Bruno rests in a holding room Tuesday before technicians changed dressings on his paws.
Posted on 04/23/2003 10:03:12 AM PDT by Cagey
A Palm Harbor man is charged with one felony count of animal cruelty. He told officers he was disciplining his dogs.
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| [Times photos: Douglas Clifford] Bruno rests in a holding room Tuesday before technicians changed dressings on his paws. |
By MEGAN SCOTT
© St. Petersburg Times
published April 23, 2003
PALM HARBOR -- He tried walking them with his bicycle, but they kept stopping and refused to keep up.
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| Jaworowsky |
He rolled the window down, held the leashes out and proceeded to drag his two red-nosed American pit bullterriers for two blocks down the street, sheriff's spokesman Detective Tim Goodman said.
"There was blood on the roadway," Goodman said. "The dogs kept falling and were rolling on the gravel road."
One of the dogs, a male named Bruno, had the pads on its feet worn down to the bone. Jaworowsky was charged with one felony count of animal cruelty.
The incident occurred about 5 p.m. Monday in the Groves subdivision off Alderman Road in Palm Harbor. A witness saw Jaworowsky holding the leashes for the two dogs out the driver's window of his white Ford Taurus as he drove on Robinwood Lane and Regal Oaks Boulevard.
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| Medical technician Alison Lynch hugs Bruno as dressings on the dog's paws are changed. |
The witness told Jaworowsky that "the dogs looked tired and beaten," Goodman said. But Jaworowsky got back in his car and drove off, still dragging the dogs from the window.
The deputy who responded to the scene followed the trail of bloody paw prints and pieces of brown fur into the garage at 2872 Spring Oak Court, Jaworowsky's home.
"He got to the garage and he noticed bloody paw prints on the garage floor, and a bloody white and black dog leash lying on the ground," Goodman said.
Bruno and Susie, both around 6 months old, were found inside the garage in a metal cage. Bruno's paws were wrapped in duct tape to the middle of his legs. The dog tried to stand but could not and was lying on its side because the pads on its feet were so badly injured.
Susie was not injured.
Both were taken to Tampa Bay Veterinary Emergency Service on Belcher Road. The dogs were then turned over to the Humane Society of North Pinellas.
"Bruno's in a lot of pain," said Rick Chaboudy, director of the Humane Society of North Pinellas. "Pain management is one of the biggest things right now, and, of course, concern with infection."
Jaworowsky, who was released from the Pinellas County Jail after posting $5,000 bail, did not return calls for comment or two messages left at his home. A car sat in the driveway Monday afternoon.
Goodman said Jaworowsky told deputies he was "attempting to train the dogs, but he says he was wrong for what he did."
"When (deputies) interviewed George, they asked him if he ever stopped and hit the dogs," Goodman said. "He said he did and that it was a form of discipline. He said he was doing it to get the dogs in shape."
Chaboudy said the shelter has since discovered Bruno was involved in a previous dragging incident with a family member on inline skates.
"That type of thing is very dangerous," he said. "Sometimes people run their dogs on bicycles and Rollerblades. In many ways it can be dangerous to the person. I cannot possibly even imagine how people think some of these types of things like running a dog along a car is actually okay."
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| Surgery technician Anna Ellis gets a friendly lick from Susie. |
Chaboudy said it appears Jaworowsky obtained the dogs sometime in January. Bruno and Susie have been spayed and neutered and their vaccinations are up to date.
He said he talked to Jaworowsky Monday about giving the dogs up, but he refused. Chaboudy said the shelter would seek custody of the dogs.
In the meantime, Bruno and Susie are "happy, friendly dogs," he said. Susie weighs about 45 pounds and Bruno is about 50 pounds. The dogs are believed to be brother and sister.
"Right now, what we're telling people is they are not ours," he said. "We do not have custody of the dogs. At this point in time we don't know when we'll have custody of them. But we are seeking custody of them."
That might be why there are so many news articles about them turning on their masters ----they're just getting back because of the abuse they were given. I think some dogs can be genetically mentally ill and low-class breeders breed mental illness into their strains ---but it's like German Shepherds which were once so intelligent they were the main dog used as guides for the blind but sloppy breeders began breeding the idiot dogs that they've lost their reputation for being smart dogs and now you see other breeds more often doing that work.
The data for human DBRF from 1979 through 1996 was combined with the data from 1997 and 1998. Human DBRF were identified by searching news accounts and by use of the HSUS..
Twenty-five different breeds of dogs have been involved in more than half of the 238 human DBRF deaths the last twenty years.
Alarmingly, the proportion of deaths attributable to pit bulls had increased from 20% during 1979-1980 to 67% by 1987-1998.
Here you fail to follow up... how many deaths were they responsible for in 1979-1980? TWO, as in 2, deaths. In 1987-1988, it was 11, and then it STARTS DROPPING. You need to look at the chart to understand the percentages you have given. Remember, please, that you must also take this into account: the difficulties inherent in determining a dog's breed with certainty, and that the studies are grouping all pitbull type dogs under pitbulls...
Dog bite related deaths have held pretty steady since 1981, except for Rotties.
From the first article at the CDC: As in recent years, Rottweilers were the most commonly reported breed involved in fatal attacks, followed by pitbull-type dogs.
Did you even bother to look at the charts breaking down deaths/years from the articles you posted?
You can believe what you want, of course, but the facts do not support your belief.
So let me get this straight... you're summarily declaring which people are "loving" and not... which breeds are dangerous or not... and what people's intentions are by the things they own.
Tell me, do you do the same thing with people? Which races are good or bad? Which things they might own to make them evil or not, like guns perhaps?
Pray tell, what study did you do or read to discover that pits are worse than fila brasilarios, dobies, dogs cross-bred with wolves, etc? Or are you just spouting off your own personal hatreds, prejudices, and baseless accusations?
(Just in case you're missing my point, you're a knee-jerk bigot, an offensive and stereotyping fool, and exactly the kind of easily-led sheep that tyrants love to have around... they call them "useful idiots".)
It's a look, something in the behavior or particular personality of the pup or dog. What is that makes a person click with a certain dog whatever the breed?
Some people don't have to pick a breed. They pick a dog to love and care for and are loved in return.
I would think other people would choose a pitbull simply because they love the breed's qualities, as I do. And you are wrong. Good dogs are not rare within the breed. Just the opposite.
Also, your (again unsupported) contention that pit bulls present much more "potential damage" than other breeds of dogs is just plain silly. I watched a great dane tear the wheel well off of a Fiero to get to an escaping cat. Pit bulls don't tear and remove, they latch on and hold. Would you rather have your muscle tissue perforated... or removed? Which represents more "potential damage"?
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