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Dog-mauling victim faces multiple surgeries
Sun Sentinel ^ | Saturday, April 28, 2007 | By Allyson Bird

Posted on 04/29/2007 4:59:14 PM PDT by Fawn

PORT ST. LUCIE — When Dawn Sharbuno's husband came into her hospital room Thursday night where she lay with nearly her entire face ripped off by the family dog, she worried he would leave her.

No, he told her, "We've been through hurricanes together. We've been through everything together. I'm not going to leave you now."

Sharbuno, 46, underwent eight hours of reconstructive surgery at St. Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach, where she was flown after the attack. She has three or four more surgeries to go.

She had just gotten out of the pool and was sitting outside Thursday evening when her adopted dog, Roscoe, a black and tan chow-shepherd mix, came over. Her husband said she reached down to pet Roscoe when he jumped up and bit her.

"Her face was completely off across the bridge of her nose," Harry "Lou" Sharbuno remembered. "The only thing holding it on was her chin. It was like something out of a horror movie."

The couple adopted Roscoe from the St. Lucie County Humane Society less than a month ago after losing a dog to cancer. Harry Sharbuno said Roscoe never showed aggression toward people and only grumbled over food with their other dog, Venus.

"He's a beautiful dog," Sharbuno said. "He's very deceiving."

Sharbuno said his wife worked as a truck driver before a disabling accident three years ago, while he was recently laid off from an interior contracting job. The couple broke down and bought health insurance for both of them just two days before the mauling.

Port St. Lucie animal control officers took custody of Roscoe, who was returned to the St. Lucie County Humane Society Friday morning. He will be quarantined for 10 days - at a cost of $20 per day to the Sharbunos. Then, the couple will have the option of reclaiming the dog, giving him to a rescue service or having him euthanized.

At the humane society Friday, Roscoe wagged his tail and took shelter manager David Robertson's commands to sit and shake hands. Robertson said the dog arrived as a stray from Port St. Lucie Animal Control.

Before being handed over to the Sharbunos, Roscoe - like all dogs - was given a temperament test in which a humane society employee gave him a bowl of food and then tried to take it away. Roscoe passed.

The humane society tested him again Friday morning, and Roscoe again did not bark or bite, Robertson said.

Robertson said he received about 30 calls Friday morning from people who had heard about the attack.

"They're concerned about the dog, and they're concerned about the lady."


TOPICS: Pets/Animals
KEYWORDS: catsrule; dog; dogskill; rdo
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To: Fawn; All; Kitty Mittens
i have raised gsd's for 30+ yrs. it is all line and temperment and any reputable breeder or handler will know a dog immediately. kitty mitten's nephew is 90 lbs. and a baptist's preachers' faithfull companion.
you adopt from a shelter or through a "puppy mill",you have no idea what the cannine is about. the old saying is meet the mom before marrying the daughter,know the line!

81 posted on 04/29/2007 10:26:10 PM PDT by alpha-8-25-02 ("SAVED BY GRACE AND GRACE ALONE")
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To: endthematrix
IMO, that’s one UGLY dog. More like a bad Rott-mix. Many adoption mills misidentify the dog just to get it out the door.

That picture sure looks like you're right.
82 posted on 04/29/2007 10:31:39 PM PDT by Mariebl
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To: endthematrix
More like a bad Rott-mix. Many adoption mills misidentify the dog just to get it out the door.

I think you're right on the money. And boy, it IS ugly. Last one I'd pick.

83 posted on 04/29/2007 11:05:38 PM PDT by Lijahsbubbe (Ah don't feeeeel no ways taihrd.)
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To: alpha-8-25-02
you adopt from a shelter or through a "puppy mill",you have no idea what the cannine is about.

I've heard a lot of badmouthing of puppy mills from so-called reputable breeders, but no one has ever explained to me just what a puppy mill is. As best I can tell, it is any breeder with more dogs than the breeder doing the badmouthing.

-ccm

84 posted on 04/29/2007 11:26:48 PM PDT by ccmay (Too much Law; not enough Order.)
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To: ccmay; All

http://www.canismajor.com/dog/puppymil.html


85 posted on 04/29/2007 11:44:52 PM PDT by alpha-8-25-02 ("SAVED BY GRACE AND GRACE ALONE")
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To: Fawn

Last Summer I named my new Grey Tabby kitten Sporkweasel, in honor of Free Republic critter of the same name. My two kids have no idea where the name comes from, but my neighbors all think in am nuts when I call for “Sporky” out the side door at bedtime.


86 posted on 04/29/2007 11:48:10 PM PDT by MrNeutron1962
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To: Fawn

Ban all pittbulls in all residential areas.


87 posted on 04/29/2007 11:53:37 PM PDT by BJungNan
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To: Fawn

LOL


88 posted on 04/29/2007 11:54:13 PM PDT by adopt4Him (The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.)
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To: Fawn

89 posted on 04/29/2007 11:56:50 PM PDT by BJungNan
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To: zipper

Ping.


90 posted on 04/30/2007 1:09:17 AM PDT by endthematrix (a globalized and integrated world - which is coming, one way or the other. - Hillary)
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To: BJungNan

This wasn’t a pitbull.


91 posted on 04/30/2007 1:10:05 AM PDT by endthematrix (a globalized and integrated world - which is coming, one way or the other. - Hillary)
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To: endthematrix

A love bite?

Obviously not a pitbull — a pitbull would’ve finished the job.


92 posted on 04/30/2007 1:19:58 AM PDT by zipper
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To: zipper
"A love bite?"

She wasn't 2yrs old

93 posted on 04/30/2007 1:25:08 AM PDT by endthematrix (a globalized and integrated world - which is coming, one way or the other. - Hillary)
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To: endthematrix
Then, the couple will have the option of reclaiming the dog, giving him to a rescue service or having him euthanized.

Gee, let me think....

94 posted on 04/30/2007 1:33:53 AM PDT by zipper
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To: nevergore
Wow, another dog expert. /Sarcasm off

.

.

Well I worked 2 years with a vet in my youth.. Chows were the worse breed I ran across next to pit bulls. Rabies poles were extremely helpful in handling them, along with a seditive shot. Owners would often trick the dog into getting it the car, because they were too afriad to handle their own animal.

Chows... are dangers... in my non-expert opinion.

95 posted on 04/30/2007 1:51:11 AM PDT by LowOiL (Paul wrote, "Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil" (Rom. 12:9))
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To: I still care

And you didn't have this cat destroyed ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Are you nuts?

96 posted on 04/30/2007 3:07:29 AM PDT by StACase
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To: nevergore
Wow, another dog expert.

The problem is, very few dog owners are experts. Too many people think they can adopt or buy a large, powerful or agressive breed for protection, or macho status, and they haven't the vaguest idea how to handle it. Ditto for these "no kill" shelter workers, whose main concern is to find the dog a home, and not whether a prospective owner has the strength of mind and body to handle the dog.

Then there's the problem of a shelter dog's history. It's either a stray, and there's no clue, or the shelters rely on the word of a previous owner, who could be lying through their teeth to avoid the cost -- or grief -- of euthanizing a dangerous animal.

So, yes, we need more experts.

97 posted on 04/30/2007 3:31:24 AM PDT by browardchad
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To: StACase
And you didn't have this cat destroyed ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Are you nuts?

Clearly you never had a cat. The cat was inside the house, the owner warned people of the danger of them initiating contact with the cat. I agree, the cat was a bit wacky but not dangerous enough to justify killing it. It's not as if she would go on attacks unprovoked, hunting the people coming into the house from corners and then, unannounced, pouncing and hurting. She had issues with people she didn't know coming to close to her. I've seen dogs doing worse for less of an...offense!
98 posted on 04/30/2007 3:51:30 AM PDT by rxgalfl
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To: Fawn; Jim Robinson; Admin Moderator; MizSterious; Kokojmudd; brytlea; Darnright; Sensei Ern; ...
Chows should also be put down along with pit bulls and Rotties. All of them.....

Jim, in your well justified efforts to rid FR of its liberal/socialist elements,
why is a poster who consistently demonstrates
that she clearly has no comprehension of the conservative principles
of individual freedom, personal responsibility and accountability
and has no problem abrogating the BOR, specifically the 4th, 5th and 9th amendments
allowed to continue to post her ignorant and totalitarian drivel on FR?

99 posted on 04/30/2007 4:25:30 AM PDT by kanawa (Don't go where you're looking, look where you're going.)
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To: Jim Robinson
"The bill, proposed at the request of Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, singles out pit bulls, saying owners of these dogs will need to carry $100,000 in liability insurance or face fines. The bill also streamlines the process for destroying dangerous dogs, eliminating the hearings now required before the city can take action against a dog that is deemed dangerous."

"New York City Mayor Giuliani administration trains its quality-of-life sights on city's dogs with bill that would increase fines for harboring dogs deemed to be dangerous, deny dogs any consideration for being provoked into barking or biting, and require owners of pit bulls to obtain $100,000 in liability insurance before being granted dog license"

Will dog owners derail Rudy before he even makes it to the primaries?
Will America tolerate a pooch-hating President?

link to links

100 posted on 04/30/2007 4:43:25 AM PDT by kanawa (Don't go where you're looking, look where you're going.)
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