Man Strangles Rabid Pit Bull

AP ^ | September 5, 2003

[Shermy]

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Will Stewart says he didn't have a choice in strangling a 6-month-old pit bull-mix puppy.

The puppy that wasn't known to be aggressive suddenly turned violent last week. The dog bit or scratched four adults and two children in an Indian Trail neighborhood and was later found to be rabid.

Stewart says the dog, Jake, went crazy. He says after the dog bit the children and his wife, he had to act.

He called the dog, which he thinks weighed between 50 and 60 pounds, and pinned him to the ground. Stewart says he couldn't wait for animal control to arrive, so he strangled the dog as he and the dog's owner held him down.

The Stewarts, the couple who owned Jake and their two children -- all of whom Jake bit or scratched -- have begun the painful and expensive treatment for rabies. Stewart says his first treatment involved seven shots, and he has four more appointments for additional shots.

[ModernDayCato]

Oooh...how clever. Do you write your own material or does someone else in your high school class help you?

[Protagoras]

Hey, I thought you were no longer posting? What happened? Not bored anymore?

[ModernDayCato]

Nah, I had six more minutes before my meeting, and I was interested in the 'man overnight expresses himself' story. When I clicked on it I was alerted to your post, though it was hardly worth the energy expended on the click. Probably have time for one more of your witty repartes if you hurry.

[ModernDayCato]

No, huh? Okay, guess I'll get back to my multi-million dollar empire and you can get back on the back of your garbage truck. See ya round.

[Protagoras]

Okay, guess I'll get back to my multi-million dollar empire

LOL, illusions of adequacy.

and you can get back on the back of your garbage truck.

I don't work on em, I own em. 22 to be exact. You are perceptive.

See ya round.

Not around here, you said you were quitting.

[ModernDayCato]

Wanna compare net worth statements? Just let me know. Let's say $1000 to my animal rescue charity vs. $1000 to the charity of your choice. All tax deductible of course.

[ModernDayCato]

Yep, that usually ends the argument.

[Shermy]

Story and links at post #1.

[dtel]

bttt

[dtel]

You might want to link this to the story you just reposted of this.
Your agenda is showing,
pull down your slip,
your knickers are also showing.

[attiladhun2]

Even worse are Rats with pens in Congress and the Statehouse.

[ZChief]

I posted this reply on a repeat thread earlier, thought I should put it here also.

I always gravitate to articles about pitbulls due to a personal experience. My son, six years old at the time, was the victim of pitbull attack. It was a bolt out of the blue when, absolutely with out provocation, the dog attacked him one day as he was waiting for his mother to come outside to go on a walk.

It was a young pitbull, thankfully, whose owner was a college boy renting a house with other college boys down the road from us. We never knew the dog existed. In fairness, they had six other pitbulls chained with anchor chains (they were the heaviest chains I have ever seen) semi concealed in their back yard. It came out later that they were boarding most of the other dogs for a resident of a nearby large city (read into that what you will). Some asserted that the boarded dogs were for fighting, but I suspect they were intended for sale in the lower class neighborhoods of that city.

The dog was apparently going for the throat in the attack as my son attempted to get back into the house. The dog managed to tear off most of his left ear which was destroyed and required several plastic surgeries to reconstruct. It bit him in the face but not as terribly as the ear.

It latched on to his shoulder and was trying to pull him off the porch when my wife and his older sister got outside to try to help. They kicked and beat it with a broom handle to no avail. We were blessed when my wife thought to pull his free arm out of his denim jacket and to pull him. The trapped arm slid out of the jacket and the dog fell off the porch. They stumbled backward into the house.

The terror continued as the dog attacked the front door trying to get in. Scared my family to death as this part happened. The dog then started circling the house as if to find a way in.

When the paramedics arrived the dog charged at them forcing them on top of their vehicle.

It required the arrival of a state trooper, before my son could get medical help, who was able to get off three shots into the dog as it charged him upon spotting him when coming around from the back of the house.

The dog ran back to its home where it was tracked by animal control who also responded. They shot the dog six more times before they felt safe enough to enter the fenced yard to retrieve the body for rabies testing.

The boys that owned the dog apparently skipped town as quick as they could. Several weeks later, after my son got out of the hospital, the father of one of the boys called to express the sorrow of the boys and their desire to apologize.

This is where it got interesting. The boys came to our house along with their girlfriends. They were as subdued as you can get and near tears. They apologized as humbly as you can get. After we accepted their apologies they all expressed amazement that the dog had turned violent. The boys along with their girl friends insisted that they treated that particular dog as a pet, even as a child, playing with it and giving it lots of attention. They openly admitted that they bought it because of the macho image, even though they expected it to behave like a house dog. When they all wondered out loud that they couldn't believe this could have possibly happened a most awkward pause occurred (my wife and I were thinking "you jerks it happened!) I spoke up and calmly said "well it did". After a couple of minutes and final apologies they all left.

My son is 15 today and not much worse for the wear. His reconstructed ear is somewhat disfigured and no other scars are visible. He has a healthy regard for dogs but has no apparent deep seated fear of them.

What did we ultimately do about the incident you ask? Outside of developing a strong desire to gut one of these creatures with my always present sharpened pocket knife, I must leave that to your imagination.

Did you know a lawyer can be your friend?

My sincere advice to those living near homes with pitbulls is to always and everytime report any appearance of dog law violations (ie. loose off a leash). Find out what your dog laws are and formally, in writing, put the owners on notice of any violations that you report, especially if they enter your property. Speculate out loud the costs of lawsuits. Do anything within the law to make the owner think twice about contiuing to keep one of these animals. Maybe, at the very least, the owner will effectively secure it.

If you own one these or another breed with similar traits (the ability to lock on with tremendous force) I would ask you are you confident that you can live with yourself if the unthinkable actually happened? Think carefully, I have come across several accounts where the owners insisted that the attacking dogs were properly treated and cared for. Is the prospect of a nightmare worth it?

[GameENUF4U]

OK, I am sick and tired of listening to all of these people. conservatives and liberals alike, piss and moan about how horrible the American Pit Bull Terrier is. I am 17 years old, and have been around the breed since I was 3 or 4. I have also had Dachsunds, Cocker Spaniels, German Shepherds, Labradors, and Rat Terriers, along with parrots and reptiles. Out of all my 17 years with these dogs, guess which breed has bitten me the most...my Cocker Spaniels...6 times in the last 3 years. Guess which dog has bitten me the least...my pit bullS <- thats right, multiple dogs. Want to know how many times, 0, never, nada, zip, zero. My APBT's have never bit me. Did I mention that all my dogs share a kennel? Oh yeah, did I also mention that THEY sleep in the house, in the bed, and are the most well mannered house dogs that my family has ever possessed. Everyone hypes up how horrible Pit Bulls are, when the truth is just the opposite. They ARE great dogs, they ARE well mannered, the ARE NOT monsters. My Pit Bulls even tolerate my parrots, even to the the degree that he shares his food bowl with him. Want proof? Email me - Halofire45@msn.com

[Jean S]

The dog went nuts, bit a bunch of people, it was killed.
You rabid pitbull defenders need to get over yourselves.

[TheRedSoxWinThePennant]

I will stick with my Shiba

[demkicker]

How is it that the dog GOT rabies? No vaccinations? And why? Sounds like a bunch of lazy hillbillies to me.

Sounds like the classic pit bull owners to me. They're so mean they don't need shots, dontcha know?

[GameENUF4U]

Did I say my dogs were rabid? No, I dont think I did. The dog that initiated the attack in this story was though, and if you have any idea what rabies does to anyone, dog or human, then you would understand why this attack occured. But once again, this is fault of the owner. A dog is not going to casually walk into a Vet's office and request that he be vaccinated for rabies. In the case of the post before mine, well, once again, owner mistreatment. I would also suspect dog-fight training. NO DOG BELONGS ON BIG HEAVY CHAINS. If you see multiple dogs, most especially APBT's on BIG HEAVY CHAINS, contact your local authorities, they are trying to build neck and leg strength for some reason other than what is legal, and I don't think the dog put himself on the chain. They aren't weapons unless somebody makes them one, they're just big, strong dogs, and in the hands of the right people, wonderful, noble, loyal friends.

[GameENUF4U]

Well, I guess I am a hillbilly, honor student, who speaks three different languages, who got a full scholarship at the age of 16, and graduated a full year early. Plenty of classier people possess APBT's. The hillbillies who don't take car of their dogs, mistreat their dogs, and dont have their 50-60LB PIT BULLS not get their RABIES vaccinations. Atleast, before I get on a website to inform people, I have seen both sides of the story, and not what a bunch of fuching journalists and your "friend of a friend's" horror stories say. Plenty of other dogs bite, you just never hear about it because the journalists deem it un-newsworthy. The worst biters statistically are Cocker Spaniels, dont believe me, come pet all my dogs and see which one will probably bite you. Is he mean, no, just very leary. But my Pit knows where he stands with humans and is well cared for like every other member of the family.

[photodawg]

How is it that the dog GOT rabies? No vaccinations? And why?
________________________________________________________

Also, if the dog came when called, and you could get your hands around its neck, it could have been tied and crated, or put somewhere until animal control could arrive. I don't buy this. He was taking out his anger on the diseased dog. It was not only stupid, it was dangerous to him and others.

[Rebelbase]

" Sounds like a bunch of lazy hillbillies to me"

Please don't insult hillbillies by associating them with Pit-Bull owning trash down in Charlotte.