Posted on 06/23/2009 11:30:56 AM PDT by JoeProBono
Sheriff's deputies said it's the first case of its kind they can remember in King County -- one in which a pit bull was used as a weapon in brutal attacks on women.
About 6:30 p.m., a 63-year-old woman stopped her car in SeaTac when she saw four kids kicking a pit bull. A 15-year-old girl told her to mind her own business, then punched her in the head, police say. The dog bit the woman, causing bruises and puncture wounds on her hand and thigh.
Another woman watched the attack and followed the kids to North SeaTac Park. Once the kids realized they were being followed, police said, the 15-year-old head-butted, punched and kicked the second woman so hard that the teen's foot was injured.
Police say the pit bull was turned loose on the woman and grew more and more violent as the children encouraged him. She remained at Harborview Medical Center on Monday in satisfactory condition.
Some advocates for and against pit bulls agree that the children's alleged criminal action was the problem, but the case again raises the question: Are pit bulls or their owners the problem?
The answer varies depending on who is asked.
"People will say there are no bad dogs, just bad dog owners," King County Sheriff's spokesman John Urquhart said. "We don't agree with that."
Deputies see more animal-related calls in the summer -- a season when overall call volume increases. Police are not dog experts, Urquhart noted, but he said they do find bad dogs along with bad owners.
"We're not sure if this was a bad dog," he said of the pit bull, "Snaps," who is now at a King County animal shelter. "But clearly he had a bad owner."
The deed, not the breed
Don Jordan, director of the Seattle Animal Shelter, has heard outrage in the past few years about pit bulls. In the early 1990s, Dobermans were the problem, he said. In the mid '90s, Rottweilers got most of the complaints.
"Our approach has always been that we focus on the deed, not the breed," he said. " If you're going to properly protect public safety, you look at enacting ordinances or requirements that affect all dog owners."
There were 40,136 licensed dogs in Seattle and 1,298 of those were pit bulls, according to Seattle Animal Shelter statistics through Feb. 11, the most recent available.
Of all breeds, pit bulls were most likely to bite, according to shelter officials -- 547 of 2,914 reported incidents between 1997 and last year. They also were identified in fully a quarter of menacing incidents during that time period -- 1,066 of 4,189.
Labrador retrievers, German shepherds and Rottweilers also had relatively high numbers. But shelter statistics also show the number of overall dog bites decreased by more than half in 2008 from the previous year.
There were 134 bite calls and 189 menacing complaints last year, down from 304 and 315 the previous year, respectively. Pit bulls were responsible for 89 of the bites and menacing calls, down from 150 the previous year.
Jordan isn't quite sure why there's been a decrease.
"I think there's been a lot of media attention last year about (a previous) SeaTac incident," he said. "Maybe dog owners are being more responsible."
Pit bull rap sheet
Last September, two pit bulls attacked a 71-year-old woman as she walked her grandchildren through their SeaTac neighborhood. The woman later said she thought she was going to die as the dogs ripped her face, legs and arms.
A sheriff's deputy shot the dogs, killing one. Another deputy killed the second pit bull nearby when it remained aggressive. The woman's neighbor who owned the dogs, Travis Dean Cunningham, was sentenced to more than 11 years in prison for the attack, plus a firearms violation filed in a separate case.
Family said the elderly attack victim, who underwent hours of surgery, didn't attend the sentencing because it was too emotional. Prosecutor Dan Satterberg described the attack as a "case of dangerous dogs and a dangerous owner."
Rather than banning pit bulls, it would be better to prevent some people from owning the dogs -- including felons and those convicted of dog fighting or gang-related crimes, said Julie Russell of Seattle, spokeswoman for Families Against Breed Bans.
"It sounds like these dogs were being taunted and abused and these are just the kinds of kids we want to get the dogs away from," she said of the most recent attack suspects, who deputies say may face felony charges. "It's not the dogs that are unsafe, it's that there are unsafe owners who mismanage their jobs."
Russell, who owns four dogs, grew up terrified of pit bulls. When her husband picked out their first one a few years ago, she said "it was a source of tension for a couple weeks." She initially wouldn't leave her Labrador alone in the car with the pit bull.
"After about two weeks, I realized she's a highly emotional dog," Russell said of Simon, one of her two pit bulls. "I could not imagine her harming anything or anyone."......
You do get cases of young children being attacked by Labradors and other hunting dogs who, unfortunately, sometimes cannot distinguish them from quarry.
I further agree that a dog, or any other four or two legged critter that comes into my neighborhood and threatens me or a loved one has placed itself in imminent jeopardy...but that does not give me, you or anyone else the right to poison a neighbor's dog because we don't like the way it looks.
Despite the efforts of many, this is still a free nation, and Americans have the right to own mean dogs, big SUVs and rifles with flash hiders and pistol grips...I would love to see the owners of any of the three who use them irresponsibly or mishandle them hammered by our justice system, and those who handle them responsibly simply left the hell alone.
Chet 99 is the problem.
I have five young children, and a pitbull mix that we adopted as an adult (pre-ruined, in other words).
I didn’t know he was a pitbull when we got him, but I have watched him develop from a wild-eyed savage into an amazing companion animal, the kind that my kids will always remember.
Owners makes a huge difference.
I think Obama naming a Pit Bull Czar would be in keeping with the spirit of times and the inclinations of some round these parts. I even have a couple of candidates in mind for the post i’d like to nominate.
“Poison: The coward’s preferred method of killing throughout history.”
Same thing was once said, and still is, of snipers, but what do people know anyway.
There's quite a difference between a soldier in an armed conflict infiltrating enemy areas and culling high value targets (ballsy), and a Lee Boyd Malvo/John Mohammed Caprice Classic sniping operation (cowardly). What makes the second one cowardly is the indiscriminate, passive-aggressive nature which is quite like leaving a plate of antifreeze out for any harmless stray or wild animal in the hopes of getting the object of your obsession.
That's what I know, anyway.
“And yes we had a collie that went nuts when I was little, not really his fault though he’d gotten hit by a car and was never really right after that. Also got a good gash on my cheek when our German shepherd decided he could hug like a person and missed with one paw. It’s an imperfect world, dogs do bad and or stupid things.”
A brain-damaged Collie and a German Shepherd scratch while trying to “hug” you is NOT the same as being “mauled”. Also, an SUV doesn’t have a brain, teeth, and the ability to flip out! Pit bulls are dangerous...it’s proven over and over.
Not the same. Pit bulls know EXACTLY what the quarry is.
There seems to be an easy solution then. Have the breeders selectively breed them down to the size of Yorkies. A win-win. The pit bull fans get the dogs whose personalities they claim to so love and the rest of the world isn't seriously threatened by them. ;-)
Of course, even if this was possible, it wouldn't work because a lot of pit bull owners want the dogs because of the dog's menace.
Well the Collie tried to eat me head first, the good news is the Collie’s mouth wasn’t as big as it thought so he really couldn’t manage it, but he tried. Didn’t get past that because there were alert adults in the room that pulled him off before he decided on another angle.
Outside of that you missed the point. The news is always talking about SUVs when they’re in an accident and somebody dies in much the same way they’re always talking about pit bulls when they’re in an incident. Both are considered “evil” by a group of people that the newsies think is their audience. Meanwhile they ignore non-SUVs and non-pit bulls involved in the same activity because they’re not “evil”. ALL dogs are dangerous, it’s proved over and over. They’re domesticated wolves and not really that far removed from their heritage, with “proper” treatment and training any dog can be used as a weapon or pushed to the point where it’s going to snap. Some breeds have been bred to have more of that tendency, but there isn’t a dog on the planet that doesn’t have it in them.
Well, jeez, Joe, ya didn’t say poisoning of a domestic animal, ya just said poisoning. I totally agree killing someone elses pet with poison is a cowardly thing to do, but if I could kill the enemy with poison I’d do it.
It's the context of the thing, laddy.
And yes, I'd kill an enemy with poison, if there were no alternative.
Want to come to my neighborhood and poison my dog? Or are your public threats of violence against domestic animals reserved for your close neighbors?
BTW, I heard somewhere that Dobies are so mean because their skulls stop growing before their brains do, and that they go through most of their adult life with a headache. Any truth to that? Could there be something similar with pit bulls?
Another BTW: If you want to see a *great* pit bull, go to Youtube and find a silent film called "The Scarecrow." It has Buster Keaton as the lead, and he gets chased around by "Luke the Dog," an American pit bull that was owned by Roscoe Arbuckle. From what I've read, the dog was a natural in front of the cameras, and never attacked anybody unless it was part of a film. Do a youtube search on Luke the Dog and see what you get.
Nah - they have to be taught just like other dogs.
I didn’t miss the point. I agree with you. Why take the chance?? pit bulls are dangerous...period. Never trust an animal....that’s why they are called ANIMALS!
C’mon man! Read the news! They are trash!
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