Pitbull attacks 11 year old boy

www.live5news.com
An 11-year-old from Goose Creek is recovering after a pit bull rips open his arm. Austin Ramsey says he almost lost that arm to the dog, but his parents say it could have ended much worse.

The family says they’re worried such a vicious attack happened in their neighborhood.

Today he’s playing ball with friends, but just a few weeks ago Austin Ramsey says he got the scare for of his life after a dangerous dog encounter in the Goose Creek neighborhood, Greenview.

“There was a blood trail from where I was attacked, all the way down to my house,” said Austin Ramsey.

Austin says he and friend Travis chased Travis’ dog into a neighbor’s yard when they saw the pit bull.

“It didn’t really growl or anything. It just came toward him and bit his knee,” said Travis Sheheane.

Austin says he was shocked, frightened, terrified.

Austin says the pit bull was coming toward him until he was backed up against a wall. He says the dog then bit him on the knee, lunged toward his neck, but quickly he threw up his arm to protect himself.

“I put my arm up. I was thinking, what’s this dog going to do next,” said Austin.

“I didn’t know how bad it was. I didn’t want to look. I just saw a piece of his arm, and it was too much for me,” said Austin’s mother Kim Ramsey.

Austin’s mom rushed him to the ER, where he got ten stitches and a bandage on his wound.

“It was very scary. I might not have my child today,” said Kim.

Austin’s parents say the pit bull was in a yard with an electric fence. They say they haven’t heard from the dog’s owner.

“That’s what is so upsetting. The owner hasn’t even attempted to check on my son,” said Kim.

A son hoping for things to get back to normal soon. A neighborhood with kids, where a pit bull attacked.

The health department says they put the dog in quarantine for ten days for observation, but it has since been released to back to the owners.

The Ramseys say they aren’t sure if they’ll sue the dog’s owner.

911 Call fumbled on pitbull attack

MINNEAPOLIS — A woman was attacked by a pit bull in north Minneapolis Tuesday night, but it’s the way a 911 call was handled that has the neighborhood upset.

Laurie Hellerud was walking her dog when she saw the pit bull jump over a chain link fence and charge at her and her lab before changing direction and attacking another woman and her dog on the corner of Morgan Avenue “It was terrible — the noise,” Hellerud said. “Hearing three dogs in a fight, and then the lady yelling.”
Neighbor Sandy Stewart called 911 when she heard the attack.
“It was a pretty good sized pit bull and it was mean,” Stewart said. “It was tearing the other dogs pretty good.”
The pit bull was allegedly attacking the other dogs and an owner when Stewart called 911. She claims Minneapolis police passed her call on to animal control when she told them the dog was hurting both other dogs and people.

Witnesses estimate it took at least 20 minutes before animal control arrived. By that point, a good Samaritan helped stop the attack. Minneapolis police say they don’t have a record of the 911 call, since it was transferred. Departmental guidelines suggest if an animal attacks a person, police should respond, and, if a dog attacks a dog, animal control should respond. Animal control says the pit bull involved in the attack is on quarantine

The woman injured in the attack returned to work Tuesday night as a waitress.

Don’t Pet A PitBull

wfaa.com
FORT WORTH – A 9-year-old Fort Worth girl is recovering after she was bit by a pit bull Tuesday in the 4500 block of Campus Drive in Fort Worth.

Police said a man was walking his dog when the girl came over to pet it and was bit on the arm and leg.

The child was taken to Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth.

She was not seriously hurt, and the dog has been quarantined. No charges have been filed.

Good Pitbull Dogs Attack Family Member

www.wsls.com
Lynchburg News
Published: March 13, 2008

BEDFORD — Spend five minutes with Prince, and you know this dog is a killer.
A killer of stereotypes.
Sure, if someone tied you down and set this dark-brown pit bull mix on you, Prince might lick you to death over a couple of hours. But he wouldn’t mean to.
“He’s just a lovable dog,” said Lois Holland, his owner. “He loves everybody.”
Actually, Prince’s amiability shouldn’t be a surprise. Most pit bulls aren’t vicious, any more than most Italians are gangsters or most inner city teenagers are drug dealers. The rogue minority gives the overwhelming majority a bad name.
Lois’ husband, William, no doubt knows that, intellectually. Yet he also has seen the line between dog and human violently crossed — putting him in the hospital for nearly two months — and he’s no longer sure where that line is. Or if it even exists anymore.
Now, that has become Prince’s problem. William Holland finally came home Wednesday to a dog he can no longer trust.
“He didn’t come right out and say that,” Lois said, “but our granddaughter was coming to visit me, and he said, ‘Whatever you do, don’t leave her alone with Prince.’ We’ve had him for four years, but we’re going to have to find another home for him. So far, we haven’t had much luck.”
The four dogs that attacked the 62-year-old Holland on the late afternoon of Jan. 15 weren’t wild dogs, or even strange dogs. They belonged to his sister-in-law and typically roamed the bucolic country neighborhood off Burks Hill Road in Bedford County.
“He walked past them all the time,” Lois Holland said. “We all did. They were never known to bother anybody.”
According to Lois Holland, the incident happened when her husband was heading up to his mother’s house, on foot, past his sister-in-law’s trailer.
“He said, ‘I’m going up the hill to have a piece of cake,’” Lois Holland recalled.
Moments later, the younger pair of the four dogs — all pit bulls — approached Holland and began jumping on him. Then, they got rougher, and the two older pits rushed in and piled on, teeth flashing. Somehow, no one knows why, the game had suddenly turned mean and terrifying.
“We’ve wracked our brains trying to figure it out,” Lois Holland said. “He’d just eaten lunch, and maybe he had a food smell on him. We don’t know, but if he hadn’t had a knife on him, they’d have probably killed him.”
Instead, Holland managed to fatally wound two of the dogs with the knife, and the other two ran away. (They eventually were captured and killed.) He was left bleeding badly from multiple injuries, including a right foot that his wife said “was just about eaten off. All the tendons were showing.”
Holland had to be airlifted to Roanoke for trauma treatment. Surgeons saved his foot, but they couldn’t do anything about the trauma to his psyche.
For the record, Prince isn’t a pure-bred pit bull, although he has the broad chest (the dog weighs 80 pounds, said Lois) and the blunt muzzle.
“We think maybe he’s part black lab,” said Bev Jordan, a local dog enthusiast who has been helping Lois Holland try to find Prince a home. “That could be why he’s a little more mellow.”
Prince had nothing to do with the attack on her husband, Lois Holland said.
“He was in here on the floor, asleep,” she said.
Nevertheless, Prince has to go, and the Hollands are hoping he can be adopted by some dog-lovers. The worst-case scenario would send him to the local animal shelter, quite possibly to be euthanized.
“That just wouldn’t be fair,” Lois Holland said.
The legal and insurance issues surrounding the attack are still being sorted out. The fact that it’s all among family makes it stickier.
Bev Jordan tried to take a photo of Prince while I was at the Hollands’ house, but he rolled over on his back and hid his face with his paws.
Who could blame him?

PitBull Attacks Woman In San Diego

fox6.com
San Diego County animal control officers are looking for a pit bull that mauled a woman walking to her car.The attack happened Tuesday afternoon in North Park on the 42-hundred block of Boundary Street. That’s south of El Cajon Boulevard.

Joyce Mulfinger was checking on some rental property when the leashless dog suddenly appeared.

“He started jumping on me, biting my arms and all I could do was scream for help,” said Mulfinger.

The pit bull bit Joyce several times on both arms until a man grabbed the dog and disappeared.

Animal control officers scoured the neighborhood but they can’t find the pit bull in order to test it for rabies.

“There’s always the possibility its going to be in that same area again so we want people to be watchful and alert for it so they don’t get injured as well,” said Harold Holmes.

Holmes is a lieutenant with the San Diego County Department of Animal Services.

Joyce says paramedics told her that a pit bull attacked a child about two weeks ago in that same area, but animal control has no record of that incident.

Officers are looking for a tan and white, large chested pit bull that weighs about 100 pounds.

If you have any information, call animal services at 619-236-2341.

Technician Attacked by PitBull

www.wibw.com
Topeka Police responded to two vicious dog calls Wednesday morning.
The first one happened at 9:20 at 230 SW 35th Terr. A gas technician was attempting to deliver paperwork to the homeowner when he was attacked by pit bulls. The dogs latched onto the man’s arm. He was able to fend them off until police arrived. The man was taken to the hospital with non life threatening injuries.

“If this pit bull would have attacked a small child walking to school the child wouldn’t have had a chance. The only reason why this gentleman made it through was he was wearing heavy clothing and he was able to fend off the dog until we arrived,” said Cpl. Louis Cortez of the Topeka Police Department.

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‘);”Anytime anyone gets bit by any dog it’s going to hurt. But some are worse than others. If they can just get away from it. Get something between them and the dog,” said Officer Linda Halford with Animal Control.

The city of Topeka requires that all pit bull owners have a permit.

Pit Bull Attack 7 Years Later

wbaltv.com
BALTIMORE — Seven years ago, WBAL TV 11 News covered a pit bull attack on a little girl named Kasey Eyring — one of the most vicious attacks ever seen in the Baltimore — and the pictures taken shortly after the incident remain difficult to view. 11 News reporter Donna Hamilton sat down with Kasey and her mother recently to talk about her story. On a January night in 2001, Kasey, then 7 years old, was playing outside her grandmother’s home in a street in southwest Baltimore when a dog burst through a neighbor’s fence, his jaws locking onto Kasey’s face.

“I’ve never seen an animal bite that bad,” said Dr. Bradley Robertson in 2002. “The entire left side of her face, from her ear to the jaw line, and her lip — all of that was gone.” Robertson is a doctor at Shock Trauma who reconstructed Kasey’s face after the incident. She had dozens of surgeries to help in the reconstruction, the family said.  Currently, Kasey is a bright, energetic 14-year-old with a sweet smile, an infectious laugh and pretty brown eyes, Hamilton reported. She’s come a long way, but she still bears the scars of that night. “What do you remember about that day?” Hamilton asked Kasey. “I remember a dog barking, and all of a sudden he busted through the fence. I ran the other way, but that’s all I remember,” she said. But Kelly Eyring, Kasey’s mom, said she remembers the horror of all of it.

I remember the men coming in. Her father turned around and walked back out. They couldn’t handle it.'”My husband was just kicking and kicking. They tried metal trashcans they grabbed out of yards, but this dog would not let go. My husband remembered he had a pocket knife with him and started stabbing it in the neck,” Kelly Eyring said. “We put a towel over the left side of her face, and I remember the men coming in. Her father turned around and walked back out. They couldn’t handle it,” she said. “I just looked at the women in the room and the neighbors, and I said, ‘Pray with me.’ And we just started praying.” Doctors feared they might lose Kasey, but she was tougher than they thought — and funny, even on that horrible night, Hamilton reported. “I said, ‘Kasey, don’t leave me. Don’t leave me.’ I just kept saying it, because she’d get all quiet … until she finally looked up and said, ‘I told you, mom, I’m not going nowhere.’ That made me feel good,” Kelly Eyring remembered. Kasey was in the hospital for almost a month and she’s been back for visits countless times for follow-up operations, Hamilton reported.

Kasey’s family said she is often very reserved and quiet. Her mother said she’s that way with everyone but friends and close family. “She saw a therapist for a while, but she would say, ‘Mom, I just don’t know what we’re going to talk about.’ Because she doesn’t talk about it — at all,” Kelly Eyring said. Kelly Eyring said that Kasey wanted to do the interview with 11 News because she wanted everyone to know how she is doing since the night she was mauled and where she is in her life. “How would you describe who Kasey is today, and what life is like?” Hamilton asked the girl. Kasey responded, “I like shopping, and stuff like that.” She said she’s just a regular 14-year-old girl with the same problems as everyone else — mostly. Kasey just recently underwent a laser procedure in hopes of reducing her scars, the family said. The dog that attacked Kasey was put down the night of her attack. The owner was cited and fined, Hamilton reported. To view the report from the night of the attack seven years ago, click on the video link above.

11 Year Old Girl Attacked By Pit Bull

thedahloneganugget.com
An American pit bull terrier was euthanized last week after the animal reportedly attacked a local 11-year-old girl who was visiting the dog owner’s home.

Lauren Pethel was playing with a litter of puppies in the yard of a Happy Hollow Road residence when the barking dog managed to escape from a nearby front door.

“The pit bull came out of the garage by working the door handle,” said Lumpkin County Sheriff Mark McClure

“The little girl took off and ran and fell,” added Capt. Jason Stover. “And the dog attacked her.”

Lauren received numerous severe bite wounds to her back and legs before the dog owner’s daughter was able to restrain the animal.

“I would call it a mauling,” said McClure.

The Lumpkin County Middle School student was rushed to Chestatee Regional Hospital where she was treated for her wounds.

Following the attack, the dog owner agreed to surrender her pet to Lumpkin County Animal Control.

The animal was then euthanized by way of chemical injection.

On Monday, Lauren’s mother, Charr Sackett said her daughter is still a bit shaken up by the incident, but is doing well.

“She’s doing good and healing good,” she said. “The stitches are not out yet.”

Though Lauren is still on crutches, she has returned to school for a few half-days. Sackett said her daughter has received a warm and helpful welcome from the middle school staff.

“They were a big help to us in making her feel comfortable,” said Sackett.

In the meantime, Lauren is at ease around her family’s gentle golden retriever, but remains understandably jumpy around other dogs.

“I think it will take a while,” said Sackett. “She’s a trooper.”

Man Rescues Woman From Pit Bull Attack

kpho.com
PHOENIX — A man heard the screams of a woman being attacked by a pit bull and rushed to help her Monday, hitting the dog so hard he broke his baseball bat.

The man, who asked to be identified only as Robert, said the woman was walking her small dog near his central Phoenix house around 8:30 p.m. when the pit bull attacked her dog. When the woman picked up her dog to protect it, the pit bull started attacking her.

Robert said he heard the woman’s screams and ran outside with a broom to try to beat the pit bull away. When the broom didn’t faze the animal, Robert said, he grabbed his wooden baseball bat instead.

Robert said he hit the pit bull about six times, even breaking the bat, before the dog subsided.

Neighbors helped tie up the pit bull until police arrived to take it away.

Police said the animal had no tags and no one claimed it, so authorities weren’t sure who to hold responsible. Police said the dog would likely be euthanized.

Police said the woman suffered lacerations on her arms, but she and her dog were OK.

Pit Bull Owner Arrested In Attack On Ranger

nbcsandiego.com
SAN DIEGO — A 36-year-old man attacked a park ranger at Chollas Park in Oak Park on Monday afternoon over a disagreement about his dog, police told NBC 7/39.

Officers said the confrontation started at about 4 p.m., when the female ranger asked the man to put his pit bull on a leash.

“Certainly, a park ranger’s not going to let a pit bull go running around the park unleashed, so that’s where the confrontation started,” said San Diego police Lt. Mark Hanten. “She tried to get him to leash the dog. And he took exception to it.”

“He ended up throwing a rock at the park ranger, apparently according to park witnesses,” Hanten said. “Then she pepper sprayed him. And then after that he got in his car and drove at both the park ranger and another person at the park.”

“I was surprised, she didn’t back down from him,” a witness told NBC 7/39. “She just proceeded to hold her ground and try to do the right thing and keep everybody here safe and keep the dog on a leash.”

After the man drove toward the park ranger, he backed up and drove away to a nearby neighborhood where he lives, police said. Investigators said the man was apparently so upset that he punched a parked white truck with his fist. The truck’s owner called police.

“Somebody called police here, we put the description together and came and arrested him for the altercation over at Chollas,” Hanten said.

John Rodriguez was booked into jail on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon.

Pit bull fatally shot by city police after attack on dog

chicagotribune.com
Chicago police fatally shot a pit bull and were searching for a second one Monday afternoon after the animals attacked a man walking his dog on the Northwest Side.

The incident occurred about 12:30 p.m. in the 3700 block of West Agatite Avenue in the Albany Park neighborhood, Officer Tom Polick said. A man was walking his dog when two pit bulls attacked the smaller dog.

The man called 911 on his cell phone and police officers who responded fatally shot one of the pit bulls. The other pit bull ran away and authorities were looking for it Monday afternoon, said Cleophus Cavin, a supervisor with the Chicago Animal Care & Control Commission.

Authorities believe the pit bulls were strays, Cavin said. There were no reports of injuries to the officers or the man.

Pit bulls in attack quarantined

www.bradenton.com

BRIAN BLANCO

A pit bull, under investigation for recent aggression, is confined to a pen at the Manatee County Animal Services in Palmetto Friday.

MANATEE —

Two dogs that attacked a man and killed his pet Maltese in a Tara neighborhood are in the custody of Manatee County Animal Control.An 80-pound, pewter-colored pit bull and a 55-pound, brindle-and-white pit bull mix were taken from their owners and brought to the pound late Thursday night, said Kris Weiskopf, chief of animal services, on Friday.

The dogs will spend at least 10 days in quarantine, Weiskopf said.

Charles Boucher, 63, was walking his Maltese along Marsh Orchid Circle when the two dogs attacked, said Capt. Larry Leinhauser, spokesman for the Manatee County Emergency Communications Center, which dispatched an ambulance.

Boucher sustained a wound on the left forearm, according to a Manatee County Sheriff’s Office report.

“What I understand is that a woman was walking both pit bull dogs. She owns one of them and a male friend owns the other, and they were all leashed,” Weiskopf said.

Because Boucher was bitten, the dogs will have to be quarantined for rabies and other conditions, Weiskopf said.

“Any bite that breaks the skin, the animal is held for 10 days,” Weiskopf said.

If the two dogs are declared dangerous, they could be held longer.

“We have 30 days to conduct an investigation, and that is by state statute,” Weiskopf said.

The dogs could be destroyed if they are found dangerous, but last year, only two dogs were euthanized and those were repeat offenders, Weiskopf said.

The owners of the dogs that were involved in the attack could face penalties, including a fine of $200 for each dog running loose and a $500 fine for a dog causing injury, Weiskopf said.

There is no specific or additional fine related to the death of the pet dog, Weiskopf said

Man charged in fatal pit-bull attack on dog

www.theglobeandmail.com
Conviction could lead to $90,000 fine or 18 months in jail, Animal Control says; owner of mauled pet also suing for $1-million

ANTHONY CAPUANO

February 16, 2008

An Etobicoke man will appear in court next week on charges that his three pit bulls killed a woman’s dog last year.

“I miss him so much,” Zelda Carruthers, 62, said of her dog Simba. “He was like my child. He was really my only companion.”

Her neighbour Mike Matuszewski, 19, has been charged under the Dog Owner’s Liability Act with three separate offences for each of his pit bulls, including failing to keep a pit bull muzzled and leashed in a public place.

The dogs are in the custody of Toronto Animal Control. The court hearing will take place on Tuesday.

Dog owners can be fined up to $10,000 or be jailed for up to six months if they are found to be violating any part of the act, explained Wendy Raike, a supervisor with Animal Control.

“In this case, because of the number of charges, the accused could be made to pay as much as $90,000 and/or face 18 months in jail,” Ms. Raike said.

“That isn’t likely to happen, but it’s up to the courts.”

Ms. Carruthers is pursuing a lawsuit against Mr. Matuszewski and his family. Her lawyer, Brian Goldfinger, is seeking $1-million in damages for his client. He claims Ms. Carruthers has been unable to work or function normally since the alleged attack.

“This was her therapy dog. He meant so much to her,” Mr. Goldfinger said.

A statement of claim prepared by Mr. Goldfinger says that on May 27, 2007, Ms. Carruthers was walking her American Eskimo dog near her apartment complex in Etobicoke.

As they came around a high hedge of bushes, they encountered the three pit bulls owned by Mr. Matuszewski. According to the statement, the dogs were not muzzled or leashed.

The three pit bulls then “launched a vicious and unprovoked attack on Ms. Carruthers and Simba, causing them … injuries, ultimately resulting in Simba’s death,” the document says.

Ms. Carruthers was treated in hospital for minor injuries. Her dog was rushed to an emergency animal clinic in Oakville, where vets were forced to euthanize it.

Mr. Matuszewski moved out of the Lincoln Tower apartments on the West Mall last December and was unavailable for comment.

Pit bulls have been banned in Ontario since November, 2005. However, dogs that were in the province before the ban may be kept, provided the owner has them sterilized. They must be leashed and muzzled at all times when in public.

20 People, Gunshot End Pit Bull Attack

CBS11TV.COM
Katherine Blake
FORT WORTH (CBS 11 News) ― A small dog was mauled by a pit bull in south Fort Worth. It took about 20 people and a gunshot to end the attack.

Baby, a four-year-old shitzu-yorkie mix, was on a leash on his porch Wednesday night when a pit bull ran up and attacked him.

“When he finally got him off his leash, pulling him, he was dragging him across the yard and just shaking him,” said Russel Cook.

The 52-year-old tried to fight the pit bull, but he’s disabled from a stroke and couldn’t do much.

“I had a hold of him by his neck and his butt,” said Cook.

The dog’s owners, Sue and Bob Thompson, heard Cook’s screams and came out to help.

“I went over there, and grabbed the pit bull’s jaws,” said Sue.

“She had two hammers, and I said, ‘Hand me one,” said Bob.

“I was hitting him in the head with a hammer, and Bob was too,” said Sue.

“It didn’t faze that dog one bit,” said Bob.

Then, about 20 neighbors and people passing by jumped in, using chairs, brooms and anything they could to get the pit bull to let go of Baby.

It didn’t end until a Fort Worth police officer pulled up.

“The police man shot the dog,” said Bob.

“If I had a gun, I’d killed him,” said Sue.

Baby may lose an eye, and the extent of his internal injuries still isn’t known.

“To see him hurt like that, it was just killing us,” said Sue.

As Baby tries to get back into his normal routine, his owners are hoping the pit bull owner is found and held accountable.

Pit bull attack sends toddler to hospital

lonestartimes.com
Once again, a not-at-all vicious breed of dog is forced to defend itself against a toddler who had the nerve to sit in her own living room:

A toddler was taken to the hospital after a dog attacked her in her home Wednesday afternoon in northwest Harris County, sheriff’s deputies said.

The 2-year-old girl, who has not been identified, was inside her living room at 10047 Woodico Court at the Westpoint Estates subdivision when a dog chased the family’s Chihuahua into the house and attacked the child, deputies said.

None of the neighbors recognized the dog, which didn’t have any tags, said Capt. John Martin of the Harris County Sheriff’s Office. “We don’t know if it was a stray, or if it just wasn’t on a leash,” he said. Martin said he could not confirm the breed of the dog, although it was initially reported as a pit bull.

It’s almost enough to make you wonder whether certain animals are inherently dangerous.

Nah, that can’t possibly be it…

Pit Bull kills neighbor’s dog, injures neighbor

www.wwsb.com
Updated: Feb 14, 2008 10:30 PM

MANATEE COUNTY, Fla. – A family’s dog was mauled to death by a Pit Bull this afternoon in Manatee County. People in the neighborhood where it happened tell us the pit bull had been causing problems recently.

A lot of barking…showing signs of aggressive behavior…but everyone still shocked at what happened today.

“It happened so fast…you want it to be over,” said witness Dana Plecker. Plecker and his wife Sylvia were overcome with emotion after seeing a Pit Bull attack and kill their neighbor’s dog. “It was horrible. The dog bit him in half.”

Neighbors, obviously upset about what’s happened, say a woman was walking two big dogs on leashes: a Greyhound and a Pit Bull mix. “It’s a huge dog. Pit bulls are smaller. This dog looks like it could be a Weimaraner and Pit Bull mix,” says Sylvia Plecker.

At the same time, a 63-year-old retired man was walking his Maltese named Jack. Deputies say the Pit Bull and the Greyhound saw Jack and took off…the leashes coming out of the woman’s hands. “If you can’t control the dogs you’re walking, get someone who can. Two big dogs are a handful for anyone,” says Manatee County’s Captain Larry Leinhauser.

Investigators say the Pit Bull bit the man on the arm, but viciously attacked Jack. Plecker and her friend tried to grab the Pit Bull and stop it. “I just picked him up, and he twisted out of the chains…so he’s loose. We are both so lucky. I grabbed him by the throat to keep him off you.”

The women were able to get Jack away and run him inside, but Jack died in their arms.

And to make it even worse, neighbors say the Pit Bull’s owner, after seeing what her dogs had done, left…leaving the 63-year-old man bleeding and lying in the street.

When the victim came home from the hospital, his wife, Jack’s other owner, could hardly breathe she was so distraught. “I want those dogs put to sleep. I want them to feel what I’m feeling.”

Manatee County Animal Services say the Pit Bull and Greyhound will be taken into their custody. Authorities have not announced if the owners are facing any charges.

Pit Bull Attacks Greyhounds

insidebayarea.com
On Friday, a loose pit bull attempted to break through the window of a house to attack another dog, Schick said, adding the other dog was cut from the glass.

Schick said she’s aware of some other recent incidents involving pit bulls. In one, about a month ago, a woman was walking her two greyhounds when a pit bull suddenly charged toward her, Schick said.

The dog, which the woman recognized as a neighborhood pet that would frequently bang against a fence to get out of its yard, bit the woman’s female greyhound and severely wounded the male greyhound when it tried to intercede,Schick said.

A nearby postal worker finally sprayed the canine with dog mace to end the attack, Schick said.

The woman’s male greyhound had to be euthanized because of its injuries, Schick said.

Schick said pit bulls can be affectionate pets and noted that other breeds of dogs can bite, too. But it is unclear why pit bulls seem to act the way they do, she said.

“What’s causing the issue with these dogs? There seems to be no answer,” she said.

Pit bull mauls 2-year-old in dog’s second attack; owner charged

middletownjournal.com
Same animal bit off the tip of a man’s nose in January; dog has been put down, a Middletown animal control officer said Monday.
By Daniel Wells
Tuesday, February 12, 2008

MIDDLETOWN — A Middletown man was charged with felony child endangerment after his 2-year-old daughter was mauled Thursday by the same pit bull terrier that bit off the tip of a man’s nose in January.

Johnathan W. Miller, 23, took the dog from its previous owner after it was declared vicious Jan. 30, said Liz Lucas, Middletown animal control officer.

“He was aware that the dog had been deemed vicious,” she said.

The 2-year-old girl was sitting on the floor playing with a toy about 7:32 p.m. when the dog suddenly bit her on the left side of the face, according to the police report.

The girl had severe injuries including a “very large laceration that cut completely through her cheek,” according to the report.

She also had a puncture wound on her nose and a bump on her forehead.

The girl was taken to Atrium Medical Center and then transported to Children’s Medical Center of Dayton, Lucas said.

Miller was arraigned Friday in Middletown Municipal court and released on his own recognizance. He is due back in court at 2:30 p.m. Feb. 20 for a preliminary hearing.

“The dog has been euthanized and is being tested for rabies,” Lucas said.

Pit Bull Attack In Manteca

news10.net
Twice in two days and three times in the last month, pit bulls in Manteca have gone on the attack.

The most recent came Monday morning when a man working in his yard was bit by a neighboring dog through a hole in the fence.

A more serious attack happened Sunday, when a 2- year-old girl was bit and dragged around the family yard before her grandfather noticed.

“When I saw it was my granddaughter, I went after him. He wouldn’t let go. I almost choked him to death. The only way to get him to let go,” said Mervyn Dameral.

Dameral’s granddaughter was taken to a local hospital for treatment. The dog was taken to Manteca’s animal shelter and will be destroyed after 10 days. Two-year-old Natalie, the victim, has 15 stitches in her leg and will recover.

These two incidents come about a month after two greyhound dogs were attackedby pit bulls in a north Manteca neighborhood. The greyhounds’ owner was walking the dogs when a pit bull suddenly raced across the street and attacked the greyhounds. Injuries to one of them were so severe the dog was euthanized.

At least some say they wish pit bull owners were in better control of their pets. “They need to take care of them. Leashed, contained, whatever it takes. If they’re going to have a pit, they have to be totally responsible,” said Phil Berberick.

Peek-A-Boo Dead From Pit Bull Attack

www.decaturdaily.com
A pit bull attacked and killed this Peek-A-Poo, Gigi, on Thursday.
By Ronnie Thomas

A Decatur woman in her 70s watched in horror as a pit bull attacked and killed her 1-year-old Peek-A-Poo while she walked it in her side yard on a leash.

Diane Donahue of 1205 Loggers Way S.W. suffered cuts, lacerations and puncture wounds on both arms and hands when the dog turned on her Thursday morning as she bent down in an effort to protect her dog, Gigi.

She fell down face first, blackening her eyes, cutting and scraping her face and forehead.

A police report says she fell on the concrete driveway, but she said she isn’t sure. But she said she would not let go of the leash and the pit bull dragged her.

“We had just gone out about 7 or 7:15, and we were getting ready to come in the back door,” she said. “Two pit bulls came into the yard, a male and female, but only the male attacked.”

A neighbor driving by stopped, jumped out of his car and chased the dogs off.

Donahue said she made two trips to the emergency room at Parkway Medical Center for treatment, including stitches in her hands and arms.

“I’ve got 27 puncture wounds on one (side) and about 32 on the other,” she said Sunday, showing the bandages. “They did X-rays and nothing was broken. But my little girl (her dog) was torn apart.”

She said Dr. Charles Ashwander retrieved Gigi about 7:30 that morning and took her to his veterinary clinic.

“He called me about 9 that night, and he said he was still checking on her,” Donahue said. “He called about 7:30 Friday morning and said Gigi was gone. I got her after my husband died. My heart is just broken.”

Police said the pit bulls belong to Christopher Allen Johnson, 23, of 388 Shelton Road in Madison.

Jeff Cato said the dogs were at his residence in Decatur at 242 Vestavia Drive S.W., on part of the 71/2 acres he rents.

“Chris is a friend of one of my sons,” Cato said. “He couldn’t keep the dogs in a townhouse in Madison, so we put up store-bought pens for them here. To my knowledge, this is the first time they’ve been out. I think they dug their way out.”

Puppies

Cato said the dogs have been on the property about five weeks and the female has four puppies that are a month old.

“I don’t understand why she would leave her puppies unless maybe another dog provoked her,” he said. “We took all precautions in keeping the dogs up.”

Cato said he was not aware of the extent of Donahue’s injuries or that her dog had died until a Daily reporter told him at his home.

“I didn’t even know who it was,” he said. “No one has told us anything.”

Cato said he is “very sorry about what happened. My sympathies are with (Donahue) for her injuries and her loss.”

Donahue’s daughter, Kelly Cooney, came from Atlanta to assist. She made fliers and is distributing them in the neighborhood, asking residents to call city officials and voice their concerns.

Previous occasions

Both women say that the dogs have been out previously and that a neighbor who jogs said they had chased him.

Cato denies that, saying, “These dogs have never chased anybody. Other dogs roam freely in the neighborhood constantly.”

He also said Decatur Animal Control Officer Danny Melson was inefficient in catching the dogs. Melson could not be reached.

“He didn’t do anything,” Cato said. “He and two police officers came, and when I yelled for the dogs to get into the pen, they obeyed. Melson stood behind the officer with the Taser.

“Chris came and got the dogs and put them into his car, and took them to Osborne’s (animal clinic) as Melson followed him in a van. Chris will pay $600 for the quarantine.”

The dogs will be quarantined for a 10-day observation period required by Alabama law.

Cato stated emphatically that the adult pit bulls will not return to his property. He said he will keep the puppies for now because he is hand-feeding them.