Posted on 03/04/2011 9:00:24 AM PST by marktwain
The owner of a 70-pound greyhound said Thursday that he exhausted all options before pulling his handgun on a 140-pound dog that had latched its jaws around his greyhound’s neck.
“I had no choice but to shoot into the dog and kill him,” Robert McCombs said.
Tammy Martinez, who owned the dog shot to death, was served a summons Thursday afternoon on suspicion of unlawful ownership of a dangerous animal, a misdemeanor, according to Joe Stafford, director of animal services at the Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region. Martinez identifed her dog as a bullmastiff.
The incident left McCombs’ 6-year-old greyhound, Cooper, with a gash to his neck requiring five staples. Martinez’s dog was not injured by Cooper, Stafford said.
McCombs was walking Cooper about 5:30 p.m. Wednesday on the 4800 block of El Camino when he said he heard a woman across the street “having some trouble” with her dog. He didn’t turn toward her, however, until he heard yelling. The dog was dragging Martinez, he said.
“He blasted across (the street) and came right at us,” McCombs said. “They fought just a little tiny bit and then that dog clamped down on my dog’s neck.”
Grabbing the bullmastiff’s leash, he tried pulling the dog away from the Cooper but the dog did not relent, causing him to drag both, McCombs said.
He said he kicked the bullmastiff before pulling his gun.
“I told her one last time, I said ‘Get your dog off or I’m going to kill him,’” McCombs said. “The lady was yelling things... and he was not responding to anything at all. She might as well have been a stranger to that dog.
“I could see that my dog was dying because his eyes got real red.”
A tearful Tammy Martinez told The Gazette her dog Flato wasn’t dangerous and shouldn’t have been killed.
Martinez moved to Colorado Springs from Corpus Christi, Texas, with Flato and two other dogs in October, a few months after her husband, Ruben, died from cancer. Flato was a stray the couple took in seven years ago.
Flato was very loving, she said, referring to him as her “dog with the waggly tail.”
“When you sing songs to him, you can hear that thing thumping,” she said.
When Flato saw the greyhound and darted toward it, Martinez fell and was dragged about 15 feet across a grass slope and a sidewalk, causing her to lose her hold on the leash, she said.
“If he was aggressive, he would have went after the owner in self-defense” when kicked, Martinez said.
McCombs shot the attacking dog twice, killing it, Colorado Springs police said. He had a permit to carry a concealed handgun, police said, and appeared to be “within the guidelines of the law” when firing his handgun.
The Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region is investigating whether the shooter was justified in firing on the bullmastiff, Stafford said.
“I’m not going to say this is a straight-forward case,” said Stafford. “I don’t ever jump to conclusions. I want to be as objective, impartial and thorough as possible.”
Bullmastiffs are among the dogs banned from Fort Carson under a policy restricting so-called aggressive breeds that also include Rottweilers, pitbulls and Doberman pinschers.
Martinez’s friend, Shawna Pugmire, a former professional dog trainer, was consoling Martinez on Thursday and agreed with her that Flato wasn’t dangerous.
“I let my 6-year-old play with Flato,” Pugmire said. “Given a couple seconds, I have no doubt he would have responded to Tammira (Martinez). And it would have been a whole different outcome for him.”
McCombs said there was a “noticeable difference” in Cooper’s temperment after the incident.
“Most greyhounds are timid anyway — he’s really, really shy,” McCombs said. “I hope he goes back to his playful self once he gets all healed up.”
— Gazette staff writer Lance Benzel contributed to this report.
Lady, don’t mess with my property. It makes me angry. You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry.
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P.S. I'm a dog lover.
Good shooting!!!!
One of our dogs was recently shot. She was where she didn’t belong. As the owners, it’s our fault.
It sounds like this woman had the same problem. Control your animals or someone else will for you.
Killing a mean dog is news?
Actions speak louder than words. I have absolutely no remorse about Flato in this situation at all. If you can't control your dog, either you shouldn't have it or you shouldn't walk it in a public place.
My neighbor used to breed them. “Corporal” was his big male who one day went nutzoid in the pen, and proceeded to maul the younger, smaller dogs. The neighbor decided to intervene, but only succeeded in getting himself chewed up pretty bad. His wife came out with the shotgun, and put an end to ol’ Corporal. Damn dog had a head the size of a basketball.
Bullmastiffs are generally very docile dogs. Very protective, but not very aggressive.
That being said, they are very dangerous dogs in that when they become aggressive, they can easily kill or maim even a full grown man.
With the injuries sustained by the greyhound, and the testimony of the bullmastiff’s owner, I would have to say it was a good shoot.
My father shot my 3rd grade teacher’s dog early one morning(she lived down the road from us)....it kept raiding our chicken coop....he said he was aiming to scare it, but hit. My teacher understood....funny,I was her teacher’s pet.
“Killing a mean dog is news?”
Only if you can attempt to put the lawful use of a handgun in a bad light.
I have two greyhounds. I always carry a blade when I walk them, as there have been pit-bull attacks in my part of town.
A few years back in two pits killed a greyhound named Henry. One of my greyhounds is also named Henry.
When the story hit the local paper, everyone who knows us thought it was my Henry. I got tons of calls and sympathy.
I am fully prepared to cut the jugular of any dog that latches on to one of mine.
Tammy, Tammy...Tammy’s in denial.
That's like saying you couldn't shoot someone stabbing a person until you give them a couple more seconds - and several more stabs - to stop.
Lady, buy a clue.
the man GAVE the dog extra time by kicking him and then warning the lady to pull the dog off or he'd shoot.
her attitude is like the people who say we shouldn't have guns for protection but rely on the police - who arrive in minutes when seconds count.
“The Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region is investigating whether the shooter was justified in firing on the bullmastiff, Stafford said.”
WTF authority do they have? Pound sand.
Hamstring a pitbull instead. Their jaws lock hard when they bite down, and cutting their throat will still cause you to have to pry apart their jaws. But if you cut his hamstring, he will release what he has a hold of and try to snap at your hand.
Even tugging the hamstring of any canine will cause it to lose it’s grip and turn it’s head back to the “attack”. By instinct, canines go for the hamstring of their prey and reflexively will defend their own hamstrings over even their throats.
You should ping Fawn, she loves it when dogs are killed.
The hardest part was explaining it to the kids. (Thankfully the dog survived.)
I came very near to shooting a neighbor’s dog when I was a teen to keep it from killing my cat in my front yard. I never thought I’d be thankful for that experience.
Good to know. It was worth getting out of bed today, I learned something.
Bullmastiffs are among the dogs banned from Fort Carson under a policy restricting so-called aggressive breeds ...
A tearful Tammy Martinez told The Gazette her dog Flato wasn’t dangerous and shouldn’t have been killed.
“If he was aggressive, he would have went after the owner in self-defense” when kicked, Martinez said.
Were I the Judge, I would give Martinez 364 days in jail, and the maximum fine, her comments so disregard for the law and no remorse.
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