Posted on 05/25/2010 9:10:17 PM PDT by NoLibZone
ELLICOTT CITY, Md. (WJZ) ―
A Howard County man is recovering after a pit bull attacked him as he walked his dog.
Mary Bubala reports the incident left the federal law enforcement officer with a severe hand injury and a broken heart.
"He'd be sitting up in the window barking, knew I was home, and just the love from him," a still emotional Isaiah Harrison said. "I'm sorry. It's been over two weeks, but it seems like it happened just yesterday."
Harrison did all he could to save his dog Stewie's life. As a pit bull lunged at them, he scooped up his dog and put his right hand up. The dog bit down hard.
"I tried to block it with my hand to keep him from getting to Stewie, and once he grabbed onto my hand and bit me I had to let Stewie go because all of the pain and the blood," Harrison said.
The pit bull then went after Stewie, his injuries so severe he had to be euthanized.
Harrison himself needed 45 stitches to his right hand.
As an officer with the Federal Reserve in Washington, D.C., it's the hand he needs to use his service revolver.
"This is my strong hand. We mostly shoot when we go to the range with the strong hand in order to qualify," he said.
At the location where the attack happened, Animal Control told the Harrisons the dog was staying with relatives. The owner does not live in their neighborhood.
Signs are clearly posted in the Ellicott City neighborhood stating that dogs must be put on leashes.
The Harrisons say the pit bull got out of a nearby townhouse.
"If you have breeds like pit bulls and rottweilers, you have to be responsible. You know those dogs are aggressive. You have to take extra precautions," said Pat Harrison, the victim's wife.
Isaiah Harrison is at home recovering, but is receiving lots of support in light of his tragic loss.
"I still have his kennel and a lot of his pictures and everything. It's rough. He was part of the family," he said.
The owner of the pit bull turned him into Animal Control the day of the attack and the dog was put down.
For now, Harrison is going through physical therapy and hopes to be back to work in a few months.
The Harrison family is planning to adopt a new dog soon.
Chet I get your position now.
Pit bull owners are a queer lot.
Yes its the owners fault .
It's like saying there's no difference between a pellet gun and an AK47...or between a Black Cat firecracker and a BLU-52.
Fact is, pits are dangerous animals and I support laws that outlaw them.
Every stinkin' one of 'em needs to be neutered/spayed.
Great dogs with a passion for murder.
The pit bull’s baby sitters need to be held responsible for the man’s medical bills and lost of wages, unless of course they were illegals.
And the type of person that prefers a pit bull is the reason there are so very many stories like this one.
Yes I profile.
So does your doctor.
The problem is once you start down this road "the powers that be" will start banning other breeds. German Shepards, Boxers, Dobermans, etc., will all come under the ax.
The only proper solution that I see is to slam these dog owners. Felonies for attacking people/pets. Right now a slap on the wrist and putting the attacking dog down doesn't do anything to prevent that Pit Bull owner from doing it again.
When considering carrying a concealed weapon, safeguarding my dogs from an off-leash attacker is pretty near the top of the list of reasons to carry.
I don't get it...
Your a kind giving non selfish, person that loves kind loving animals.
It takes a lot of love to properly maintain that many animals.
I think that's actually the main problem. Nearly all the pit bulls (and other breeds) involved in serious attacks are not neutered or spayed. The sort of people who are most likely to choose pit bulls are also the sort of people who won't spay/neuter their pets.
A young woman in the apartment building next door to me has a sweet pit bull that's always on a leash, and always friendly. I've even let it give me a "kiss" on several occasions. She got it as a rescue from a shelter, and is certainly not your typical pit bull owner. But I seriously think this is the only *neutered* male pit bull I've ever seen in NYC.
Mostly it's male dogs who do the serious attacks, but females with puppies can match the male's viciousness if they perceive a threat to their little ones. I think a breed ban is unnecessary, but requiring serious insurance policies for owning dogs over a certain weight would be wise -- it would end legal dog ownership by 99% of the people who own problem dogs, since they're practically all lowlifes with bad credit and criminal and/or drug histories, and would never be able to obtain such an insurance policy. And it would provide legal grounds to confiscate large dogs from irresponsible owners *before* someone gets hurt or killed.
Why thank you. I would still have Dobermans but I have a 10 yr old daughter & a few grandchildren so it is small dogs for now.
Lets assume you are white male non Jew.
Your doctor will not waste time checking you for sickle cell anmenia ,Tay sachs or polyps on your ovaries.
They will always ask what your family history is.
Because they are profiling you.
Pitts account for over 1/3rd of dog attacks in the US.
Rottweilers are next .
Just three breeds account for almost 3/4s of all attacks.
Who is the 3rd? I used to work for animal shelters & had to work with pits. I used to have to traq them for the cops to bust drug dealer’s houses . It was horrible what those people did to those dogs.
Why do Drug dealers chose Pittbulls?
When people adopt pits from a shelter or rescue they should have to go through a course to see if the person is able to control the dog, has the fencing & owns their own home IMO.
I used to hate when movies came out with a certain breed of dog. The next year the shelter would be full of those dogs. When buying a dog you need to see if you & the dog fit. Too many people impulse buy & that leads to unhappy dogs & owners.
My little dogs stay in my double fenced yard due to a pit bull named Lily. Lily's owner says she is sweet but when Lily is loose all the kids run inside & I don't trust Lily nor her owner. I hope she has plenty of insurance.
I tried to mace a dog once, it was a large mutt & the mace did nothing. Thankfully there was a tree & I could climb. I've always loved dogs & never really feared any. I now have a totally different outlook. I avoid dogs I don't know. We had 2 pits get in our horse paddock. My friend was able to get them to come to her. I am glad I wasn't there because I wouldn't have been understanding to the owners. If one of my horses had been hurt I would have gone wild & ended up in jail.
VVV responds: The problem is once you start down this road "the powers that be" will start banning other breeds. German Shepards, Boxers, Dobermans, etc., will all come under the ax. The only proper solution that I see is to slam these dog owners ...
I agree. Add to that the slamming of pit bull "rescues." Those rescues and all who work at them should be 100 percent legally liable for any injuries or deaths resulting from an animal adopted from their "rescue." It's sad to put stray animals down, but a pit bull is a DOG, not a human. I say put them down if they don't have owners, instead of trying to farm them out to families in need of dogs.
If it's a chihuahua rescue, I say great -- if someone adopts a chihuahua from a chihuahua rescue and is a lousy "pet parent" and poor disclipinarian, that person is at most a minor pain in the ass to friends, family, and neighbors.
If someone adopts a pit bull from a pit bull rescue and is a lousy "pet parent," that person is seriously, perhaps lethally, endangering not only family, friends, and neighbors, but him or herself.
If I had my 'druthers, I'd shoot every single pit bull, Rottweiler, or presa canario I saw that wasn't on a leash or wasn't behind a damned good fence, but I HATE and DESPISE the idea of breed banning. Breed banning is wrong on so many levels. Listen, if owners would respect these dogs' dignity, this wouldn't be a problem. They were bred for serious work, to hold serious posts, to do serious jobs. People get them and want them to be the "little buddy" of the family, no wonder the dogs go nuts. It's like getting a highly intelligent Australian shepherd and forcing it to be a little old lady's "baby" living in a cramped trailer. It's cruel and morally wrong. And there may come a time when we'll be damned glad to have dogs like pit bulls, Rotts, etc. as our protectors, to stand serious posts, when they're in the hands of men who can handle them as opposed to "mommies and daddies" who think they're such cute little sweetums (until they tear some poor innocent's arm off). Breed banning should be banned!!! But by the same token, careless or cavalier ownership of pit bulls should be aggressively condemned.
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