Posted on 11/21/2008 7:50:03 PM PST by Carling
HAPPY VALLEY -- Jayda Kempas, a 7-year-old who loves to play with Barbie dolls, was twirling on a tire swing and giggling with a friend when Titan leapt up and locked onto her left leg.
The 90-pound pit bull mix yanked, and they both tumbled to the ground.
Jayda's father, Steven Hehr, was smoking a Marlboro outside his friend's home in Happy Valley when he heard screams from the backyard. Titan, who was new to the home, usually stayed in the garage. But this time he had been left outside.
Catching the first glimpse of his daughter, Hehr knew it was bad.
"The dog was out to kill," Hehr said of Wednesday's attack. "It was life and death."
Hehr, a sergeant with the Oregon National Guard who has served in Iraq and Afghanistan, didn't have time to think. He ran over and tackled the dog, then tried to pry the jaws open with his hands. At first, Titan wouldn't let go, so Hehr tried to calm him, telling him he was a good boy.
(Excerpt) Read more at oregonlive.com ...
Obviously the dog had problems or the previous owner would not have given him away.
At first, Titan wouldn't let go, so Hehr tried to calm him, telling him he was a good boy.
Titan released the girl and attacked Hehr.
First he bit Hehr's hands and leg. Then, aiming for the throat, he sunk his teeth into Hehr's chest. Hehr wrestled the dog into a headlock and yelled for help, dislocating his shoulder as the dog lurched and struggled.
Friends and neighbors rushed to help. William Bahler grabbed an aluminum baseball bat and slammed it into the dog's back.
Titan barely noticed.
Bahler kept swinging, striking with full force the dog's back and rear.
As Bahler tired, another friend, Alan Clinansmith, took the bat.
"We must have hit the dog at least 40 times," said Clinansmith, who recently took the dog in while trying to find him a new home. "No human could have survived that."
Then someone else got a noose around the dog's neck and pulled it tight. Another person tied a strap around the dog's hind quarters.
Witnesses said the struggle continued for 20 or 30 minutes. Clackamas County Sheriff's Office deputies said they arrived at the home on Southeast 172nd Avenue within five minutes of receiving a call.
Deputy Greg Martin pulled up to find three men tangled up with the dog. As Martin took out his 9 mm handgun, Hehr kept Titan in a headlock and sprawled across the dog to keep him still. Martin eased the barrel up to the dog's ear and pulled the trigger. Titan went limp.
“Martin eased the barrel up to the dog’s ear and pulled the trigger.”
I love a happy ending.
My sympathy to you.
It’s a shame some people have no clue about responsible dog ownership.
Why, you afraid it’s going to lick someone to death? :)
“A child should never be out of reach......”
You SURE you want to stand by that statement...? Maybe a little overstatement?
Just plink with your carbine or handgun when they let him out to ‘run’. Guy has to have some target practice once in awhile, don’t ya know.
Land Shark.
I stand by my statement. These are not the good old days. These are very dangerous times. Children are under threat by man and beast. If the man had been watching her, he would have seen the danger and at least have put himself between her and the dog.
Still it is a terrible thing to have happened and lives have been shattered.
Exactly! I’ve had my doberman (another “dangerous breed;” all the more terrifying b/c he is easily 20lbs over the normal weight.) for a couple of years before, my son was born. The dog was never raised around children before this; he also doesn’t like anyone not invited into the house. The biggest threat my, barely crawling, son faces.... being licked to death. It is how the dog is raised and treated. Being an “inside dog,” given lots of love, attention, and effectively disciplined, it was easy to socialize them. Now, my son is just someone else to sucker attention from.... but if you are a non-family memeber and try to come in the house without being let in.... ;) we’ll call it an error of judgement on your part.
Martin eased the barrel up to the dog’s ear and pulled the trigger. Titan went limp.
~~~
Post of the thread!!!
Only good news I see,,,
Here comes PETA!!!...
There was a woman who lived in Conroe, TX (just north of Houston) who owned several pit bulls for many years and called them her “babies”. One day she was found dead. Her “babies” had attacked her and killed her.
Some breeds of dogs are just unpredictable, and pit bulls and chows are at the top of the list. Some Springer Spaniels also suffer from this. They can go from calm to attack mode without warning. You own pit bulls or chows at your own risk, no matter how many years they have seemed like calm, gentle animals.
Yes. Short of shooting the dog, there’s not much to do. My kids can’t “carry” while riding their bikes around.
This is a nice neighborhood, too. We also have a leash law. How to get it enforced, no one knows.
I have never had a more wonderful dog than my pit bull, collie mix. He was so wonderful.
That being said my dumb neighbors let their kids come into my yard to mess around with my lab on her rope. I hate this!!! Parents need to teach their children to stay away from dogs that are not their own. My lab is a good girl, thank God, but I don’t know about the neighbor’s kids. Are they good or could they ever be mean. I tell them to stay out of my yard and not to go near my dog. They think I am mean. I wouldn’t have to be if their parents weren’t so stupid!
You have their beds in your bedroom? They must always be within reach. And when you go to the bathroom, you got them within reach?
Do you go to school with them? Or do you expect the teacher to be able to reach all 20+ kids in the classroom at the same time?
Don’t say NEVER. It is impossible for you to protect all your loved ones all the time. You can try, you can do everything REASONABLE, within finite limits without driving yourself and everyone else around you both paranoid and crazy at the same time.
I agree with you it is a terrible thing. Crazy bizarre situation. Many of us would have probably been more cautious and maybe have not let the child play by herself in the backyard if we weren’t closer.
Come on Nana!! I smoke, my mother smoked, my grandparents smoked. my three siblings and I grew up healthy through it all. I raised four super healthy kids through it all.
My Mother and grandparents lived into their 80’s.
This is another one of those ongoing battles with “supposed proof” on both sides. Kinda like Gore and earth warming.
I never knew anyone who died of secondhand smoke. But I know some who died because they were fat. I know some people who died because of drinking.
Gads, three posts since yesterday about Pit Bulls.
I’ll refrain from commenting tonight.
A Golden Retriever once bit a kid on the ankle. Therefore, it is all about how you raise the dog, and pit bulls are no worse than any other breed.
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