My community is up in arms after an unleashed dog attack!

[Cheryl and Finnegan]

My apologies in advance for posting this, but I was shaking and sick after hearing this today. From time to time, we've posted about the danger of unleashed dogs. But this time I'm squarely focused on Pit Bulls. I really need to vent and I can only think to do it here and get your thoughts as I try to collect my own.  

Our community is reeling due to a pit bull attack.  A couple was walking their 7 lb. leashed maltese in a beautiful neighborhood not far from my office when 2 pit bulls belonging to a neighbor who rescues and fosters pits came from behind.  Apparently her dogs got loose--they get loose a lot. The couple never saw them coming until it was too late. The husband tried to pick up their little dog up but one pit grabbed her by the head.  Little Sobo died instantly. The dogs devoured parts of her while the owners tried to get her body.  If that isn't horrific enough…the two dogs, in pack mentality, charged another man down the street and then made their way to a nearby development and tried to attack a woman walking a pomeranian but the woman was able to lift her dog above her head and save it just as animal control got there.  Of course, the fault is with the owner for owning these dangerous dogs and not containing them. But it's not just these two that have been aggressive. She's rescued others just as bad because now we know that several neighbors have been bitten. What I want to know is when and where does it become unacceptable to own these dogs?  I can't believe I'm saying that, but I am.  

I've worked a little bit with Pitt Bulls and Pitt-mixes in rescue and I know they can be smart, sweet, loving dogs one-on-one but there's not one pure Pitt that I would have trusted completely with others or with other animals. 

One of my staff lives in that neighborhood and her 10 year old son (cute and bright as a button) started a dog walking business about a year ago after being smitten with Finn and Oscar (our office doodle).  His favorite "client" is Edgar - a pomeranian. Jackie spends his days off thinking up special things to do with Edgar.  It was sheer luck that Jackie wasn't walking Edgar. 

BTW did I mention that the owner came across this bloody mess and drove away without saying ANYTHING when the couple told her what happened.  The husband was so distraught, he was taken to the ER.  These poor people, I can't even imagine.  Children and adults have been bringing flowers and little dog toys to a memorial that's growing for little Sobo.

I know any breed can be aggressive but --as someone has said - an aggressive dog is like a firecracker, but a pit bull is like a hand grenade.

To the borough's credit, there's going to be a community-wide meeting next week to discuss what residents feel should be done. Come on DKers, (at least anyone who's made it through this awful post) please help me with a list. 

       

[F, Calla & Luca]

I am so sorry to hear this horrific tail. I need to give this some thought. I have such mixed feeling on pit bulls in general. They do scare me when I don't know them. but to ban or condemn a whole breed seems so wrong.  How could the owner not apologize? So sad.

[Cheryl and Finnegan]

F, I'm about to close the circle -- from not knowing anything about them and being afraid of them, to working with a few and thinking they've gotten a bad rap and it's just a matter of training them, to learning that no matter how sweet they may seem, they are unpredictably predictable and true to their nature.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Even Tia Torres, founder of the Villalobos Pitbull Rescue Center, star of Pitbulls and Parolees, champion & defender of the breed, has publicly stated that it is in their nature to be dog aggressive: 

From her statement:

"If I had a dime...Hell...a penny, for everyone that emailed or called and said, "I don't know what happened. My Pit Bull has been great with other dogs and then ALL OF A SUDDEN he attacked my neighbor's dog or went after a dog at the dog park" and of course my knee jerk response is always...."ah....what's the question?" It's like saying..."I don't know what's wrong with my Lab....he won't stay out of the swimming pool. There are those of us that have been around these dogs for not only years but have dealt with them in large amounts whether it be working at a shelter, or a vet's or a groomer, trainer, whatever. We sit back and say...."well......ah.....well....that's what Pit Bulls do.

In dealing with hundreds to thousands in my rescue career, most Pit Bulls that have come thru here, display some form of dog aggression. What I am saying is that most Pit Bulls (yeah yeah, go ahead and cuss me out) have that "genetic make up" of dog aggression."

 https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150298800276143.330597....

[Cheryl and Finnegan]

Great article. Thank you - it's definitely going in my packet. Kudos to her for her honesty. I admit I was surprised at first that the author was Tia from Villalobos.

I doubt there will ever be a ban in my community, although I wish there would be.  We are super dog-friendly --translate that to "rescue heaven."  And a high percentage of the dogs advertised are pit bull mixes although I don't know how many are actually adopted.  But for anyone considering adoption, this should be a must -read and handed out by rescue groups and vets as required reading. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

And she is getting blasted by many of the PB people for her honesty. 

So many of the adoption listings for these dogs label them as other breeds, most often "Lab mix" or "terrier mix". That's one of the problems with BSL, unless people do a DNA test, nobody knows for sure what breed the rescue pits are, and the vets will often call them "bulldog mix" or "terrier mix" on their records at the owners' request, so that they can get around the laws. And the town can't force the owners to do a DNA test, unless maybe the dog kills someone.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

The information on this one site alone will provide your community with a lot of good resources. Explore the info under each tab, you'll be blown away.

http://www.banpitbulls.org/

To answer your question, IMO it is never acceptable for anyone to own one of these dogs anywhere. They are not pets, and were never intended to be. I would strongly support a nationwide ban, and I'm a rabid dog rescuer. I fostered adult German Shepherds who I'd never met before they came into my house. 

And for those who say "It's not the dog, it's the owner", here's another link: http://thetruthaboutpitbulls.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-truth-about-p...

It is the dog, but think about the kind of person who would choose this over all of the other hundreds of breeds. Huh, I guess it's the owner, too. 

[Amy and Annabelle]

Yikes... the ASPCA Guidelines for Pit Bulls in its Shelters “Install a panic button in rooms housing Pit Bulls along with other restraint equipment in any room housing Pit Bulls.” I just can wrap my brain around why people want these killers as family pets.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

A couple of my favorite FB pages on the topic:

https://www.facebook.com/BanPitBullsAcrossAmerica?fref=ts

 https://www.facebook.com/AmericasDog?fref=ts

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

http://www.banpitbulls.org/why/why-this-site/

Read the links on this page.

[Cheryl and Finnegan]

Karen, thank you for the links.  Very very interesting. I am going to figure out the best way to get this information to the city council before the meeting.  The growing pit bull population here is alarming and it's made up almost entirely of  "egotistical innocents." feeding their fantasy that they are rescuing a misunderstood, unfairly maligned breed.  It's a highly charged debate - and I never would have thought I would come to this place.  But facts are facts  you know, I've walked FInn there just once or twice. From what I know directly from witnesses, I doubt Finn could have survived that attack at 50 lbs. And as long as that woman has any dogs, Jackie and Edgar are still in danger.  They will have to stop walking.  How is that fair?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

It's not fair. 

There are blocks here in my nice suburban neighborhood that JD and I don't go down any more, because there are pitbulls and American bulldogs living on those blocks. I've heard about a couple of them getting loose, I've seen them jumping behind their fences, staring at JD as they salivate and snarl, I know that an American bulldog is capable of a 7 foot vertical leap, and I know that 80 lb JD wouldn't survive that kind of attack either. And even on the blocks where there aren't any pits living, I'm scared to death that we'll run into someone walking one, and the dog will get away from the owner. One older woman walks a pit bull who thrashes and twists so violently when he sees another dog that I'm sure he will get away from her one of these days.  There are more and more of them in my area, too. And my town has BSL, not a complete ban, but restrictions on the type of leash, the type of fence, etc. 

[Linda, Charlie Brown and Beau]

I feel so sad for this couple.  It has been about 3 years since Charlie & I were attacked in a similar fashion.  It happens so quickly - we did not even see or hear the two pit-mixes coming upon us from behind. Fortunately Charlie was had only a slight scratch on hip (but it took my knee sprain two months to heal from the melee)!   To this day, I try to avoid that house and street (and the pits were only visitors).  I was told by the police officer that I could carry a gun to protect myself! I carry Police OC17 Magnum spray just in case - thankfully we have never seen those two dogs in the area.  Every time I hear about one of these horrific stories, I feel so bad for the victims.  A city about an hour from us (Yakima, WA) has had a pit bull ban since 1987 and I have heard at various times, that some people are trying to get the ban repealed but they have not been successful.