Just last week, I was walking down to my mothers house at dusk. As I walked behind a car parked in a driveway, a previously unseen dog from the next house lunged at me with it's uh-RUH! It was a German Shephard that appeared nine feet tall. I froze and had my hand already on my weapon, when the dog came to a sudden stop, a foot or so from me, due to the screw-in anchor on it's chain.
"Oh he's gentle, he won't bite" this from the homeowner, as the dog continued making aggressive noises. "Yeah, it looks like it" was my rather snippy reply as I continued shakily on my way, knowing full well that anchor isn't going to hold him one of these days.
Even here, where the dogs aren't known to be feral, dogs are my #1 reason to carry. Too many idiotic owners.