To the editor:

The recent dog incident has soured me a bit about Langley. I followed and felt the alarm expressed about the vicious dog roaming the streets on Facebook’s “I Love Langley” site.

Imagine my surprise to learn that this horrible, vicious dog was none other than one of the sweetest and gentlest dogs I have ever known.

On the day of the Sixth Street incident, a person came to call on the dog owners and left the gate open. The screams and barking alerted the dog owners that Blanca was out.

This was not a dog left to roam the streets of Langley. This was a very unfortunate incident. I am so sorry for the woman who was bitten. She was a victim of an unfortunate incident. I don’t minimize this. However, I feel equally sorry for my dear friends, the dog owners.

Painted as irresponsible dog owners, the reality is these two individuals are civically, spiritually and community minded. Both retired, they volunteer in various organizations on the island and have done so since arriving here. The community in which they live and support made them a target for a situation that has been present long before they arrived.

An ordinance is in place now. If this incident had involved the beloved dog of someone within the long-time residents of Langley, and it could have been, compassion and humanity would have surely been present even in the midst of rallying around the victim that was bitten.

To the people who were so outraged, I ask: Wouldn’t it have been kinder to step back and acknowledge together that something terrible has happened here? How can we work together to address this? Wouldn’t it have been more humane and in the spirit of community to have included the dog owners in the dialogue?

When I read the “I Love Langley” postings on Facebook these days, I think, “not so much.”

Hestia Laitala

Langley