Posted on 05/25/2010 9:10:17 PM PDT by NoLibZone
ELLICOTT CITY, Md. (WJZ) ―
A Howard County man is recovering after a pit bull attacked him as he walked his dog.
Mary Bubala reports the incident left the federal law enforcement officer with a severe hand injury and a broken heart.
"He'd be sitting up in the window barking, knew I was home, and just the love from him," a still emotional Isaiah Harrison said. "I'm sorry. It's been over two weeks, but it seems like it happened just yesterday."
Harrison did all he could to save his dog Stewie's life. As a pit bull lunged at them, he scooped up his dog and put his right hand up. The dog bit down hard.
"I tried to block it with my hand to keep him from getting to Stewie, and once he grabbed onto my hand and bit me I had to let Stewie go because all of the pain and the blood," Harrison said.
The pit bull then went after Stewie, his injuries so severe he had to be euthanized.
Harrison himself needed 45 stitches to his right hand.
As an officer with the Federal Reserve in Washington, D.C., it's the hand he needs to use his service revolver.
"This is my strong hand. We mostly shoot when we go to the range with the strong hand in order to qualify," he said.
At the location where the attack happened, Animal Control told the Harrisons the dog was staying with relatives. The owner does not live in their neighborhood.
Signs are clearly posted in the Ellicott City neighborhood stating that dogs must be put on leashes.
The Harrisons say the pit bull got out of a nearby townhouse.
"If you have breeds like pit bulls and rottweilers, you have to be responsible. You know those dogs are aggressive. You have to take extra precautions," said Pat Harrison, the victim's wife.
Isaiah Harrison is at home recovering, but is receiving lots of support in light of his tragic loss.
"I still have his kennel and a lot of his pictures and everything. It's rough. He was part of the family," he said.
The owner of the pit bull turned him into Animal Control the day of the attack and the dog was put down.
For now, Harrison is going through physical therapy and hopes to be back to work in a few months.
The Harrison family is planning to adopt a new dog soon.
If I was ever going to get a dog, it would be for protection as much as companionship, and my choice would be a toss-up between three breeds, dobermans being one. I know that the big, standard poodles are VERY cool dogs, very smart, and capable of being very protective. I also like German Shepherds -- a very dear friend of mine has had several, and one of them very probably saved her from some bad dudes once.
Dogs are a blessing from God, even pit bulls and Rottweilers, and my Granny's ridiculous little miniature poodles that were like perpetual beebees in a shoebox. :^)
In 1982 I was pregnant with my son, about 8 months. I was expecting my sister in law to come keep me company. I heard a knock & opened the door. A man had opened my screen door & was holding a 6 pack. He asked for some guy & I said wrong address. I lived in the swamps then & there was nobody by that name in the area. He pushed me backward & I fell into a closet. My male dobie had his mouth around his throat while my female stood over him. They didn’t bite but just held him. My SIL came & we called the police. 45 minutes passed & we let him go. When the police finally came they informed me he could press charges on me. Even though they saw the bi-fold closet door was smashed. Only in NJ!! I truly believe those dogs saved my life. Funny thing about them was they would let you in but they wouldn’t let you out. A good doberman is almost like a gun or was back then. The police never came to my door after that. If they wanted me they honked the horn. I would have another one as they are easy to care for & very devoted to the family. When I finally open my horse rescue I plan to keep one in my barn tack room with a dog door. Too many darn horse thieves around stealing horses to send to Canada for slaughter.No Frenchman is getting my horses for their dinner!.
“Pitts account for over 1/3rd of dog attacks in the US.
Rottweilers are next .
Just three breeds account for almost 3/4s of all attacks.”
Where are you getting your statistics? According to public health records, animal control, and the CDC, Labs are the most commonly found in attacks. As for presa canarios, I am guessing you used the Merritt-Clifton study, which has been proven fallacious and biased, and ridiculously over-used considering the source.
“I agree. Add to that the slamming of pit bull “rescues.” Those rescues and all who work at them should be 100 percent legally liable for any injuries or deaths resulting from an animal adopted from their “rescue.””<<<<<<<<
The dogs that are attacking are coming from backyard breeders, not rescues. Pit bull rescues (legitimate ones) have such high expectations for potential adopters that many good homes aren’t good enough.
Many require home checks at any time after adoption, will not adopt to people with any intact pets, will not adopt to people that plan for the dogs to be in the yard unsupervised, will not adopt to people that have other dogs or same-sex dogs, will not adopt to people with young children, will not adopt to people that do not have vet references, and especially not to people who live in apartments. The rescues are not the issue here.
The issue is irresponsible ownership combined with the desire for a mean dog, or the naive idea that all dogs are just little furry people that need love. No one is going to admit their dog was messed up before an attack but they didn’t do anything about it, because this means they’re held responsible for the consequences. It’s so much easier to say the dog just attacked out of the blue and blame the dog for everything. The fact is that of all the reputable studies done on this subject, none have come back saying any one breed is more likely to attack. What has been said, however, is that the pattern lies within the type of owners the dogs have, and this is what needs regulation. How about passing responsible dog ownership laws that effect everyone? The people who are already doing the right thing won’t have anything to worry about. The ones that aren’t will either get rid of their dogs or get them sterilized, up to date on shots, take them off the chains, and keep them inside where they belong. Calgary passed a similar law and has seen a dramatic reduction in dog attacks, which is far better than can be said for any place that has banned types of dogs. I think this is the key to preventing dog attacks, although I do think a lot of parents are neglecting to supervise their very young children, as well as not teaching them about how to behave around animals. There have been an awful lot of babies getting killed because people don’t seem to get that dogs should never be alone around newborns...just sad that people could prevent such things so easily with a little bit of common sense.
I can't believe that the intruder could have pressed charges!!!! What kind of crap is that!
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