the commotion to find a pair of black dogs, absolute hounds of hell, as it were, viciously attacking the woman’s daughter. The girl’s arm was severely mauled and blood was everywhere. We dialed 119 and were informed that help was on the way. That’s when we learned that in Tokyo the Animal Control authorities have an elite tactical response team for these situations. It’s a SWAT team run by the Humane Society, essentially.
I’ve never seen a dog breed like this. One was hairless and lean. She seemed to be attacking mostly when goaded by the hairy, deformed partner she was traveling with. But they were definitely attacking as a team, completely unprovoked. It was savage. All the onlookers were relieved to see them tranquilized and bagged for transport to the shelter. The sad part was that in all the commotion, nobody seemed to pay any attention to the poor girl bleeding out on the sidewalk.
This was definitely a shocking and unexpected incident. It’s not like there aren’t dogs around town, just obviously not wild ones with a taste for human flesh. You get used to seeing some of your neighbors’ pets out and about. I never expected one to turn on a person like that. Hard to fathom what could trigger that.
