VP file photo.
Posted on 01/25/2005 4:58:31 PM PST by csvset
Dogs raise ruckus at zoo; police capture 1, kill 2
By DEBBIE MESSINA, The Virginian-Pilot
© January 25, 2005
Last updated: 6:48 PM
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| Zebras, bison, elephants, a white-tailed deer and an emu were threatened by three dogs roaming the zoo. VP file photo.
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HARASSED: Zebras, bison, elephants, a white-tailed deer and an emu were threatened by three dogs roaming the zoo. ATTACKED: A zoo keeper was bitten on the hand by a dog later captured by police. The bite required medical attention, but the keeper was not hospitalized. KILLED: One dog was killed by a shotgun blast fired by a police officer. Another officer shot a second dog with a handgun after the dog tried to attack him. CAUGHT: The third dog, which bit the keeper, was captured by police. It will likely be euthanized and tested for rabies.
Map: Virginia Zoo and its neighborhood
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A police spokesman said they’re believed to be the same pack of wild dogs that have roamed the neighboring Lafayette Park and Riverview community for the past month, eluding capture.
Those dogs killed at least three house cats and a raccoon.
“I’m kind of glad they’re off the streets,” said David Spriggs, a Riverview resident and dog owner.
Zoo staff said there were no visitors at the zoo at the time of the incident.
The keeper who was bitten on the hand received medical care but did not require hospital attention. The dog that bit the keeper is being held at Animal Control. Police spokesman Chris Amos said the dog likely will be euthaniz ed and tested for rabies.
No zoo animals were hurt, although they were “extremely stressed,” said curator Louise Hill.
“Whenever animals at the zoo see a dog, they see a predator,” she said. “They want to run, but they don’t have a lot of room to run so they run into fences and into each other.”
The dogs first entered the zoo Sunday night. Zoo officials said they charged the bison in their yard, then threatened a white-tailed deer and an emu.
“They even barked at the tigers,” Hill said.
But the dogs disappeared quickly and were not seen again by the nighttime staff.
They were spotted sometime after 11 a.m. Monday in the elephant enclosure. The elephants, as well as many of the zoo animals, were still indoors because of the cold weather.
Police and animal-control officers failed to corral the dogs after several attempts. “We had them for the first time in a month, and we didn’t want to let them get away,” Amos said.
A police officer killed one dog with a shotgun after it chased the zebras, which keepers could not coax indoors during the incident.
Another officer shot and killed a second dog with a handgun after it tried to attack him.
Amos said all three were mixed breeds, although one resembled a shepherd and another a pit bull.
Zoo spokeswoman Alison Swank said it was fortunate the weather was cold, keeping visitors away and animals indoors. There had been a few morning visitors, but they left before the dogs were spotted.
The incident ended by 2 p.m. The Africa exhibit, where the dogs were stopped, remained closed Monday for police to complete their investigation.
Police and zoo officials believe the dogs got in either by slipping through an opening in the perimeter fence or entering along the Lafayette River side of the zoo.
Hill said the zoo occasionally has had stray dogs find their way inside but hasn’t experienced a pack of vicious dogs in more than 20 years, when a staffer was attacked and animals were injured.
News of Monday’s incident spread quickly through nearby Riverview, where animal-control officers set traps, passed out flyers and knocked on doors during the past month, trying to locate the animals. Officers even worked overtime to monitor the neighborhood.
Riverview resident Mari Richardson has feared for the safety of her six cats after witnessing two dogs kill a neighbor’s cat on her sidewalk late one night last month.
“What was so scary was those dogs didn’t make a sound – one of them was just tearing away at the cat,” she said.
Richardson yelled at the dog to drop the cat. She took the cat to an animal hospital, where he died.
Since then, she’s kept her cats indoors at night.
Richardson said she plans on viewing the dogs’ bodies today “just so I know they’re not going to do that anymore.”
Reach Debbie Messina at 446-2588 or debbie.messina@pilotonline.com.
Dogs running amok.
Who let the dogs out??? WOOF WOOF!
They're lucky they didn't try their luck against the tiger. Not even three dogs stand a chance against a tiger.
Feral dogs are a HUGE problem in the US, especially in the more populated areas where some PETA psycho is likely to sue you if they catch you shooting a group of feral dogs running a deer to death. They seem to think you're shooting Benji. Well, in this case Benji's bite's a LOT worse than his bark.
The PETA headquarters is also in Norfolk. One of the idiot morning show hosts on a local radio station was in a tizzy this morning because the police officers killed the dogs. She was especially disturbed because they used a shotgun and suggested that they call PETA to see if they thought it was ok.
I lived near Norfolk for years. I can tell you the feral dog problem in VA is a REAL crisis. An unreported one. PETA is as bad a problem as the stinking dogs...and the mute swans, and the rabid racoons etc. The whole ecology down there is totally out of whack because the WACOS are in charge. Makes me sick.
You reminded me...the moonbat who runs save the chickens or whatever it;s called lives down there...there's a story or two about her idiocy at least once a month in the newspaper.
No, it wasn't sarcasm. She is young and stupid and thinks she knows everything. I wanted to call the show and ask if she would have preferred it if the police had let the dogs go and they killed a small child.
I'm not sure who the save the chicken lady is. I don't read the local newspaper because it's so liberal so I've never heard of her. Do you know anything else about her? I'm trying to think of who she is.
Three City Dogs Shocked By Sidewalk Grates
JANUARY 25TH, 2005
At least three dogs were shocked by electrified sidewalk grates in the city on Monday.
Two were zapped on Clark Street in Brooklyn. The other had its paws shocked on the corner of East Third and Avenue A in Manhattan.
Consolidated Edison says all the grates were electrified by underground wires.
Two of the so-called hot spots were among the 250,000 sites inspected by Con Ed last year, after an East Village resident was fatally electrocuted while trying to save her dogs from an electrified street plate.
Con Ed says stray voltage becomes a problem in the winter, when melting snow and salt can further corrode frayed or nicked underground cables.
To report a hot spot, call 1-800-75-CON-ED.
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