Posted on 03/18/2006 8:00:15 AM PST by Michael_Michaelangelo
MOUNTLAKE TERRACE - A Tacoma woman is in serious condition at Harborview Medical Center after being mauled by a pit bull Friday afternoon.
Mountlake Terrace Police Chief Scott Smith said the woman in her 60s was walking by an apartment complex on 212th Street when the dog jumped over a small deck fence and attacked her.
"It was really awful," said Kathryn Goddard, who saw the attack. The dog "just wouldn't let go and kept shaking the lady."
Kathryn's mom, Dawn Goddard, also saw it happen. "I looked down right below my window and was watching this dog chewing on this woman's head," she said.
Smith said the dog dragged the woman about 50 feet down a hill and was clawing at and biting her head and legs for several minutes.
Dawn said the dog's owner was frantically trying to get control of the pit bull. "She was beating on the dog, she was doing everything she could possibly do to get that dog off of this other woman," she said. "That dog was not going to listen to anyone or any thing."
A resident in the apartment complex called 911 and police arrived and managed to distract the dog and get it to stop biting the woman.
But when the dog charged at police an officer shot the dog once. "Clearly this dog was going to attack the officer," Smith said. "So the officer did shoot the dog."
The dog ran back to its owner, who was able to get the pit bull on a leash, but Smith said the dog then began attacking the owner.
Snohomish County animal control officers arrived and took the dog to a veterinarian where it was euthanized after the owner gave permission.
The dog's owner was taken to a local hospital to be treated for bites. Smith said the woman who was attacked and dragged was expected to recover from her injuries and would be spending the night at Harborview in Seattle.
The pit bull was about two years old, and Smith said there were no previous reports of problems with the animal.
One fellow tried to muzzle Janey...
...once.
You must be the leader of the pack if you are going to own a dog like this. The owner lost control long before this dog ever attacked anyone. The dog must always be the submissive in the family.
Ah yes, the SUV of the canine species.
As with the SUV let's blame the Pitbull....
That is how he got his reputation, treating red zone cases, most of which were pit bulls. The owner was not the leader of the pack.
Do not blame the dog for bad dog ownership. The human was not acting as pack leader.
Agree blame the owner...The dog has been bred for fighting over the years and it's not really their fault. Blame the owner for deciding to own one.
Anyone who owns a powerful dog, be it pit bull or any other breed, must act as the pack leader. It doesn't matter what the dog has been bred to do. This dog attacked because it saw itself as the pack leader protecting its territory and pack. If the owner had been the pack leader, the dog would not have attacked unless told to. Submissive pack members only do what the leader tells them to do. They are not even allowed to eat until the pack leader says so.
Yes, I blame the ignorant owner.
A pit bull is a term referring to several breeds of dogs developed from the Old English Bulldog. Which breed do you specifically dislike...American Pit Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, American Bulldog, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, English Bull Terrier.......or mixed breeds that include any of these breeds?
That why a breed ban will be effective. It's obvious that few folks are capable of being Alpha with these bred for fighting creatures.
Spay and neuter existing Pits, euthanize the maulers, then ban breeding them. The fighting dog as a pet experiment has failed.
Ah...Pit bull activist talking point number 2...
"There is no such breed as a Pit Bull."
Actually all of them!
Other breeds are worse than pit bulls and prohibition never works. How about holding ALL dog owners responsible for their pets. Maybe require pet owners to carry pet responsibility insurance.
I'm not a PitBull activist, I just don't like nanny state solutions from socialists that are too stupid to apply common sense. If the next door neighbor's dog scares you, deep fry a couple rubber balls and toss them over the fence, sheep ranchers have used this method effectively for decades, sheep don't eat deep fried food. Anti-freeze is equally as effective. Just be prepared for the owner, who probably won't agree with your senseless paranoia, and might have a few tricks of his own.
Would you ban guns because some people are irresponsible gun owners? Why are you so willing to take away my rights just because there are stupid people in this world?
I don't think that will help very much. It might stop a few people from getting dangerous pets, but those that do still have a ticking time bomb on their hands. There will still be attacks. They are still ubstable dogs, due to the long breeding, it's in their genes. A lousy owner will make them worse, but that bred in danger is still there. Having seen the scars left by two attacks to friends, well.............The better idea is to prevent attacks from occuring, not by having some insurance company pay after one happens.
I believe the simplest explanation is that Hinduism is right, and pit bulls are reincarnated Muslims.
Bad analogy...A gun is an inanimate object with no will of it's own.
July 23, 2004The outcome was that the JR's owner did pay the vet bills and the JR was never seen again.Hi Ann,
We had a shocking afternoon. At 4:30 I was leaving to pick Brian up and Abby [an American Staffordshire Terrier] was with me. On a leash of course! I turned to lock the door and the jack russell that lives next door darted past it's owner and attacked my baby! He had her by the lip and wouldnt let go, Abby was screaming and the owner was beating on his dog and couldn't get him to let go of her lip. Finally after about 4 min. they got him off.
I took Abby directly to the vet, she has a large gash on the inside of her lip and it is really swollen. I was crying so hard I could barely drive the car. They cleaned the cut and gave her antibiotics, they don't want to have to stitch it unless it doesn't start to heal by Sunday. If it is still swollen then they will sedate her and clean it and then stitch it. She also got a shot for pain. I have NEVER in my life seen a dog so vicious!!!! We gave them the vet bill and we are waiting to see what they will do with it. I was hoping you could call me and give us some advise.
Thank you
Susan
They are not ticking time bombs, they are dogs. They will not attack unless the owner has given up their position as pack leader. As I said before, submissive members of a pack don't even eat unless the leader says they can. All dog attacks, even the biting small dogs, can be attributed to failure of the owner to demonstrate proper pack leadership.
If I dog did that to any relative of mine it's owner would answer to my Lousiville Slugger....
Let the jury sort it out..
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