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Dogs on the Road
Walking on the road in the dark can be scary in different areas for different reasons. In some countries you might be scared of theft, here you don’t have that problem as much, but you still need to worry about one thing. Dogs.
During the night (and often during the day) dogs rule the roads here in Samoa. Throughout the night they sleep in the middle of the road (I must admit, they have it right to stay warm). They can get angry with you for disturbing their peaceful sleep, even if it is by walking slowly and quietly next to them. This could turn into a chase where the human is running away screaming, “halu” (Go away) at the top of their lungs (This is often the case for me…) or you need to bring things to defend yourself from this vicious enemy.
Some people walk or run with umbrellas to ward off the dogs, others bring golf clubs, but the most common is rocks. It is easy to pick up a rock to throw at the dogs to tell them to stop it and leave you alone.
I am not advocating that injuring dogs is the right method for safety, but what are you to do when you are being chased by several dogs just for using “their road” and you have nothing to defend yourself.
Dogs can be scared off if they are surprised by an unintimidated pedestrian. The way i've done this is to pretend run toward them directly with a raised hand (yes pretend yiu're holding a rock/stick). unless its a mad rabid dog, it should turn tail and then keep its distance as you continue on. Very rarely do dogs attack purposely unless you are tresspassing for real.
ReplyDeleteAdvice from someone who rarely walks but drives everywhere in Apia these days so take with a grain of masima ;-).
ia manuia!