Posted on 10/30/2009 9:19:55 AM PDT by missycocopuffs
A dog rescued by a retired police officer attacked him Sunday — inflicting hideous wounds on his face.
"The doctors and nurses have never seen anything like this," said John Wess, a friend of the victim.
Jim Stewart, 53, of Woodbury, reportedly suffered a severed ear and had the skin torn away from most of his face in the attack. He was listed Thursday evening in good condition at Regions Hospital in St. Paul.
"He has not seen himself in a mirror, and we are pretty worried about that," said Wess, a retired St. Paul police officer and longtime friend. "He was Mr. Hollywood, a good-looking guy who wouldn't talk to you without looking at his reflection in a window."
The attacker was a bulldog named Igor, which Stewart had obtained from an animal rescue group in Texas.
Ironically, someone representing the Texas group inspected the place where Igor would be living — to ensure "Jim was good enough to own the dog," said Amy Klinefelter, who owns the town home she shares with Stewart.
Stewart retired from the police department in Hudson, Wis., in 1998, Wess said. After an American bulldog he had owned for eight years died in May, Stewart began looking for a replacement.
(Excerpt) Read more at twincities.com ...
Sounds like the dog was a liberal since it bites the hand which feeds it. But did it lick the boot which kicks it?
Or the trigger finger that dispatches it?
What's ahead for Stewart? Several weeks in the hospital, then months or years of cosmetic surgeries.
"It will be years of ...," Klinefelter said, her voice trailing off. "Well, we just don't know."
Bob Shaw can be reached at 651-228-5433.
HOW TO HELP
A fund for dog-bite victim Jim Stewart has been established. Contributions can be mailed to: "Jim's Gift of Hope" at Platinum Bank, 7667 10th St. N. Oakdale, MN 55128.
Bulldog named “Igor”... what happened to getting a Lab named “Max” and calling it a day?
At the very least I hope they put a bullet in that dog’s brain. How horrible.
I am a volunteer for a dog rescue and have worked with a few dogs. My very first dog was friendly, good with people, etc. But he had a car chasing problem, as well as a crossing the road problem. Whenever we'd try to cross the road for a walk, he'd try and bit my leg. Something about cars/roads was causing him terrible stress so we started the process of breaking down the behavior in order to correct it. Well, while playing in the yard with him, he showed resource guarding of a toy. So I waited until be was far enough away from the toy to pick it up. I wasn't fast enough as he bit me in the face, with a puncture wound under my lip (that thank God didn't go through), bite scraps on my cheek, and part of my ear was torn off. It was a small piece, but nonetheless... I remained calm, and we went in the house and he went in the crate.
He was euthanized 2 days later.
Dogs usually have a process they go through before biting. They usually give signs... growling, teeth, etc. But this dog went right to the bite reflex. And that is a no no, for any rescue. I was devastated. I wanted to help him but the rescue knew they could never place a dog that has a biting history because they could never know what or how many triggers to bite the dog may have.
I was very lucky.
One can never know what hidden triggers a new dog may have, especially if you don't know their complete history. And even then, with dogs that are turned over to shelters, rescues, etc., owners usually aren't completely honest.
The advice in this article is very good. Do due diligence on any rescue dog and asked countless questions to the foster parent. Be sure to ask very detailed questions about how the dog would fit into your life, how are they with noise, fireworks, thunderstorms, sirens, etc.
When I was young, my grandparents had a Boston Terrior that would go nuts and bite the smallest child (which was me) any time a high pitched yell or siren occurred. My grandparents thought it was cute for some reason- until the dog bit the neighbor boy. Bingo was euthanized because they knew there was no way to prevent random noises from happening.
That said, the rescue they got the dog from is so screwed...
My exact thoughts. Case highlights some of the dangers inherent in rescuing and adopting out a dog for which you have no genetic background, knowledge of parents’ temperament, socialization and history of interaction with humans. I saw a case on our local Craigslist this summer where someone got a dog through either ‘rehoming’ or rescue and the dog nailed the adopter in the face within the first 24 hours of having the dog at home.
I am 5’2 and 110lbs and like large working dogs...I have to consider my sources for dogs very carefully :-)
I’ve worked in rescue for years as well. I rescued a Chow Chow several years ago. Long story short, the dog mauled me. Out of nowhere it lunged at me and just started ripping me to shreds. I had over 70 stitches; almost lost my thumb.
It is by the Grace of God that he did not rip my face off as i fell to the ground when he was mauling me and he put his face right in mine and I thought I was a goner at that point.
He had to be quarantined for 10 days then euthanized.
After that I got a pit bull and he was the best dog I ever had.
Thank you for posting that.
I had planned on adopting a rescue dog but fate delivered what I wanted, and a new Belgian Sheepdog girl will be joining my family before Thanksgiving. She's a retired show bitch with a wonderful temperament.
But the basic problem is that the dog was turned in for a reason. It may have been something innocuous (from the dog's standpoint) like a move, a divorce, a lost job, etc. But sometimes the dog has a mental problem and the folks who give it up don't say a word. And the rescue dogs off the street are a complete cipher - you have no idea where they came from, what their breeding is, or what they've been through.
I deal with big dogs (Labs) and relatively sharp, high-strung Labs because we compete in hunting tests. It is not necessary for me to buy registered stock because all three retriever associations accept a provisional registration for competition. But my rule is still to only buy from a good hobby breeder of high reputation - who belongs to the breed association and competes his or her dogs in something, and I always meet the dog's sire and dam. It helps if I actually know the sire and dam.
You can't rule out a rogue dog, but you sure can even the odds.
The lady that took the dog to the garage until help came is very brave. I don't think that I could have ventured that close to the dog to do that!!
I would on either: get a puppy, or get a dog from a reliable, proven and trusted source.
With all that said, it looks at the moment that my next dog is going to be what I would call a 'semi-rescue' -- she's an 8 month old yellow and one of two remaining pups from a large litter. The bitch's owners have their own small business, and they just didn't market the last two aggressively because they were up to their eyeballs in promoting the company. But this pup still meets all my requirements - the dam is from a professional field trainer and she's royally bred, and she is VERY focussed on retrieving but also a house dog who sleeps on the bed. The sire is likewise of top breeding and belongs to a couple of friends of mine, and I've known him for years. He is what we call a 'switch dog' -- he's just a sweet ol' boy who will laze around the house or in the back of the pickup truck just being a couch potato, but as soon as he hears the duck calls and the shotguns that "switch" goes to ON and he is ALL business.
She hasn't had a lick of training, but I worked with her for a couple of hours and she has a good brain - she figured out heel, sit, and how to take a straight line to her retrieve just with repetition and encouragement. You can look in her face and see the wheels turning rapidly behind those big brown eyes. Plus she's a real love bug and was happy to sit between my knees leaning on me and trying to kiss me while we talked.
Now we have to figure out a name . . . .
Certainly a horrible story.
FWIW, we have three dogs at the moment, and two of them came from the pound. And, yes, we had to persuade them that we’d give them a good home. The basset did a lot of growling and snapping at first, but has vastly improved and no longer seems to be a threat. He had been chained up all day and left at the pound when his owners moved, so he just needed to get used to people.
Over the years, we’ve had maybe a dozen pound dogs. One of them, a German Shepherd, tended to go after people, although he was great with our family. But at most he would nip, not really bite, and we were careful with him. Another dog had to be put down. Not ours but one of our son’s. He got the dog from a friend in Vermont after it had been shot by a game warden for chasing deer. We put it down after it killed several neighbors’ cats and proved incorrigible.
Actually, the German Shepherd’s worst trigger was the sight of a black person walking by, because we were told that his black owner had kept him chained him to the back stoop before he was evicted from his home. So we had to be very careful about that. But he was a marvellous, loving dog with us.
Sheesh...”with whom” !!
Congrats on your new family member! Once the personality comes out, the name will make sense.
And yes, BSDs are absolutely stunning dogs. Very smart, very loyal, and wonderful watch dogs.
Two of my three dogs came from the pound. One from a breeder. All are great dogs.
Rescue dogs do have an element of chance. One of my 3 horses came from a working ranch, and had holes in his sides where they had spurred him severely. MOSTLY he is a great horse, but it is hard to anticipate what will scare him.
And scared animals are dangerous...
Check in Greyhound rescues, also. One of my clients has adopted them for years, and they are great watchdogs, and wonderful companions. His loves to go in his truck.
They’re often mistaken for a wolf or a Border Collie (hahaha!). They’re herding dogs and very intelligent, so like Border Collies, they need a job to do. My boy is a flyball/agility dog. He competes in his first flyball tourney in November. He’s also a budding disc dog. He is the Bo Jackson of the BSD world.
Oh! And that one paw up is pretty common. But mine is a lefty. ;)
Rescue dogs do have an element of chance. One of my 3 horses came from a working ranch, and had holes in his sides where they had spurred him severely. MOSTLY he is a great horse, but it is hard to anticipate what will scare him.
And scared animals are dangerous...’
I have 6 horses. Raised 3- got others as adults.
Each has it’s own personality. Stallion (6) loves all kinds of artificial trail obstacles at a neighbor’s ranch, and his 1/2 sister thinks all such things are a reason to blow up—and she is the older one (15).
When I have had a horse that is spooky about something, I can only recommend wet saddle pads-—IE: More and more miles of trail, with a constant de-sensitizing to things that creep them out.
Each of my horses has it’s own set of boogie man items, but I have softened lots of the problem with miles and iles of riding. One trick is to keep going up and back on the same trail that they are buggy about.
My gelding can find any deer or coyote in the vicinity, tho, and when he starts getting hinky, I take a deeper seat, because I know he has spotted something.
The horse that had holes from spurs is another story—the prior owner needs to be shot.
Something off of "Kat" or "Cat" perhaps, because she's small and agile -- FReeper Brytlea suggested "Cadence" which I like -- the sire's owner suggested "Katie Bar the Door" because of her retrieving drive (which is high) -- any ideas? The sire's kennel is 'Green Timber', there is no litter theme.
There's no rush, because she's already litter registered so we have up to a year I think to register a name.
I must say that the first thing I notice about the BSD is the refined head. More like a Rough Collie than your typical sheep dog. I like the look! (funny coming from somebody who has Labs!)
We never did flyball, probably because there's not a club nearby. I did think of putting her into tracking, if she does that and a CD (which she can do on her head) we can get her a Versatility Certificate. She has an excellent nose, if she doesn't see a bird fall she takes my line and then finds it by scent.
You know, my retired Tbred mare Gracie is 27 years old (we found her a berth with the Special Olympics which is great!) I would say hands down she is the calmest horse I’ve ever had anything to do with (other than the backyard grade horses that are too lazy to stomp flies), but she STILL has one or two things that make her spooky. 55 gallon oil drums is the odd one, I spent MONTHS feeding her carrots and molasses treats while friends rolled them up and down the paddock. She still gives them the eye, but at least she doesn’t lie down and cry anymore.
How about: ‘Maureen O’Hara’s McClintock’ call name, Katie.
It is a very refined look. A long, collie like nose. One gal at flyball said my dog looked like Satan. SATAN! Can you believe that? I told her that her dog looked like Wiley Coyote. And mine lifts his paw cuz he’s a little gayish. He wiggles his butt when he walks, looks at himself in the mirror, and likes to be blown dry after a bath.
(I refuse to call her Katie Scarlett O'Hara, that would be low.)
Tracking is fun. My boy’s dad was a champion tracker, and herder, and agility... *sigh*. Glad he doesn’t have a complex. There are three chocolate labs that are in our flyball club. They are so fun to watch because they have that lab trot.
Woof
Because not everyone wants A) A happy-go-lucky joker that loves every person who walks in the door, or B) A hard charging, high energy retriever that needs lots of field training and excercise.
There is no breed of dog that is perfect for everyone.
Tell me about it. This will make three. They DEFINITELY have their own agendas! I've toyed with the idea of calling them collectively The Three Ladies -- < /silly Mozart reference >
It’s funny, my choc has the classic Lab trot - springy and tight. But my long-legged black looks like a greyhound on the move - she’s just as likely to sidewind or pace, but mostly just breaks into a gallop.
No, my worst nightmare is when libs think they know better than me what is good for me. When they kill all certain types of dogs because of the reputation that is more like a racial stereotype...”I don’t like that dog so it must be a bad breed”.
My second worst is the waste of human life who allows her two labs poop in my yard, yet calls the court when my pit barks at them to get out of our yard. This is a nightmare because the first time it cost me $400. The second time and future times will be grounds for a harassment case.
No one seems to have mentioned this, but, it is that Halloween season. No mention in the article, or maybe they couldn’t tell from all the gore, but I wonder if the man may not have put on a rubber mask in a playful way and the dog flipped out. That would explain it’s calm state when the woman had to lead it to the garage.
This is the third story I’ve read about a dog ripping a person’s face off. The other two cases were both women-one in France, one either the UK or Canada (I read that one in the UK’s Daily Mail). In both those cases, the women were unconscious or semi conscious, and it is believed that the dog was frantically trying to wake them up. (The French woman OD’d trying to commit suicide, the other woman was passed out to the point she didn’t realize she had lost her nose till she was standing in front of the mirror!)So I’ve wondered if the male victim here had some kind of health problem (heart attack?) which made him lapse into unconsciousness or semi consciousness, and it’s that that the dog was responding to.
She said she ran across the occasional dog that attacks without warning and for no reason, then the next minute is happy and playful with apparently no memory of what happened. She described several such client dogs. She called it "schizophrenia" and said it was some kind of mental defect in the dog - they were put down.
Interestingly enough, one of the client dogs was a white English bulldog.
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