Posted on 08/21/2008 3:39:49 PM PDT by Shermy
A 36-year-old Boulder man is recovering after a pit bull bit his ear off near the Boulder Creek Path, according to police.
Witnesses told officers that Edward Valdez was being aggressive with a friend’s 4-year-old female dog, Freya, when the attack occurred at about 7:05 p.m. Tuesday in the 1000 block of Canyon Blvd., just west of Boulder High School, said police spokeswoman Sarah Huntley.
Valdez was wrestling with the dog before being bitten, witnesses told police.
“A couple of people said he was pulling the dog by its ears and head-butting the animal,” Huntley said. “After a short period of this, the dog bit him — apparently biting his ear off.”
Valdez denied rough-housing with the animal when talking to police, Huntley said.
“The victim said he was sitting by the dog, and when he sat up, the dog bit him,” she said.
Witnesses said Valdez is homeless, but police said he listed an apartment address in the 1400 block of Folsom Street. No one at the address answered the door Wednesday.
One witness, who was at the scene and spoke with officers, said Valdez was drinking by the creek with about eight other people when he started “messing” with the dog, grabbing its ears and putting his face aggressively up to the animal.
Desarie Leonard, 31, who also witnessed the incident, told officers that she felt the dog was protecting itself.
Witnesses said Valdez lost about half his ear — the bottom half — and then left the scene to avoid contact with officers. Valdez, who was bleeding badly, carried the detached part of his ear as he tried to escape down the creek path, witnesses said.
After police found Valdez, he was taken to the Boulder Community Hospital, where he was treated and released. Neither Valdez nor the dog’s owner — Robert Heinrich, 32, of Longmont — has been ticketed in connection with the incident.
Heinrich didn’t return phone calls from the Camera on Wednesday.
The pit bull was taken to the Humane Society of Boulder Valley on Tuesday for further observation under an “aggressive animals prohibited” law, and officers met with Humane Society officials about the incident Wednesday afternoon.
Lisa Pedersen, executive director of the Humane Society, said that based on witness statements, “The bite seemed to have been provoked.”
...Officers are continuing to investigate the case, and now the animal remains at the Humane Society where she’s being held by herself in a kennel, said Humane Society spokeswoman Martha Myers.
“We are treating her like all the other dogs,” she said.
Dang, the guy is homeless and now doesn’t have an ear? I thought I had a bad day.
Darwin baby!
pit bulls are like the killer bees of the canine world.
Grr
Bush’s fault.
I think this one is McCain's fault. He opposes earmarks.
I wonder if he was talking to some mexicans and decided to spit a little beer, I mean this was colorado wasn’t it.
Score one for the dog. Not only is he homeless and earless, he’s a dumbass.
If Valdez acted as described then the dog acted as I'd expect any dog to act. And I am not one who defends pit bulls.
I presume the tax payers have to pay for his medical treatment.
“Dang, the guy is homeless and now doesn’t have an ear? I thought I had a bad day.”
The dog’s owner is probably homeless or on welfare or an illegal alien.
I don’t think I’d go around antagonizing killer bees, either.
COLORADO KOOL AIDE
(Written by Phil Thomas)
Johnny Paycheck
Well, I was sittin’ in this beer joint down in Houston, Texas.
Was drinkin’ Colorado Kool-Aid and talkin’ to some Mexicans,
An’ we was....what’s that you say?
What’s Colorado Kool-Aid?
Well, it’s a can of Coors brewed from a mountain stream.
It’ll set you head on fire an’ make your kidneys scream,
Oh, it sure is fine.
Yeah, we was havin’ ourselves one of them real good times.
But you know every beer joint that you’ve ever been in,
Some big, mean drunk who just ain’t got no friend,
Sure enough, he wants to fight,
Yeah, he’s gonna whip everything in sight.
Well, he took him a big swallow of beer,
And he spit in my Mexican friends ear.
And, sure enough, that made my buddie real mad.
That’s somethin’ like he ain’t never had.
Well, sir, he pulled out a big, long switch blade knife;
Quick as a whistle he began to slice.
An, that big mean drunk stood back, his face full of tears,
Lookin’ down at the floor, an’ one of his ears.
Ha, he cut that thing off, even with the sideburns.
You might say the little Mexican fella, he just didn’t give a durn.
But he was a gentleman about it, an’ bent over and with a half way
grin,
Picked it up and handed it back to him.
He said: “Now big man, you get the urge to spit a little beer,
“Just open up your hand there, and spit it in your own ear.
“Won’t be no trouble that way.” That’s what I heard him say.
And I said: “Barmaid, set us up a round of that Colorado Kool-Aid.
“An while you’re up their, bring this big fella, here, a box of Band
aids.”
Now let me tell you: if you’re ever ridin’ down in south of Texas,
Decide to stop an’ drink some Colorado Kool-Aid,
An’ maybe talk to some Mexicans,
An’ you get the urge to get a little tough,
Better make damn sure you got your knife proof ear-muff.
Hey, ain’t that right big man? I said ain’t that right big man?
Ah, hell he can’t hear, not on this side anyway, he ain’t got no ear.
Hey barmaid, bring us all a big, tall glass of that Colorado Kool-Aid.
How about it?
How you doin’, big man? Still got your ear there in your hand?
ROFLOL!
Good doggie!
LOL!
I have absolutely no use for pit bulls but it sounds like the guy asked for it. This doesn't sound like an unprovoked attack like most of the pit bull stories on this forum.
The young feller has a future in crocodile-handling. A real short one.
You just can’t fix stupid...
Earth to moron... ITS A PIT BULL.
What is the life of the odd child or two, the leg of a mail delivery person, or the missing ear of a homeless fellow or two,(fellows, that is, not ears) when weighed in the balance of the hours and hours of enjoyment gentle and lovable pit bulls give their owners during those precious and all too few days when the owners are not incarcerated?
I have already suggested to our next President, Obama I, that pit bull owners be allowed to share their cells with their pets. It might seem to make the time go faster.
Boulder Dementia Syndrome!
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Two bells short of a full brain cell./Just Asking - seoul62.......
I agree. That dog was lot more restrained than I would have been in similar circumstances.
You are so right on that count.
Thanks Slings and Arrows.
Colorado ping.
As they should. Not only is anti-pit bull sentiment hysteria, this dog was attacked and shouldn't be treated any different from a Pekinese who bit some idiot who was assaulting it.
Great, please provide some empirical data to back that up.
Surely you can provide some empirical data proving that pit bulls are inherently dangerous. Got any?
“Darwin baby!”
No, in that case the dog would have bitten something else off!
I had "mouthfed" him before with bananas and hot dogs etc..he jumps up and grabs it from my mouth...prolly my only trick with him.
In late 2003, I took a Krystal burger (dumb) and tried it....it took over a dozen stitches to sew my already ugly nose back on.
The poor dog freaked when he realized what he'd done, my wife about fainted, our then 3 year old boy bawled in fear and I bled like a pig with part of nose hanging on by about a 1/2 inch strand.
The emergency room doc...whom I knew personally..thought I must have been drunk but I don't drink
like they say....there are no bad dogs....just dumbassed owners...I oughta know.
glad it wasn't a pit. he might taken my face off like a John Carpenter movie.
Rocky (RIP 2004)
Two things that should be kept far away from drunks.... children and dogs.
Excellent point. How are you and your superpooch?
Awesome dog. Did you get yourself another one since?
we now have two more young boys and two of the three boys (none of our girls) are allergic to dog saliva
they are starting allergy innoculation in September which takes 6 months and then..yep...we plan on another dog
probably another Red dobie though given our series coyote problem here we have considered an Anatolian or an Anatolian-Mastiff mix...especially if we move out into more rural Metro Nashville into Williamson county as is our desire (reasonable public schools and more bang bang room, 4 wheelers for boys...you know what I mean)
Sounds wonderful, good luck.
LOL!!!!!!!
That'll teach him! Ears is yummy!
Stupid is as stupid does.
He should be required to pay or work off the expense of medical treatment.
Exactly. It's justice that the dog should go after the guy's ear after having it's own pulled.
Actually, with the reputation pit bulls have and the fact that they're bread for fighting, the guy is more than a little lucky that the dog stopped there.
Exactly. It's justice that the dog should go after the guy's ear after having it's own pulled.
Actually, with the reputation pit bulls have and the fact that they're bred for fighting, the guy is more than a little lucky that the dog stopped there.
A day in the life of an Obama voter.
OK, this is a guy not to mess with.
And does this qualify for a "man bites dog" story?
This will sound sarcastic, but I mean it 100%: It’s really refreshing to see someone actually discuss the facts.
I think the tendency to fatality can be explained by the owners. It’s sort of like gun control studies that conveniently omit that fact that most of the people killing other people with handguns are criminals.
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