Posted on 04/04/2009 10:19:16 AM PDT by Chet 99
Fed up with pit bulls, a Saginaw man sets out to trap them
by Dean Bohn
The Saginaw News
Saturday April 04, 2009, 8:01 AM
Tracy D. Albert said he's had enough of pit bulls.
So he's setting out traps to catch them and is offering a $50 reward for the name of the owner who brought pit bulls into his yard and urged them to attack his cat.
He said he wants to prosecute them "after I talk to their mommy and daddy about what they've been doing."
Albert said his family's 13-year-old cat, "Lucky," was sunning itself outside about 7 p.m. Tuesday when two muscular males, 17 to 19 years old, brought their leashed pit bulls into his yard and sicced them on his cat.
"When I came out of the house, I see one dog had my cat by the belly, so I kicked the dog so hard he flipped on his back," said Albert, 46, who lives on Saginaw's West Side.
"(The owner of the dog) didn't like it, so I kicked his dog seven or eight more times, just to show him who was in control. By that time the dog (ran between the owner's legs) and almost tripped him. He and I went face-to-face, but then some friends of his came over and flanked him. He left, walking north on Hamilton. Now I'm looking for him. I'm offering a $50 bill for a good name."
Albert said he's tired of seeing pit bulls running wild in his neighborhood two or three times a day.
"I set out a cougar trap and put in a coyote scent," he said. "It's a live trap, but I'll be turning them over to the Animal Shelter. They've agreed to take any I trap. I've been a nuisance trapper since I was a kid."
Albert said he put out the trap -- and the word of his bounty -- Wednesday. By mid-day Thursday, pit bull traffic was almost non-existent, he said.
"Word got out, and they're all keeping them locked down," he said.
Pit bulls have come under closer public scrutiny since March 5, when three pit bulls attacked and injured Bridgetta Hadley, 42, of Saginaw and Duane VanLanHam, 48, who lives across South 23rd Street in Buena Vista Township.
Hadley had nerve damage and wounds that required 20 stitches to close. VanLanHam had one surgery and is expecting five more.
A trial date is not yet set for the dogs' owners, Anthony D. Hunt of Saginaw and Shamorrow S. Amos of Buena Vista Township.
Saginaw County Chief District Judge M. Randall Jurrens ordered Hunt and Amos to stand trial in Circuit Court on six counts of possessing dangerous animals causing serious injury at South 23rd and Perkins in Buena Vista Township.
A conviction could lead to a sentence of up to four years in prison, $2,000 in fines and 500 hours of community service.
Court records indicate that Hunt, 33, lives at 2302 S. Niagara, No. 1, and Amos, 24, lives at 628 S. 23rd.
Two of the pit bulls remain under the care of the Saginaw County Animal Care Center. Buena Vista Township Police Officer Jason Hendricks shot and killed the third dog.
Since the incident, more people are reporting pit bull sightings.
For the 59 days from Jan. 1 to Feb. 28, dispatchers handled 90 "vicious dogs in progress" calls, said Tom McIntyre, 911 director. That's about 1.5 calls per day.
In the 20 days between March 1 and 20, dispatchers received 68 vicious dog calls -- about 3.4 a day.
Aw, look how the hugged one looks like he's smiling...
:-)
I wouldn't attempt to prove anything to you mom.
While that is very honorable and admirable to be sure, that is not relevant to the discussion about the characteristics and reputation of the breed.
It says LOTS about him but nothing about the breed.
Pictures of dogs licking people’s faces and kids hugging dogs, does nothing to redeem pit bull’s reputations. They’re cute pictures is all. It will go nowhere in convincing others that any random pit they see on the street is safe.
People have a responsibility to ensure that their right to enjoy their property (dogs)
does not infringe on other peoples’ right to enjoy their property.
Mature people with a moral upbringing understand this
and take all the appropriate safeguards,
folks that don’t ‘get it’ must be forced to comply.
To be honest with you my friend it is more about the owner than the breed.
Here’s more daily news of pit bull attacks and the impaired logic and perception of their worshipers.
Have you noticed that people who are habitually doing something wrong tend to lie and to argue beside the point?
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2136957/posts
I haven't been able to determine if they caught the trash responsible
but I've just emailed the reporter that did the original story asking for an update.
Adorable!
Cute pic. Proves nothing. Many of the babies killed by pits are killed by their own family pet dog.
Awwwwwwwwwwww. :)
My heart.
Are you convinced that any random dog you see on the street is safe?
I'm not. Big or small, I mistrust them all. If it's a stranger there may be danger.
That is totally ridiculous.
I’VE TOLD TOU BEFORE, TAKE ME OFF OF TOUR SICK PING LIST. GET LOST—YOU’VE GOT REAL PROBLEMS. AND I’M TELLING YOU FOR THE LAST TIME: DO NOT POST TO ME AGAIN. BEAT IT.
But owners are not as easy to regulate, so there you go.
That picture makes me cry. What kind of a monster would do that to an animal, ANY animal.
Bad owners of all breeds abound, but few other breeds are as susceptible to the effects of bad ownership as pit bulls seem to be.
You can’t breed the herding instinct out of Border Collies, or the retrieving instinct out of Retrievers, or the instinct in any other animal out of them. The best that can be hoped for is some kind of limited control of those instincts.
So I don’t believe that the aggression that was bred into pits can be that easily controlled, good owner notwithstanding. With a bad owner, it’s a disaster waiting to happen.
It’s the combination of breeding and instinct and bad owners that make pits in general a bad risk. The good owner with the well trained and socialized pit is too few and far between to take the chance that any random pit one sees if one of those few. Seeing how most people are raising their kids, I certainly don’t think for a minute that they’re going to do any better with their dogs than they do with their kids.
Responsible pit owners are just going to have to live with the reputation that the overwhelming majority of bad pit owners give them. That’s life.
No. but I am less concerned when it's a Golden Retriever or an ankle biter I can dispatch with one kick than I am with a pit, or Chow, or part wolf...
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