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."
Close.
Ooops...this was the Pa;m Beach Post...not Sun Sentinel
Ya think????
There wouldn't be a reason for animal control to come knockin at my house...
Terrible.
Very strange. I never have heard anything like it, especially given all the other details in the article.
The only thing I wonder is if the dog may have been sleeping when she bent over to pet it, and suddenly woke up.
Really....
No, I read it again, and evidently the dog came over to her. Stranger and stranger. I can’t imagine doing anything but putting the dog down after something like that. And I’ve had an awful lot of different kinds of dogs over the course of a lifetime.
My question is why hasn’t the dog already gone to doggie heaven, are they going to give it a chance to do it again?
Dog who allegedly bit woman called a 'pussycat' at shelter photo provided
Roscoe bit off the nose of the woman who adopted it, but the Humane Society of St. Lucie described the dog before adoption as a "sweetheart.
By WILL GREENLEE
will.greenlee@scripps.com
April 28, 2007
PORT ST. LUCIE — Roscoe, the Rottweiler/German Shepherd mix who allegedly bit off a woman's nose Thursday night, was described Friday by officials at the Humane Society of St. Lucie County as a "pussycat" and a "sweetheart" who showed no signs of aggression.
"It's a total mystery as to how a dog that otherwise seemed very friendly and outgoing was involved in an incident like this," said Frank Andrews, Humane Society director. "After a month, it's highly unusual to have a dog suddenly go bonkers like this one apparently did."
Dawn Sharbuno, 46, was sitting by the pool about 6:10 p.m. Thursday petting Roscoe, whom Sharbuno and her husband adopted several weeks ago, when he jumped up and bit her nose off, a police report shows.
Sharbuno's husband, Harry, declined a formal interview request at his Southwest Estaugh Avenue home Friday, but said his wife underwent eight hours of reconstructive surgery and suggested the Humane Society do a better job of screening its animals. Sharbuno was flown to a trauma center in serious condition after the incident.
Andrews said Roscoe had been at the Humane Society since January.
"The lady that looks after it daily said it was a pussycat," he said. "She took it outside, would throw a ball for it, roll around with it. The dog would sit, it would shake, it showed absolutely no signs whatsoever of any aggression."
He said Humane Society officials determine whether a dog is fit for adoption based on how it interacts with workers there.
"This dog was here since January, so we had ample time to interface with it, observe the kind of a dog it was," Andrews said. "We had no hesitation whatsoever in thinking that this would be a good dog."
When dogs are adopted out, Andrews said, if other dogs are in the home — as in this case — the potential adopters are asked to bring the other dog in so they can be observed interacting.
"We do just about everything that we think of to make sure that it's going to be a good match," Andrews said. "The family that adopted (Roscoe) was very positive about wanting this specific dog, and it looked like a good match."
Animal care attendant Debra Horst said she was in Roscoe's cage daily, describing him as a "sweetheart."
"I called him my boyfriend," she said. "He was the last dog that I thought would do anything like that."
Andrews said Roscoe, who was returned to the Humane Society on Friday after an overnight stay at animal control in Port St. Lucie, likely will be destroyed.
"The dog was here for several months," he said. "They had the dog for four weeks as well, so it's a mystery to us."
"It's a total mystery as to how a dog that otherwise seemed very friendly and outgoing was involved in an incident like this."Frank Andrews, Humane Society director
They got a SECOND dog before they got health insurance. Idiots.
They only had the dog 3 weeks?? And it's PART CHOW! HELLO....Chows should also be put down along with pit bulls and Rotties. All of them.....
Most likely they’re keeping it to see if it shows any signs of rabies. If they do euthanize it (which they should) they will probably do a rabies scan on the brain as well.
Terrible thing for that poor lady to go through. :(
Chows are notorious for biting without provocation or warning. Weird dogs.
It is a known fact that animals, like humans can have personality disorders.Jekyl and Hyde if you will. Had a cat that way also a dog that was ageing, Animals can also go ferrel and revert back to the wild side in a matter of days.
How sick.....ao are you afraid of dogs now? This woman on the news this morning was saying how she was holding part of her face and her nose in her hand. I am so leery of dogs..
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