#8 – You never know what you’re going to see when you get the family together, but you certainly don’t expect to see a dog nearly get ripped limb from limb.

Dog Fight Turned Cat Fight

It’s day one of vacation and I’ve just landed in Barcelona, ready for a relaxing family reunion with 19 aunts, uncles, brothers, cousins and parents. A couple beers and some pizza in a beautiful Barcelona plaza seem like a fitting start to what’s sure to be a great week.

We settle in for lunch and, not thinking much of it, we hear a skirmish and some yipping between two dogs nearby. I casually mention that the dogs in Prague — where I’ve just come from — are the most well-behaved dogs in the world. You could trace a little 3″ circle in the sand and they would probably poop right there if you asked them to (Prague Dawgs book coming soon…). Anyways, we quickly realize that Barcelona dogs aren’t cut from the same cloth and have a bit more bite… literally.

Following the first little barking fest we notice just how big this dog is sitting underneath a nearby table. Some sort of pitbull mix that looks like it just walked out of Mike Vick’s ranch circa 2007. The dog has a chain collar with a muzzle attached to the leash, but looks incredibly calm given what just happened.

A few minutes pass and our pizza is nearly gone when suddenly the barks start up again. Louder this time and accompanied by screams and shrieks. We look over and the big bad wolf has a little pug-looking dog dangling from it’s mouth as both owners yank back on their leashes trying to separate them. For a brief moment I thought I was going to be witness to a doggy murder. I really did. I was envisioning myself up on the stand in Barcelona doggy court recounting what I saw through a translator, as the big dog looked on in handcuffs and an orange jumpsuit. It was that bad.

Fortunately, both owners separate the two dogs with minimal damage, but that’s when the fun really starts. The pug-looking dog owner is rightfully in hysterics, absolutely bawling, but also screaming in Spanish at the big dog owner who is standing there like her dog didn’t do anything wrong.

Now the cops have been called and two officers roll up on motorcycles, another two arrive in a squad car and midway through the whole thing an animal control van pulls up to have a look. There’s a heated conversation going on between the two owners and the cops, as the pug-dog owner tries to show off the bite marks. The big dog owner then reaches over to investigate for herself and touches the head of the pug-dog.

This does not go well.

Right in front of the two officers, with her dog under one arm, the pug-dog owner winds up and CLOCKS the big dog owner right across the jaw. A vicious left that would have even made McGregor proud. I swear I even heard a passerby yell out World Star in Spanish “estrella mundial.” Now, I’m not sure how the rules work in Spain, but where I come from you usually can’t just punch another human being right in front of a cop. I guess they play by different rules here.

The pug-dog owner realizes her mistake and quickly retreats into the back alleys of Barcelona. The cops stick around and continue to question the big dog owner before eventually letting her off with what appeared to be a warning. A lot of action, but still left some to be desired from the ultimate resolution.

All in all, a blazing hot start to the family vacation.