...a little goes a long way
Posted on 07/03/2006 7:10:02 PM PDT by GVnana
My sweet little cocker spaniel dog was nearly killed by two pitbulls who jumped a fence to get to her. She crossed a nearby driveway and they got her.
By the time my neighbors got the dogs off, (within seconds) the pits had grounded my dog, tore out her left eye, dislocated her left leg, and left ten gaping wounds in her body. She couldn't move or even howl in pain. That's how I found her.
My dog weighs 40 pounds. She's large for her breed. She's AKC registered and pedigreed. She was a very beautiful dog.
This happened 10 days ago and I'm still stunned at the viciousness of the attack. I don't know if a human child would have survived what those animals did.
I have since learned that homeowner's insurance will not cover pitbulls.
I'm posting this as a warning and also as an invitation to comment.
...a little goes a long way
Send them the vet's bill and file a formal vicious dog complaint.
Research your towns animal and fence ordinances. Write a letter of complaint to the city council outlining any violations and/or asking for breed restrictions or fencing/kenneling requirements for your town.
I had across the alley neighbors with 3 poorly controlled shepherd/wolf hybrids. I wrote a formal letter of complaint to city council pointing out the inadequacy of their fencing, the number and types of aggressive behaviors displayed, the number of infants and toddlers on the same block (8 at the time) whose squealing play behavior seem to drive the dogs into predatory spasms. Finally I offered to sue the homeowners and the city for negligence should any harm befall my children because they did not enforce the 2 dog ordinance or the exotic animal ordinance or the fact that the fence was non code (chicken wire on cheap wood stakes) and that this letter served as a formal notice.
Dogs were gone in 48 hours.
I am sure sorry to hear about your Cocker Spaniel. I hope the Pit Bulls are sent to the Electric Chair.
I was about to suggest the very same thing.
I think I could offer them a home -- 6 ft. under. Those animals have no usefulness.
"the number of infants and toddlers on the same block (8 at the time) whose squealing play behavior seem to drive the dogs into predatory spasms"
Well, my kids are grown now but that tends to drive me into spasms now, too.
Sarcasm noted. Highly effective.
Are you actually implying that her immediate presence would have stopped 2 Pits that jumped a fence to attack?
No. I am implying anyone who loves an animal prone to being a victim has an obligation keep it away from danger. As a side note, without being familiar with the pits in question, it is impossible to say whether her presence would have stopped an attack. Pits are notoriously dog-aggressive, but can at the same time be people-friendly.
Or are you implying that no one should be in the neighbors drive where the Pits could be tempted to attack?
I didn't imply that, but now that you said it, I have to agree with you. While the pits weren't justified in jumping the fence, and their owners are liable, and their owners are utterly irresponsible and should be held to account... still, a prudent pet owner would realize that pits are pits. They are animals. They don't think in terms of morality, justice, or whatever. If they are dog aggressive, as most pits are, they want to kill dogs and are singularly capable of doing so. A proactive pet owner would avoid them the same way he or she would avoid any animal that poses a threat.
Remember what Rush said after gay what's his name was mauled--"A lion is a lion."
I've been asking myself that a lot lately. I would leave my dog outdoors in the mornings while I went to work, then bring her in at noontime. Usually after a good brisk walk in the morning. She never roamed more than couple doors in either direction of her yard and all my neighbors knew her and loved her. She's very outgoing, clever and friendly. I live in a small town where it is common for neighborhood dogs to be loose.
A couple of weeks ago we had a community yard sale in our town. I was making short trips back and forth in my car to a house two blocks down to help set-up for the sale. On my fourth trip I parked in the neighbors driveway, went to the rear of my car to open the trunk and there was my dog sitting in the driveway waiting for me. I guess she figured out that I wasn't going far and followed me. She'd never done anything like that before.
It seems she got it in her head that the yard sale house was an OK place to go. She went there to visit again about a week later. I came home midday to put her inside and she wasn't home. There was a message on my answering machine from the yard sale people saying they had her in their yard and were keeping her until I could come to get her. She had a great time playing with their grandchildren that morning. I didn't know this, but the pitbulls lived at the house next door inside a fenced yard.
I asked the yard sale people that if she ever came to their house again to tell her firmly, "Go home." She knows what that means.
Sure enough five days laters she wandered to their house and they told her to "Go home." I guess she wasn't done with her adventure, because instead of going back down the sidewalk and directly home, she entered the driveway of the next door neighbor's house. That's when they got her.
The thing that's so hard to comprehend is the viciousness of the attack. These dogs didn't growl and bark and chase her off the driveway the way another dog would. They simply jumped the fence, pounced on her, put her to the ground, and tore her to shreds with the pure intent to kill. The pitbull's owner was actually home, but it happened so fast no one could do a thing.
Yeah, but are they "predatory" spasms? Do you charge the fence, drooling and snapping at them or do your spasms cause you to flinch and flee to a quiet room?
It's worse now on our block as they are now all grade school and fast approaching jr. high. Seems all they do know is break windows with footballs and leave bikes for people to trip over.
Squealing babies have been replaced by shattering glass and cursing in the dark. I dread the driving years, sigh.
We don't know if these dogs are only dog-aggressive but I would suspect not.
And I object to blaming the victim. If the victim had been a small child and they had turned their bike around in the drive, would you be asking if the parents had their child under control?
Too bad you didn't keep your pretty little dog inside where she would be save from bigger, stronger dogs.
Of course the intelligent design people would explain it differently.
Good advice.
Sounds like driving will thin out the herd in your neighborhood rather nicely. Perhaps you could invite some drug pushers to set up a branch office around the corner?
I bet if you mention the lack to a police officer, he will know who to call.
Don't blame it on the muslims, blame it on Allah...oh, am I on the wrong thread?
I still love her because she was so effective at loving me back. I'd say "kiss me" and she dart to my nose and lick it. I'd say it again, and she would do it again, wagging her tail hard enough to shake her to pieces. I would tire of saying "kiss me" long before she would tire of doing it.
She had a distinct personality. She knew when she was breaking the rules. When my wife was sick, she guarded her. When I snuck up on my wife to surprise her, Layla, my dog, growled to warn her. When she was in remission from cancer, she climbed mountains with us on backpacking trips, a regular trooper, with chemotherapy still in her system.
Her death came quickly one night. I came home from work to find her blind and almost unable to walk. The change was literally overnight. She whined with pain when I tried to move her, but she was willing to make the effort to move forward when I told her "Kiss me." I watched her last breath; felt her last two hearbeats at two a.m. Layla was a pit bull.
Her great character doesn't redeem every, or any, other pit bulls. But niether is she responsible for them. And the tone of this thread coming from folks who want to generalize against the breed is a remarkable refrain of hypocrisy. I wish you well and will pray for your dog. I know the heartbreak that comes from losing a best friend. Be well.
My dog was half german shepard, half labrador. He drew blood on some dogs, but only on the ones who were too dumb to run. Sometimes they ran, other times he ran. A good time was had by all.
A cute little toy poodle was led on a lease by an elderly lady across the street. She felt it was her duty to have her dog crap on other's yards. My dog was laying out in the front yard, and came over to get his "sniff" and the little poodle snapped at him. He grabbed the little thing, and shook him, and walked away. Her dog bit her as she tried to pick him up.
Small town politics: NY State agriculture and markets act at that time permitted sentencing dogs as "vicious" if they attacked people or domestic animals. Domestic animals were defined as domestic cats, rabbits, Cows, sheep. ectera, but did not include dogs.
There once was a lawyer named Rex,
Who had very small organs of sex.
When asked of the function,
He said with compunction,
"De minimis non curat lex!"
It was a good law, to not have dog fights covered by law. The Justice of the Peace made up his own law, and so old Rusty spend the rest of his life confined.
If I ever meet a pit bull unleashed while out walking, it will be dog-dead.
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