Recently I was threatened by a man on the canal strip also HUP (Dog Walking Place). He was cycling where that is not allowed, while I was walking my dogs, which is what the strip is meant for. Since I have two mischievous farm foxes, they walk towards the man barking. Before I can call them back, this man starts kicking my dogs, in their heads, in their mouths and everywhere he can. I call the dogs back anyway and they listen immediately and walk away from the situation with my dogs under control with me.

The man starts screaming and breaks a large branch from a tree and waves it around and comes after me and my dogs. He screams that he doesn’t want to do anything to me, but he does want to hit my dogs. I speed up my pace and warn him not to walk any further. I am part of the pack, if he continues to be aggressive, dogs may attack. He continues screaming and also speeds up his pace. I call the Apeldoorn Police (via 112) and report live what is going on. I feel and am threatened and the police will be there soon, I am promised. In the meantime, the man starts running, still waving the large and thick branch. One of my dogs has had enough and runs back growling at my attacker. I call him back and luckily he listens immediately and turns back to me. Just in time, because the man lashes out with his stick and just misses my dog.

I run a little faster to stay ahead of the man and decide to walk into the neighborhood (courtyard 200-series, that is the courtyard next to where I live). Continuously taking the dogs with me to our house. In the meantime I hear the sirens driving into the neighborhood and know that it will be over soon. I come home, put the dogs behind the door and walk back. The man has thrown away the stick and also walks back. There he is stopped by the motorcycle cop who has rushed to the scene. I join the two.

In the conversation that follows, the attacker wants to ‘get his bike’ because it is unmanned on the canal strip. The officer asks him to stay and when not much later two more police cars from the Gelderland & Overijssel Police join us, those officers go with him to the bike. The statement that my attacker gives there is, according to the officers, that he only wanted to talk to me and had broken off the branch as a defense against my dogs. Completely at odds with the behavior that I told live on the phone. Also at odds with the behavior that the motorcycle officer could have seen. Because after my dogs were home and I walked back, the attacker walked away from me and away from the Apeldoorn Police (at least he tried). In short, if he wanted to talk to me, that would have been fine, after all he was safe from my incredibly dangerous pitb… oh no… farm foxes (who are perfectly fine under apel) walked home with me.

The motorcycle cop then tells me that (according to the other colleagues) the man had a bite wound and that I would have to pay for those costs. Now I’m not concerned about those few euros, but who is the aggressor here?

Peculiar attitude 1:

The officer then states that he might act the same as this man. So kicking barking dogs that run with their tails wagging along with you in a place where you are not allowed to ride a bike…

Peculiar attitude 2:

Then a moped with a yellow plate drives across the cycle path at clearly too high a speed. I should “worry more about that”. Apparently someone who walks towards you shouting with a stick is not something to worry about, but a speeding teenager on a moped is.

Peculiar attitude 3:

I had to leave my phone number so my attacker could send me a tikkie to pay for the possible tetanus shot. So I have to give my details (via and from the Apeldoorn Police) to a man who runs after me with a stick and uses threatening language and I should not worry about it, because what he did was actually very logical… When I indicate that I want to report the threat, I am kindly but urgently advised not to do so. Because then this man would do the same to me. And I should not make a matter of principle about it…

Peculiar attitude 4:

Because I would like to know what was said and happened, I am requesting access to the report that was undoubtedly drawn up. There are not just 2 cars and a motorcycle driving around, I think. This letter is the response I receive to that request. I am not granted access.

_{OBS: I have removed my address details, but have deliberately left the reference number and practitioner visible. (unfortunate in Dutch)}

In the meantime, I have not received a tap, I therefore have no information about this man, I cannot, for the time being, make an insurance issue out of it. I have been threatened and the threatener does have my information. And our friends from the Apeldoorn Police act as if I am a perpetrator and not a victim. Yes, I was glad that they were there quickly. But in this way a perpetrator goes free and I walk around with the fear of encountering that man again (I had seen him cycling there several times) and with the realization that this is all allowed in this country.