PENNSYLVANIA -- A borough man was bitten several times by a pit bull Saturday evening after trying to stop a domestic disturbance next door to his Mount Vernon Street home.
Michael Kilkenny, 33, of 209 W. Mount Vernon St., was treated at Saint Catherine Medical Center Fountain Springs and released.
Patrolmen George Carado and Kirk A. Kirkland were called to the home of Melissa Riddick, 27, of 211 W. Mount Vernon St., for a fight about 7:30 p.m. between Kilkenny and Ryan Anthony Arroyo, 19, also of 211 W. Mount Vernon St. The call was made by a third party.
"He (Arroyo) lives there. It's a classic domestic situation. She (Riddick) was banging on the wall, yelling for someone to come over," said Carado, who said police have been called to the home in the past for domestic arguments.
The noise alerted Kilkenny and his mother, Eileen Pfaff, and Kilkenny decided to help. Kilkenny went to Riddick's home and opened the door.
"The story we got was that Arroyo was yelling at her and she was banging on the wall. So Kilkenny comes over and opens the door. Arroyo punches him in the face in the doorway," Carado said.
According to Carado, the two men began fighting in the doorway, rolling around on the floor, and then the dog ran in and bit Kilkenny several times. From his observation, Carado said the bites did not seem serious.
Riddick told officers that the dog was not ordered to attack by Arroyo, but went to where the men were fighting on its own.
"When we got there, Kilkenny was petting the dog. Then the dog ran by us and ran into the house and Riddick put it in the backyard," Carado said. Arroyo left the home before police arr-ived. Police searched the area but could not find Arroyo.
Carado said the pit bull had a collar tag showing it had received its shots in 2009.
According to the police, Arroyo was cited for harassment and disorderly conduct.
Pfaff and a friend took Kilkenny to the hospital, where the doctor on duty put Kilkenny on antibiotics.
Pfaff said she and her son are concerned about whether the dog had the proper inoculations.
"The dog bit my son five times. My son couldn't even defend himself. The dog's not in quarantine," Pfaff said. "My son had to punch the dog in the head to get him to break loose."
COMMENT TO STORY:
I am sorry to have to say this, but as much as i did love my pit bull, i had an experience that i will never forget or stop feeling guilty about. I purchased Rocco when he was new born, off of a friend who had a bull that delivered nine pups. My friend needed money and told me they were going to sell the pups. I said i would like to buy one so they gave me one for a quarter of the price they were getting. I was so happy watching Rocco grow up. He really was my very best friend. I got married and had children a few years later when i turned twenty eight. Rocco was with me seven human years then. After i got married, my husband and Rocco instantly bonded. Rocco was our family until we had two boys three years apart. Sorry so boring and long but i have an important message....
We were married one year when i got pregnant at 29 years old. By the time i was 34 years old, i had a one and a half year old boy and a four year old boy. With Rocco growing up with the boys and protecting them and acting affectionate with them, i never worried at all.
Then one day it really happened. Out of nowhere, we were sitting on the sofa watching TV, and Rocco jumped up and took my four year old boy by his leg, and was swinging him from side to side.
THIS IS HARD TO WRITE FOR MY WIFE, BUT I AM HERE WITH HER..... HERE.
Sorry, but i can't describe the shock and horror that went through me to witness my boy being attacked by the pet we all loved.
I can't go into detail now, but you all have to understand, this was a loving dog, and we never even allowed him to tug on his ball if we played catch because of the background of a pit bull. We were as intelligent and careful as anyone could be that we did not bring out any bad attributes. As i did do my research about my pup when i bought him. He turned into someone we did not recognize. He had to be put down and the doctor reported that there was nothing physically wrong after checking him for tumors and things that could change a dog so fast and so drastic.
I would have been grieving a real long time for Rocco, but realized that i was a statistic. Someone, like so many here, who think it will not happen with their bull. God bless and good luck. I am trying everyday to forgive myself, whenever i see my son put his artificial leg on and whenever he takes it off. Kids are resilient so he jumps around with it so that he almost looks normal.
But i go to therapy to try and understand how this sweet animal that i raised from a pup, real loving and careful and obedient, could get up from smiling and wagging his tail, and go for my son (his best friend too) who was sitting right beside me, and throw his body around our living room like the shark in Jaws threw the people around without letting go.
I pray none of you go through something like this. I really loved Rocco, but tell everyone not to take chances living with a pit bull. I still love Rocco, but now i know it was very chance taking, to think being raised so docile would change the deep personality traits that pit bulls are known for.
I am sorry to share my sad story here, but too many of you sound so self assured like i was. I really wish you alot of happy years with your bull. I would never take that chance with people i love or myself after what i lived through. My husband lost two fingers pulling our son free. Dear God, listen and be careful. They are beautiful dogs, but not safe as pets. -- Remembering Rocco, 19 February 2010
(Republican Herald - February 16, 2010)
