community problem
A fool sayeth; 'Don't like pit bulls, don't get a pit bull. End of story.'
Evading the pit bull issue is, unfortunately, not as simple as simply avoiding owning one...
Even if you personally choose not to own pit bulls or seek out interaction with them, does not mean you will be free of encounters with these animals. They can--and frequently DO--invade the lives of others without invitation, with frequently bloody results.
Pit bulls are a COMMUNITY problem. Their scope is far beyond the immediate home that chooses them. 'Responsible ownership' is a smoke-screen phrase that is meaningless; people have been talking about 'responsible ownership' going on two decades now and it has done nothing--it IS NOT WORKING. Attacks, disfigurement, dismemberment, fatalities are at a snowballing rate. This disturbing trend is only blunted and even reversed in areas which have enacted BSL, tellingly. Communities as a whole are subject to the presence of pit bulls... the proof is all around us, one need only open your eyes to look at it.
These dogs are so uniquely intrusive they INVADE homes to maul and kill. I'm not kidding. A compilation of such attacks can be found here; http://safetybeforebulldogs.blogspot.com/2014/03/collection-of-home-invasion-pit-bull.html
The 'pit bull attack trigger' page at dogsbite.org, issued as an illustration of the absurdity and extremity to which pit bull apologia will sink, also markedly encompasses the breadth of the issue--the scope of pit bull reach, when communities can no longer engage any of the following without risking pit bull attack;
being an animal control officer
being a mail carrier
being a gas worker
being a landscaper
being a police officer
being a public works employee
being in a wheelchair
being pregnant
borrowing a blender
breaking the ice out of a water bowl
disciplining your dog
driving a vehicle
dropping a glass
falling down
feeding the dog
getting a rabies vaccination
getting neutered
getting off a bus
getting the mail
getting the newspaper
handing someone a phone
hanging decorations
having a dog on your lap
having a seizure
having a smoke
hearing an argument
hearing thunder
holding a clipboard
holding a mailbag
holding a stuffed animal
hopping off a couch
jumping on a trampoline
letting your dog out
mowing your lawn
opening a car door
opening your front door
playing in your backyard
playing in your front yard
playing keep-a-way
playing on a playground
playing on a swing set
playing with a tennis ball
reaching for your purse
reading a bible
remodeling your home
running from bees
saving a family from a fire
seeing a cat run up tree
seeing a dog inside a house
seeing a horse
seeing a squirrel run up tree
seeing a leashed dog
seeing an unleashed dog
sitting on a bed
sitting on your spouse's lap
showing your spouse affection
sitting in a stroller
sitting in a tire swing
sitting in a wagon
sitting on your porch
slipping on ice
smelling "baby formula"
standing in your backyard
standing in your garage
stepping on an ant pile
taking down a Christmas tree
the act of bicycling
the act of driving
the act of gardening
the act of sex
the act of jogging
the act of sleeping
the sound of clapping
the sound of screaming
taking out the trash
walking on a beach
walking down a path
walking down a road
walking down a sidewalk
walking a snack sized dog
undergoing dialysis
unloading bags from a car
watching TV
waiting for a bus
wearing a ponytail
http://blog.dogsbite.org/2008/08/triggers-what-prompts-pit-bull-to.html
Each 'trigger' is clickable and leads to a real world scenario, evidenced with third party sources and citations.
The following are a sampling of attack stories from the last month alone, in which people and pets going about their daily business were attacked and affected by a pit bull infested community... whether they were taking a walk, riding a scooter, going about their jobs, taking out the trash, fishing, hiking, shopping, attending a birthday party, crossing an intersection, horseback riding, playing in their yard, or walking the dog.
Three members of a Darien family remain in the hospital after police said they were all attacked by a pit bull.
Family members said the young boy was taking the trash out when a neighbor’s dog attacked him. Police said it was a very violent situation that left three people severely injured.
“This is a tragedy,” said McIntosh County Sheriff Stephen Jessup. “It happens every now and then.”
McIntosh County investigators said this is one of the worst dog biting cases they’ve ever seen. On Monday, 11-year-old Darius Wingate was attacked in his yard. According to police, the next door neighbors had just let out their three dogs: two pit bulls and an American bulldog.
The victims’ family said the dogs began attacking Wingate. When his mom and sister heard him screaming, they ran to the rescue, but they were also severely bitten.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims, especially with Darius,” said Jessup.
http://www.dangerousdognews.com/us_attacks/three-recovering-darien-dog-attack/
A police officer investigating a theft at a home on South 46th Street was attacked by a pit bull on Tuesday, shooting the dog after it bit him in the hand, authorities said.
The dog is expected to make a full recovery.
Banks and West assert that on July 26, 2014 they were attending a birthday party with their child held at a home owned by Thompson located and Castillo. The plaintiffs claim that while at the party a pit bull attacked their child causing serious injuries including permanent scarring and disfigurement.
A DISABLED woman has appealed for witnesses after her terrier was mauled by two “pit bulls”.
The woman’s desperate attempts to flee the dogs on her mobility scooter failed and the attack left her pet, Skye, with blood pouring from her mouth and leg.
The victim, who we have agreed not to name, said the attack happened while she was riding her scooter on the trail between the Hythe and East Street, Colchester.
Skye, her Cairn terrier, was on her lead on the platform of the scooter.
She said: “I had just come under the railway bridge when I saw a man with two pit bull-type dogs running loose.
“I stopped until he got hold of them, then I went as fast as I could to get away from the dogs.
“About halfway along the allotments, I saw in the mirror the dogs coming up fast behind me. The next thing, one of them grabbed my dog by the mouth.
Two pit bulls are being held at the dog pound after attacking and killing another dog on New Year’s Day in Peachland.
The animals were running loose on Ponderosa Drive when they encountered Jeff Clarke as he was out walking his dog, Charley.
In a vicious attack lasting for several minutes, the pit bulls repeatedly bit Charley while Clarke and a neighbour frantically tried to separate the dogs.
“It was a horrible, brutal thing,” Clarke said Sunday. “The pit bulls were relentless. We were hitting and kicking them, but they weren’t letting go of Charley no matter what.”
A DISTRAUGHT animal lover has pleaded for help to catch the owner of a dangerous dog that viciously attacked her pet greyhound in Clacton town centre.
Deryn Ellis’s four-year old greyhound Corky was attacked by a Staffordshire bull terrier or pitbull-type dog in front of shocked sales shoppers in Pier Avenue at 11am on Boxing Day.
Corky suffered more than a dozen small wounds, three severe bites and another that could have been fatal without the swift actions of a quick-thinking bystander.
Mrs Ellis, of Jaywick, was also bitten on the hand during the attack, but was not seriously hurt.
The owner of the other dog ran off following the incident.
A man guided his pit bull toward a 6-year-old boy and his father at a busy Kips Bay intersection, standing by and watching as the dog bit the pair and left them bleeding, the NYPD said.
Mister Parrish, 36, was arrested and charged with releasing his 15-month-old pup Boss from a leash and “steering” the dog toward a 41-year-old man and his son at Lexington Avenue and East 28th Street at 10:30 p.m. Dec. 27, police said.
Parrish had been waiting to cross the intersection when he noticed the young boy standing next to him looking frightened of Boss. Parrish told the child, “It’s only a dog,” police said.
As the father and son began crossing the street, Parrish set the dog loose and encouraged it to go after the pair, police said. He then stood by, watching as the pit bull bit the man’s arm and the 6-year-old’s leg, leaving them bleeding, police said.
The pit bull terrier and another dog inflicted horrific wounds on 14-year-old Lakeland terrier cross Paddy as he was being walked in woodlands by his owners.
When the two dogs attacked, Paddy’s owners tried to beat them away from their beloved pet.
Despite their efforts, they could not prevent Paddy being seriously injured. He was later put to sleep.
A Philadelphia police officer was injured Sunday afternoon when a pit bull got loose on a Brewerytown street.
The dog was attacking civilians and officers near 30th Street and Girard Avenue shortly before 1:30 p.m., police said.
Officers discharged their weapons and Tasers at the pit bull. It wasn’t immediately clear whether the dog was killed
The 42-year-old man said he was returning from buying cigarettes when he noticed a pit bull that was loose in the backyard of an alley at 50 S. Hedges St. The man stepped back, but the dog had already spotted him, according to a Dayton police report.
The man said the dog has previously chased him, and that he started to run and was trying to climb over a fence when the dog caught up to him, biting him in the right forearm.
A little boy in Campbell is recovering after being bit by a pit bull. It happened Sunday afternoon in the 800 block of Devitt. Police said a man was taking care of someone else’s dog and did not have it on a leash. The dog then bit an eight-year-old on the leg.
A simple traffic stop involving a bicycle in Lehigh Acres led to a Lee County deputy firing off a shot to protect one of his own. It happened near Gilbert Avenue just west of Gunnery Road.
Deputies tell us they attempted to stop a suspect on a bicycle outside of the Dollar General store on Gunnery Road for riding without a light. That’s when the suspect ran away from deputies.
A helicopter and K9 unit were called in to help search for the suspect. While tracking the suspect in a wooded area, a K9 unit was attacked by an unleashed Pit bull. That’s when a deputy in pursuit shot the Pit bull.
A leash and an empty dog collar sit on the ground after an attack that wounded this Golden Retriever named Nala and this Australian shepherd named Oz. Nala got the worst of it with this bloody gash near her stomach. Their owner Patrick McWilliams was taking his dogs for a walk around his neighborhood yesterday afternoon when he says two dogs–that looked to be pit bulls came out of nowhere and attacked.
“I was basically screaming for a couple of minutes because I’d get one of them off and another one would attack,” says Patrick McWilliams. McWilliams says one of the attacking dogs bit him on the leg. Neighbors like Bob Kidd heard the commotion and tried to help McWilliams.
“And then I ran out to see what I could do and he was biting him really bad so I went to get a two by four and ran out after him,” says Kidd. Nala tracked a trail of blood through the garage when she came home. As bad as her injuries look in these pictures both of Patrick McWillaims’ dogs had surgery and are expected to come home Friday. The family shared their story because they hoped by sharing it, it would prevent something like this from ever happening again.
Animal control officers are trying to determine if a pit bull that viciously attacked a horse in the East County is the same dog that attacked a rider three years ago.
Stacey Russell and a friend were out riding on Quail Canyon Road in unincorporated El Cajon Sunday afternoon when a loose pit bull came charging from a house. Russell said the dog lunged at her horse’s neck.
While Russell was down on the ground, she said the dog chased her horse for more than half a mile. Fellow rider Cheryl Paz took off after the dog. They said the owner was yelling after the dog and then someone came by in a car, grabbed the dog and sped off.
Horseback riding and horse fancying in a community with pit bulls is a dangerous and costly hobby; http://www.dogsbite.org/blog-posts-dog-attacks-horses.php Horses are such a common target of pit bulls that attacks fill several [out-of-date pages] of their own http://www.dogsbite.org/dogsbite-newsroom-2008-dog-attacks-on-livestock-and-horses.php
Livestock are another imperiled venture in pit bull domains. While you may hear pit bull fanatics hastily mention that celebrities like Babe Ruth possessed pit bulls (as if that were an indication of wholesome value; many celebrities also possessed drugs and other vices...), what you won't hear about are instances such as... when The Great Bambino's pit bulls got loose, they killed one neighbor's chickens, and on another occasion decimated a herd--yes a herd--of another neighbor's cattle. http://cravendesires.blogspot.com/2013/02/george-herman-ruth-jr-aka-babe-ruth-aka.html
Two pit bulls and a Rottweiler have run loose around Joliet’s North Reed Street and attacked at least four other dogs, viciously mauling one, residents said.
“Our fear is a child” will fall prey to the pack of dogs, said Doreen Swanson, who said her own two pets were beset by the hounds from Reed Street.
What started off as a friendly hello to a couple of pit bulls turned into painful injuries for Tom Kuppers.
“The bigger of the two jumped up and grabbed hold of my arm. And it was the right forearm. Of course, I’m yelling at it. I think what I must have done was yanked it out of its mouth… it kept coming at me so I threw my bag at them.”
Kuppers says he was in shock, but spoke to the owner of the dogs who was apologetic but left without leaving contact information.
“He just kinda slowly walked out of the store. I didn’t see him leave.”
Simply shopping in pet friendly stores in pit bull communities could prove dangerous to your children and dangerous/fatal to your pets; a list of Petsmart and Petsco pitbull attacks: http://safetybeforebulldogs.blogspot.com/2014/09/list-of-pit-bull-attacks-inside.html
Yesterday while my family and I were fishing at Southgates there was a few people there with a big brown Pit Bull looking dog which KILLED our little Maltese Shitzu.
The owner took off in a hurry without leaving any details whatsoever.
My fiancee and young children are devastated.
Three people required medical treatment after they were attacked and bitten by a pair of roaming pit bulls on Rails to Trails Monday evening.
The victims, two brothers, aged 12 and 6, and a 37-year old man unrelated to the pair, were on the walking path near Second Street when the dogs attacked them. All three victims suffered bite wounds to their legs.
It was the second vicious dog incident of the afternoon for Taft Police. Earlier, they responded to the 600 block of Lucard where a dog ran into a woman’s house after apparently killing a dog across the street.
The third dog accused of being involved in attack that injured a couple and killed their dog was captured Tuesday morning.
Macon-Bibb Animal Control says a neighbor caught the dog. After nearly a day of searching , the neighbor put the dog in a crate in his backyard after it apparently killed their cat.
A New Castle County police dog is recovering after being attacked by a pit bull in a local park.
“Monty” a 6-year-old German Shepard with the New Castle County Police Department suffered minor injuries when he was attacked by a gray pit bull while officers were responding to a call in Sellers Park on Monday.
A Massena village justice has ordered a pit bull to be euthanized after it bit a neighbor on the leg earlier this month.
Village police had charged William P. Rochefort, 20, of 107 Stoughton Ave., Massena, with allowing his dog to run at large, harboring a dangerous dog and having an unlicensed dog Dec. 8 following an investigation into an incident that allegedly occurred earlier in the day.
On Saturday, December 27, 10-year-old Bernard Molnar was viciously attacked by two Pit Bulls while riding a scooter he had received for Christmas in front of a home in Enid, Oklahoma.
The dogs escaped from a fenced yard at a nearby residence and attacked the child at approximately 3:30 p.m. in the 1700 block of East Walnut, according to the police report.
Christina Dettling, Bernard’s mother, told KOCO News that her son was drenched in blood and “looked like a Zombie with his face peeled back” after the attack.
Christina Dettling said it took four people to free the boy from the Pit Bulls, but not before her son was seriously injured. She said a neighbor, Patrick Prall, was the first to discover her son being mauled and he beat the dogs off with Bernard’s scooter as she called 911. She credits Patrick with saving her son’s life.
Although Bernie is feeling better, Dettling said, “His right arm is broken, where the dog bit down, crushed both bones and shook him. He’s got a horseshoe-shaped mark on the back of his head — it’s got 10 staples in it and it went all the way down to the skull.”
She added that, as well as cuts that needed stitches and bruises all over his body, her son has “…a 3-inch gash on his upper right butt cheek that’s got three staples. They had to sew a portion of his right ear back on. He’s got a fractured nose. “His face and his ear and his arm (are) the absolute worst; and the back of his head.”
5-year-old boy and a 7-year-old boy were hospitalized Tuesday after they were attacked by two pit bulls in West Palm Beach, an Animal Care and Control spokesperson said.
The incident took place at about 5 p.m. near the intersection with Australian Avenue.
An officer was attacked by a pit bull as San Diego Police pulled over a driver in the Mission Valley area Wednesday night, officials say.
The incident happened just after 8 p.m. on Friars Road at State Route 163.
According to the SDPD, the dog bite sent the officer to the hospital, but police did not shoot the pit bull.
The St. Albans Police Department is investigating a dog attack on Lake Street in the area of Food City. The attack happened between 4:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. Monday.
Police say after the pit bull attacked a 52-year-old man fled the scene into a wooded.
The dog and owner have not been identified. Police say victim received puncture wounds to one hand and he was transported to Northwest Medical Center.
The dog is described as a medium size brown and white pit bull with a green nylon collar
Two people were hospitalized Monday night after they were attacked by four pit bulls that were accidentally released from their pen, police said.
Fall River police and animal control officers caught the dogs after they had been running through a wooded area. The dogs are being held in quarantine for 10 days, said Fall River police Lt. Ronald Furtado.
The dogs’ owner, identified as Sherry King, 43, of 550 Kilburn St., will be summonsed to court on two counts of failure to license a dog, Furtado said.
The police investigation alleges that the dogs were released from their pen after a child who fed the dogs accidentally left the pen door open, Furtado said.
Around 4 p.m. Monday, Fall River police Officers Peter Daluz and Derek Pereira responded to a dog bite call at Howe and Crawford streets. A 70-year-old woman was bitten on her forearm. She told the officers that she was walking in the area when two dogs approached and bit her pocketbook. When she tried to retrieve her purse, the dogs attacked her. The force of the dogs attacking her forearm caused the woman to fall to the ground, police said.
Two nearby bystanders intervened and stopped the attack. The 70-year-old woman was treated at the scene by medical rescue personnel and transported to Saint Anne’s Hospital for further treatment, police said.
